There's nothing wrong with turning to videogames to do something you can't do in real life. I mean, plenty of peeps do all of their killing, and dating, exclusively in the virtual world. What is a problem is when your constitutional right to carry your lightgun of choice is snatched away by big TV manufacturers. Rise up! Revolution!
Snappy HK box art.
All joking aside, in case you haven't heard, the move to 100Hz TVs (any modern flat-screen CRT, and all HDTV technologies [LCD, DLP, plasma, projection, SXRD, SED]) killed lightguns as we know them. From the NES Zapper to Namco's very nice GunCon2, old-school light guns simply won't work with new technology. For quite a while now, if you've been fortunate enough to pick up a hot new TV, your lightgun fun was at an end. Happily, a couple of manufacturers have been working hard on a solution, and the first of a new generation of HDTV compatible lightguns are on the market.
Our buddies at Lik-Sang.com let us know that the LCD TopGun has been selling like hotcakes and shipped us one to test. Since the TopGun is compatible with the Xbox, PS2, and PC (including MAME) we were pretty excited to return to some of our favorite shooting series like House of the Dead and Time Crisis.
Don't play with it too vigorously. It might go off unexpectedly.
When our unit arrived we were immediately impressed with what an accurate reproduction of a Beretta 92F the TopGun is. It's really bloody cool looking. In an age when any toy gun in America has to look like it was made by Fisher-Price with all kinds of stupid appendages painted in some absurd color like neon purple or orange, it's quite a pleasant surprise to hold a toy gun that doesn't make you feel two years old. The slide bears the official, through probably not licensed, Beretta trademarks and has a couple of spots of orange paint for the safety switches, while the rest of the gun is just as detailed and accurate. Obviously, you would not want to do anything dumb like walk down the street with the TopGun sticking out of your pants, as it could legitimately be mistaken for the real thing and get you shot, which would only make the rest of us look stupid too.
Button layout.
Coolness doesn't end with the looks either. A tactical looking laser pointer is mounted in front of the trigger guard, and is used for a variety of things, but we'll go into detail later. The TopGun's slide also kicks back with each shot, which is a particularly cool feature that we've always been sad wasn't incorporated in the GunCon. It's not that hard a kick (less than a .22 caliber pistol if you know what that feels like) but it makes a nice racket and can disrupt your aim a little if added realism is your thing. You can also turn it off.
The LCD TopGun overcomes the 100Hz problem though the use of two plastic bars that are mounted on the left and right sides any type of TV. Arrays of infrared LEDs on the bars communicate with the wired TopGun itself. The system is recommended for screens between 14 and 60 inches, though the gun has been tested on 100''+ projectors, in which case it becomes necessary to mount the infrared bars inside the picture area.
Guns don't kill people. Bullets kill people. Guns just make them go really really fast.
In our primary application, I used black electrical tape (comes off cleaner than normal scotch-tape) to affix the bars on either side of a 34" Sony HD-CRT. Because of its universal nature, the LCD TopGun must be calibrated every time it is set up or one of the bars is moved. The calibration process is relatively simple and makes use of the TopGun's laser pointer to signal when steps have been completed. We discovered, however, that the TopGun has a real sweet-spot issue with regard to how far one must stand away from the TV for accurate calibration and later use. The larger the screen, the farther one must stand away. The manual recommends standing 2 meters away from a 29 inch screen, and leaves it up to you as to where to go from there. It took us a little while to really dial in our configuration, but once we had it set we were impressed with the TopGun's accuracy, and had no problems hitting felons hiding at the edges of the screen. Users with larger TV's might want to invest in extension cords (USB for PS2 and PC, Xbox for Xbox), as the TopGun's built in wire is only about 8.5 feet long.
Freeze sucker!
In use, the LCD TopGun was a lot of fun. The gun is comfortable to hold and surprisingly light-weight. Button layout is good, and we especially liked the C button on the gun's handle, as it was perfect for reloading in House of the Dead III or ducking in Time Crisis. The recoil feature is fun and is certainly more immersive than vibration feedback. The laser pointer is also a cool addition that is used in both the calibration process and in normal gameplay. The addition of the laser makes a lot of games much easier and can be a good way to help a novice get into the genre. There were times, however, when the laser reflected off of the CRT screen and directly into the player's eyes, which didn't feel good and likely isn't healthy. We turned the laser off since it's pretty much cheating anyway.
We had a few other problems with the LCD TopGun as well. Though we had no problem with the Xbox, at times, PS2 games (Time Crisis II and III, Dino Stalker) would not recognize that there was a gun plugged in at all, and required some resetting to make work. The Time Crisis III calibration mode was also a hassle to complete, as for some reason it often took a good 3 minutes of shooting the center of the screen before the game would move to the next step.
Get connected.
An even bigger problem in Time Crisis III was the fact that there was some sort of sync issue between the gun and the game. Crisis Zone is based upon machine guns in full auto, while the TopGun naturally shoots single shots. We switched the gun to full auto mode and blazed away. Strangely, though keeping the TopGun's trigger held down emptied the 40 round clip without a pause, the game only seemed to register hits about 25% of the time, spaced apart about equally to the TopGun's recoil action. Setting the gun to single-shot action made every bullet connect, but we couldn't pull the trigger fast enough to work with the machinegun mechanic that the game is based upon. We didn't manage to solve the mystery, which left the game somewhat unplayable.
Single shot games like House of the Dead III and Time Crisis II were fine, though we also discovered that after a solid half hour of blasting, the recoil slide is prone to getting a little stuck and not completing its motion. When this happens the gun shoots at a slower pace. Pulling the slide back manually made it work perfectly once again. At first we figured we'd be able to burn the recoil mechanic out within a few days, but after the better part of a week it's still going strong. It is true that small motors and solenoids don't last forever, so it may be a problem down the road. We'll update if ours breaks.
Conclusion
The LCD TopGun isn't perfect, and if it was in a crowded market its review score would be lower. Right now, however, there are very few options for HDTV lightgun gaming. Though the Time Crisis III problem was disappointing, the TopGun performed quite well in all other applications, especially House of the Dead III. It's a rather good looking accessory that will get attention sitting around with your games, and the recoil feedback is a lot of fun. It's also pretty rather cheap: $34.95 from Lik-Sang.com.