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The ultimate run and gun shooter returns.
~ Tagline

Contra: Shattered Soldier, published in Japan as Shin Contra (真魂斗羅? lit. "True Contra") is a run-and-gun video game part of the Contra series by Konami. It was released for the PlayStation 2 in 2002. The game marks a return to the two-dimensional gameplay style of Contra III: The Alien Wars and Contra: Hard Corps. The game was followed by Neo Contra.

Plot[]

In 2642 A.D., Earth remains scarred from previous alien conflicts as environmental problems grow beyond humanity's control. 80% of the planet's population was completely devastated by a malfunctioning hyper-magnetic weapons grid during development. Bill Rizer, the hero of the Alien Wars, was held responsible for the incident, as well as for supposedly murdering his partner Lance Bean who reportedly tried to stop him. He was given a sentence of 10,000 years in cryogenic prison. However, five years later (in the year 2647), Earth faces another threat as the terrorist organization "Blood Falcon", led by a mysterious superhuman commander, spreads panic over the world. The ruling government, referred to as the "Triumvirate", decides to release Rizer prior to completing his sentence, in view of his previous successes in defending Earth, in hope of neutralizing Blood Falcon. Lucia, an advanced cyborg super soldier built by the government from Dr. Geo Mandrake's research, is sent to accompany and assist Bill's endeavors.

Bill eventually finds out that Lance is still alive and is in fact the commander of Blood Falcon himself. After defeating Lance, it is revealed that the aliens from the past games attacked because the Triumvirate secretly stole a mysterious, powerful "relic" from them. With this information, Bill and Lucia have to confront the Triumvirate and uncover the secrets of the alien relic.

Gameplay[]

The game achieves its goal in mimicking the gameplay that made the previous 8-bit and 16-bit titles so popular by essentially duplicating the same style boss fights and stages under 3D models and renders. The game is known for being very difficult, arguably more than Contra: Hard Corps. Like the Sega Genesis game, Shattered Soldier has multiple endings. However, the ending received now depends on the player's performance rather than the path taken. The game also introduces the concept of a "hit rate", which gauges the amount of enemies hit as a form of performance metric. Every unique target (non-respawnable) –whether it is an actual enemy or an object in the environment– that is destroyed increases this ratio. A high hit-ratio, along with the minimization of lives lost and continues used, is essential to receive the better endings, and consequently unlock the hidden extra features. The player can replay previously cleared stages to achieve better grades.

The major departure in Shattered Soldier is the new weapon system, which consists of three weapons and three special shots. The power-up capsules and pill-box sensors from previous games are gone. The primary weapons are: a rapid fire automatic machine gun (Heavy Machine Gun), a flamethrower (Flame Whip), and a grenade launcher (Diver Mines). These primary weapons may be charged for a more powerful attack: the Round Sweeper, which launches out a "gun pod" that sprays bullets in multiple directions; the Energy Shot, a large gunshot which delivers great damage; and a barrage of Homing Missiles that traces the nearest target.

Enemies[]

Bosses[]

Characters[]

RizerGun

Bill Rizer returns in glorious 3D.

  • Bill Rizer: The Alien Wars hero and one of the protagonists of earlier Contra games, Bill Rizer is brought back from his cryogenic prison, where he was located since he accidentally killed 80% of Earth's population.
  • Lucia: A female cybernetic super soldier and partner of Bill Rizer since she released him from his prison. She was originally planned by Dr. Geo Mandrake (from Contra: Hard Corps), but he was unable to finish her due to his death, so Lucia was developed later.
  • Lance Bean: Bill's former partner and one of the protagonists of earlier Contra games. Now he has become the commander of the "Blood Falcon" terrorist organization and also has merged himself with an alien cell.
  • Triumvirate: Three hundreds-of-years-old men who have prolonged their lives using cybernetic implants, which also combined their minds together. They are the high government of Earth in 2647. Their names are Gaius, Nero and Commodus.
  • Moirai Relic: Mysterious force that the alien attackers were trying to recover.

