P.N.03

Nintendo exclusive

A colonial settlement on a distant planet goes out-of-control after a Computer Arms Management System goes haywire. Enter Vanessa Schneider, a freelance mercenary and robot killer with a grudge to settle in this exhilarating action game. But will Vanessa's dark past collide with her ultimate mission?

Released: 27 March 2003
Platforms: GameCube
Genres: Science Shooter Third-person shooter
Developers: Capcom
Publishers: Capcom
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Third person
Themes: Action Science fiction
Country: Japan
Age ratings: ESRB T
Languages: English, Japanese
Directors: Shinji Mikami

About

P.N.03 (Product Number Three) is a 2003 third-person shooter developed and published by Capcom for the GameCube. Set in a space colony compound, the game follows a female mercenary fighting against berserk robots. Gameplay focuses on defensive tactics and includes abilities that can be upgraded.

Directed by Shinji Mikami and produced by Hiroyuki Kobayashi, the game is part of the Capcom Five, a group of video games developed by Capcom Production Studio 4 to introduce new intellectual property. To avoid similarities with Devil May Cry and Resident Evil, the game designers emphasized defensive and rhythmic maneuvers and a "feminine" game world. The game was developed on a tight schedule in an attempt to offset Capcom's poor fiscal year.

›Story

The Computer Arms Management System (CAMS) is the basic form of defense for planets against any enemy. But a terrible accident leaves an entire colony dead, and it's up to a human to put an end to the out of control system.

Enter Vanessa Z. Schneider, a freelance mercenary, who has been charged with the task of bringing CAMS under control. But she has another mission at heart: to take revenge on CAMS for killing her family.

Keywords

female protagonist
boss fight
cover system
tank controls
acronym titles
capcom five

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The player controls Vanessa Z. Schneider, a freelance mercenary working on colonized planets. She is contracted by a mysterious client to destroy Computerized Armament Management System (CAMS) robots that have gone berserk. Robots of this type had been responsible for killing Vanessa's parents.

To combat the CAMS, Vanessa wears "Aegis suits", powered exoskeletons that connect to her spine and allow her to fire energy beams from her palms and to perform powerful attacks called "energy drives". It depletes the energy meter, grants temporary invulnerability to Vanessa and damages multiple enemies. At checkpoints, the player uses points earned from defeated robots to purchase Aegis suits, suit upgrades and energy drives. The player may play "trial missions" (randomly generated levels) between missions to score extra points.

Development

In November 2002, Capcom announced the Capcom Five, a group of video games developed by Capcom Production Studio 4 and overseen by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami. 03, directed by Mikami. Capcom conceived the Capcom Five to bring new intellectual property to the industry, which the company viewed at the time as stagnant. 03 team's goal was to make a game both "fun to watch and fun to play".

The team focused on the game's audiovisuals, action and speed, and they tried to balance the "tension experienced on the battlefield and the exhilaration of taking out the enemies". 03 to evoke the same feelings as classic Famicom games. While the staff felt the background graphics were important, they prioritized excitement in the game world.

Reception

P.N.03 failed commercially and received average to mixed reviews, with scores of 64% and 63 on review aggregate websites GameRankings and Metacritic, respectively. Several critics predicted P.N.03's cult status and lack of mainstream accessibility at its release and afterwards, and it has been listed in several articles as being an "overlooked" or "hidden" gem that "[deserves] another chance".

It has been called a "cult classic" and "future classic" that could "easily confused with a 3D action title" and leave gamers "confused or disappointed" with its "initially awkward" controls, but requires "perseverance".