or simply known as is a
First-Party PlayStation 2 Adventure
An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...
Science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
interactive game published by
Sony Computer Entertainment Japan with animation created by
Production I.G
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...
, which was released in
Japan on April 25, 2002 and was sold for a price of
¥5,800.
The game had not been released in any other territory aside from Japan/Asia.
It takes place in the 2050s where a
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
-created special forces unit called ''Shadow Sword'' is deployed to protect the Earth-Mars travel route from anti-UN terrorists called ''Neo Kleit'', conducting terrorist attacks to remove the UN's control of the space program. A special public security surveillance network is unveiled for the first time called ''Project Surveillance'', which is used to assist ''Shadow Sword'' operatives in their work in apprehending and hunting down the terrorists.
Japanese critics praised the game's animation and use of the gameplay mechanics in telling the story, although it is criticized for little to no involvement of the players themselves.
Gameplay
Players play the game by assuming the role of ''Shadow Sword'' team leader Yusuke Sasaki, who the player use in monitoring cameras of ''Project Surveillance'' at a ''Shadow Sword'' surveillance truck in the game's six chapters. There are six sub monitor screens with the main screen above them as players would use the latter to observe and analyze to obtain information for the level to progress,
especially for Shadow Sword operators to move around and complete their objectives, by using target cursors to mark the main screen for ''The Surveillance'' to examine with a map on the right side of the screen for locating subjects of interest and where cameras connected to ''Project Surveillance'' are located.
Proper use of the cameras and using correct judgement in locating clues and items would determine the fate of the ''Shadow Sword'' tactical teams in terms of progressing in Surveillance.
At the start of a chapter, there will be one or two sub monitors that will function, allowing players to use them. But as the chapters progress, some of the sub monitors will not function (e.g. due to terrorists discovering and destroying the cameras) while others will be online after the player is informed that a sub monitor is functioning.
During a session on the announcement of Surveillance at the 15th Anniversary
Production I.G
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...
World Tour in
Ginza,
Production I.G
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...
commentators have noted that the gameplay challenges players to use the main monitor and the other six submonitors in order to accomplish a scenario.
At the end of each chapter, a chapter report would be presented to show players how well or bad they have done for the particular scenario.
According to an interview with the
Production I.G
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...
staff involved in making Surveillance, they had mentioned that the chapter report would give players the opportunity to check their progress and see what things do they either have to do or to avoid doing in the future.
Plot
The game takes place in the year 2053 when space travel between
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
and
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...
is made possible thanks to the UN's goal to conduct space travel.
But with the presence of a mysterious terrorist group called ''Neo Kleit'' preparing to oppose to the UN's attempt to expand on space travel, a UN-established counter-terrorist unit called ''Shadow Sword'' is called in by the ''International Cosmic Security System'' or ''I-COSS'' to eliminate the group and protect the space development program and civilians with the help of a high-tech computer surveillance system called ''Project Surveillance''.
As ''Shadow Sword'' continues to protect civilians in their space travel and hunt down terrorist members of ''Neo Kleit'', the unit gets tangled in a black ops project that involves genetically enhanced creatures with some ''Shadow Sword'' operatives killed while trying to find out who was responsible for the project's existence.
Characters
All of the characters were both created and animated by
Production I.G
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...
.
* (Kenichi Suzuki) is a Japanese Shadow Sword operator and commanding officer of the team. He is a
lieutenant colonel and an ex-
JGSDF
The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai), , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service b ...
officer who had served in the
1st Airborne Brigade in its 4th Airborne Infantry Battalion. He is in charge of using the ''Project Surveillance'' system to direct his comrades in the field.
*Edward Banfield (Yūichi Nagashima), referred to as Ed by his friends, is a British Shadow Sword operator with the rank of
major. He's Shadow Sword's lone
electronics warfare officer, and he is quite knowledgeable on the use of ''The Surveillance'' due to time spent on the system related to his position.
*Maurice Bilal (Nobuo Tobita) is a British Shadow Sword operator with the rank of
major. He was trained with the
United Kingdom Special Forces
The United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) is a directorate comprising the Special Air Service, the Special Boat Service, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, the Special Forces Support Group, 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment and the Joint Special Force ...
on
explosive ordnance disposal
Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the milit ...
and serves as the team's demolitions expert.
*Amanda Grace (Junko Noda) is the only female Shadow Sword operator, also experienced in
explosive ordnance disposal
Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the milit ...
.
*Nicholas Gump (Takashi Nagasumi), referred to as Nick by his friends, is an American Shadow Sword operator with the rank of
lieutenant colonel. He's in charge of the team's logistics.
*Steve Hammond (Yasunori Matsumoto) is an American Shadow Sword operator with the rank of
captain. He's the team's
trained sniper and had once participated in the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
, which gives him self-confidence.
*Ned Hardy (Kiyoyuki Yanada) is an American Shadow Sword operator with the rank of
lieutenant colonel. He had been formerly under the .