Stages[]

Stage Name Minibosses Boss Music
1 Fortress Biker
Magnus
Factory Demolition Machine
Snow Worm
Taka
2 Train Flying Submarine
Train Plasma Cannon
Zweihander
Yokozuna Battle Train
3 City Floating Bird Nest Garth Base
Mince Worm
Gluttonous Ugougo
Crawler Tank
4 Seabed Burstrick Rider
Big Pinhead
Jinmen Gyo
5 Archipelago Cochlear Armored Car
Wall
Lance Bean
Gomeramos King
Tissue Helminth
Kimkoh
Presshand
Emperor-Demon Gyaba Island
6 Sanctuary Mr. Heli-Robo
Ultimate Being
Celestial Frog
Celestial Jellyfish
Celestial Atomic Cell
Vital Gonad
7 Stage 7 - Grotesque Chimera A True Last Boss

Unlockables[]

Along with the endings, various secret bonuses are made available by clearing the entire game under certain conditions. Note that rewards must be cleared under the Normal difficulty:

Unlockable Description
*Theater
*Database
Clear missions 1-5 with a C or B rank. The Theater allows players to rewatch any unlocked movies. Ending movies in the Theater become available once a respective ending is reached.
*Mission 06 Clear Mission 05 with an A or S. Clearing Mission 06 with a C or B rank unlocks an ending movie plus an additional maximum life stock.
*Art Gallery
*Training Mode
Clear Mission 06 with an A or S rank, then clear the secret final stage. The Training Mode allows a player to play any stage starting with 30 lives.
*Contra Vs. movie
*an additional max life stock
Clear all missions with an S rank. The Contra Vs. movie is a short test movie made by developers as an in-game joke.

The Theater, Database, Art Gallery, and Training Mode are all accessible in the "Etc" menu within the Options menu.

In addition, a player can receive an additional increase in maximum lives by playing the game for a combined number of hours total. The first extra life is achieved by playing for 6 hours total, followed by 13 hours total (seven more hours), and finally after playing 20 hours total.

Development[]

After commissioning Appaloosa Interactive for the development of Contra: Legacy of War and C: The Contra Adventure, Konami assigned their internal KCE Tokyo team to work on the next installment in the franchise. Nobuya Nakazato (the director of Contra III and Hard Corps) was put in charge of the game's direction, design and scenario. A few years prior to the announcement of Shattered Soldier, Konami had plans for a Nintendo 64 installment in the series, tentatively titled Contra Spirits 64, that would have been handled by KCE Osaka, but those plans were canceled.

Script[]

Main article: Contra: Shattered Soldier/Script

Related products[]

Gallery[]

Videos[]

Trivia[]

  • The words labeled in the background of the main menu/title screen read "FOR DEEP ACTION GAMERS".
  • Bill Rizer being sentenced to a long term of cryogenic imprisonment, only to later be freed by the government to deal with a new threat from his past and being paired with a female partner bares a similarity to the plot of the 1993 science fiction action film Demolition Man, starring Sylvester Stallone, in which the protagonist, John Spartan, has a similar experience.
  • The English title of the game could possibly represent or foreshadow Lance Bean's insurrection.
  • In the English commercial of the game, it is mentioned a Game Boy Advance version which was never released. It is possible that this product ended up being Contra Advance: The Alien Wars EX instead, which was released around the same time.
  • The Spanish version of the game mistranslates the game's "hit rate" indicator as taza de velocidad (speed cup). A more accurate translation would have been tasa de aciertos.
  • In Greek mythology, the Moirai or Moerae /ˈmɪrˌiː/ or /ˈmiːˌriː/ (Ancient Greek: Μοῖραι, "apportioners"), often known in English as the "Fates" (Latin: Fata), were the white-robed incarnations of destiny; their Roman equivalent was the Parcae (euphemistically the "sparing ones"). Their number became fixed at three: Clotho (spinner), Lachesis (allotter) and Atropos (literally 'unturnable' but metaphorically 'inflexible' or 'inevitable' - i.e., death). This reference is seen with the Triumvirate, although they are depicted as male, whereas in Greek mythology the Moirai were female.

See also[]

  • Neo Contra - Following game of the series on the same console. It uses the same engine and features a similar gameplay style.
Contra: Shattered Soldier
Organizations
Contra
Bill RizerLucia
Blood Falcon
Bosses
TakaYokozunaCrawler TankJinmen GyoEmperor-Demon GyabaVital GonadGrotesque Chimera
Minibosses
BikerMagnusFactory Demolition MachineSnow WormFlying SubmarineTrain Plasma CannonZweihanderFloating Bird Nest Garth BaseMince WormGluttonous UgougoBurstrick RiderBig PinheadCochlear Armored CarWallLance BeanGomeramos KingTissue HelminthKimkohPresshandMr. Heli-RoboUltimate BeingCelestial FrogCelestial JellyfishCelestial Atomic Cell
Other characters
Enemy Commander
Earth Federation Government
Triumvirate • (Gaius, Nero, Commodus)
Moirai
Stages
FortressTrainCitySeabedArchipelagoSanctuaryStage 7
Soundtrack
Shin Contra Original SoundtrackContra: Shattered Soldier
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