In spite of what its name suggests, Product Number 03 is the first of the already famous 'Capcom Five' (in expected order: P.N.03, Dead Phoenix, Viewtiful Joe, Killer7, Resident Evil 4) to hit European stores. Although Japanese sales haven't been overwhelming, it's still one of the most anticipated games for this summer. And rightly so.

P.N.03 is an odd title, and is a bit of an odd game as well. It's a third person shooter, but much different than other games in the genre. Except for the story perhaps, which is pretty standard. In a nutshell: The weapon system of a space colony has gone out of control, slaughtering the inhabitants of the colony. The army sends one woman, Vanessa Z. Schneider, to shut things down (read: blow everything apart).

Vanessa is an extremely cool and stylish girl. Seeming emotionally unaffected when machines come speeding towards her, she suddenly makes some dance-like moves and shoots them down in the blink of an eye. Contrary to early screenshots of the game, Vanessa doesn't make use of weapons. Instead, her suit allows her to shoot from the palm of her hand, which looks nice but makes little difference. What is different is Vanessa's movement: she can't move and shoot a the same time. You can't shoot at an enemy while running left and right like in Metroid or Enter the Matrix, and this takes some time to get used to. To compensate for the this inconvenience, Vanessa can perform various dodging moves. She can jump and roll, while L and R buttons let her twirl sideways. The best strategy is to shoot repeatedly on a target, then when it starts to return fire, evade and prepare for a new salvo of shots from your new position.

The areas in the game consist of a number of rooms. You enter a room, destroy everything that moves, walk to the door, view statistics and move on to the next room. The game starts at the planet's surface, but most of the levels are indoors. The rooms have a simple design and are usually white. There's little variation in the environments, the style is consistent throughout the game and some rooms are nearly identical. This game has not been rushed, as you might think, but the use of similar levels was a deliberate choice.

The creator of P.N.03 is Shinji Mikami, famous for his Resident Evil games. In terms of style, P.N.03 is the opposite of Resident Evil. According Mikami, RE has a masculine image. The world of P.N.03 should be more feminine, with 'delicate lines' and of course a female hero. As a contrast to the dark, detailed Resident Evil backgrounds, P.N.03's levels are mainly white and simple. This also serves the game: in a shooter, distinct graphics are essential. Although it's not graphical achievement of the year, P.N.03 is one of the most stylish games ever. Not only because of the level architecture, but also of the dance-inspired moves of Vanessa and the dance music that accompanies the action. The machines are also well animated and transform during combat. Details complete the picture: Vanessa always taps her foot to the beat of the music and the special moves are first-rate.

Though there's a philosophy behind the simple level-design and plain graphics, they have been criticized by some for being boring and repetitive. It's too easy to just dismiss their criticism by saying that they just missed the point. Interesting comparison to Resident Evil or not, the visuals and the levels can get a bit dull. It's not a major complaint, though. I like the path Capcom has chosen, but I can understand some people may find it boring.

Basically P.N.03 is about clearing every room of malfunctioning machines by shooting and dodging them. A couple of features have been included to offer some variation. First, there is a combo system. After you take out an enemy, you have a couple of seconds (the number depends on the enemy) to destroy the next. Trying to clear the entire room in one combo can be difficult and involves taking risks, but your points will multiply. Gathering points is not just for high scores. More points means more continues and they're essential to the second addition to the game, upgrading.
Between levels and on various locations in the levels you have the possibility to tune up your suit. You can increase energy, shooting power, defence or special moves. The upgrading for your suit is limited, so you might opt to buy a better suit which can be upgraded further.
The third feature included are the special moves. Their execution is in Mortal Kombat style, for example: left, down, A. The control stick is used for Vanessa's movement, while the D-pad is assigned to performing the specials, which works fine. When the combination of buttons has been entered correctly, Vanessa starts a series of moves, followed by some bright flashes leaving nothing in the room but debris. On the one hand the special moves are in harmony with the sophisticated style of the game, while on the other hand they're an very cool highlight, their extravagance in contrast to the game's austerity, but through this emphasizing the effect.

P.N.03 is a great game, so how come Japanese sales were disappointing? Ironically, not only the style of P.N.03 is in contrast to Resident Evil. The difference covers its appeal to the mainstream gamer as well and therefore the sales also. P.N.03 is not for everyone, but if you're interested in an original approach of the third person genre or an extremely polished shooter, it's worth a try. The game is not very complicated, but 'it has something' and keeps you playing much longer than you might expect. If this game's originality and polish is representative for future titles, I'm really looking forward to the remaining 'Capcom Four'.