*Charlie Hix (Katsuyuki Konishi) is an American Shadow Sword operator with the rank of
major. He has the smallest stature of any of the Shadow Sword operators, which allows him to conduct
rappelling
Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling the person descending controls their own movement down the rope, in contrast to low ...
without running into any kind of problem.
*Jim Perkins (Hiroyuki Yoshino) is a former
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
Astronaut trainee, who is recruited to Shadow Sword.
*Milliana Isakovich (Eriko Kawasaki) is a Russian Shadow Sword scientist with the rank of
lieutenant colonel. She had formerly served in the
Russian Ground Forces
The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска ВSukhoputnyye voyska V}), also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces.
The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces ...
as its leading scientist and scholar at its gene research academy before she was asked by International Cosmic Security System to serve under Shadow Sword.
*Tim Lawper (Satsuki Yukino) is an American Shadow Sword operator assigned in a non-combat role as adviser and communications specialist to the entire team with the rank of
captain. She was with the before joining the group.
Production
Development
The game's design was created by both Junya Ishigaki and Atsushi Takeuchi with Takashi Watabe and Yasushi Ohara. Hiroyuki Nishimura was the main director of the game with Hidekazu Terakawa being in charge of game design and was one of the game's director.
In an interview with Hidekazu Terakawa (Game Designer/Director), Atsunori Maeshima (Game Director), Tetsuji Yamamoto (Executive Producer,
SCE SCE is an abbreviation with multiple meanings:
Science
* Short-channel effect, a secondary effect describing the reduction in threshold voltage Vth in MOSFETs with non-uniformly doped channel regions as the gate length increases
* Saturated calomel ...
) and Junichi Fujisaku (At the time of interview, Chief Director of
Production I.G
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...
's Section G - Software Development Section), they had said that the game was entirely created by various staff members from
Production I.G
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...
alone with little to no involvement from
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...
, including planning.
Maeshima had pointed that during game development, he saw the game in comparison to the
Blade Runner
''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...
movie.
The game's cutscenes, which were in
MPEG-2 format, made the team decide to move the platform from the
PlayStation to the
PlayStation 2 due to issues of the former's loading capabilities as the cutscenes are at least 5 hours and 30 minutes long according to Yamamoto.
In addition, they had used real photos of
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...
and
Phobos as part of the cutscenes.
News
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
had first broke news of the possibility of the game based on the Yarudora series. On August 31, 2001,
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...
made an official announcement that Surveillance Kanshisha would be created for the
PlayStation 2 with
Production I.G
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...
working on the animation for the game.
In the 15th Anniversary
Production I.G
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...
World Tour 2002 in
Ginza on April 20 and April 21 of 2002, Surveillance had been unveiled by
Production I.G
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...
with guests including
Mamoru Oshii
is a Japanese filmmaker, television director and writer. Famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling, Oshii has directed a number of acclaimed anime films, including '' Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer'' (1984), ''Angel's Egg'' (1985), ...
when the game was announced for a 2002 release.
Promotion
A movie clip was shown on the internet for free from April 25 to May 14 of 2002 to promote the game to the public from the website of Morrich Club, now a part of Sony Music Online Japan. A Surveillance commercial had aired on
SKY PerfecTV!
is a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service that provides satellite television, audio programming and interactive television services to households in Japan, owned by parent company SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation.
SKY PerfecTV! is also a direct ...
on April 29, 2002 and on
TV Tokyo
JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certifie ...
on August 29, 2002.
Media
A Surveillance Guidebook was released out to the public on May 10, 2002 and was published under
Kadokawa Shoten and sold for
¥1,575. The book included information ranging from the story of the game to the production of the game, including pictures of CG graphics used by
Production I.G
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...
.
Reception
A review of the game on Dengeki Online had praised the game for the story and the cutscenes that were done by
Production I.G
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...
, though it criticizes it for having little to no involvement of the players when they play the game.
Another pointed out that the game was good for, particularly, the use of the cameras and the animation except that the scenario used for the game's plot was more than sufficient for players not to understand the story.
An article published by
Sony Computer Entertainment Japan commented that if the game was animated, the DVDs would have been bought.
Furthermore, it also comments on the game's creation was to showcase the capabilities of the
PlayStation 2's
graphics.
On release, ''
Famitsu
formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the f ...
'' magazine scored the game a 32 out of 40. Currently, the game holds a score of 72% at PS2GameDounano and a score of 70% in PlayStation Mk2.
The Shadow Sword team was described as being similar to the Policenauts team in
Konami
, is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casino ...
's
Policenauts.
References
External links
Official Site{{in lang, ja
2002 video games
Fiction set in 2053
Adventure games
Japan-exclusive video games
Production I.G
Science fiction video games
Sony Interactive Entertainment games
Video games about terrorism
PlayStation 2 games
PlayStation 2-only games
Video games developed in Japan
Single-player video games