Every so often a developer will make a game that redefines a genre. Raystorm is just such a title. This hot game comes to us from Working Designs, more specifically from their new "shooter division" called Spaz. With a slick interface, a smooth graphical engine and a post apocalyptic storyline, Raystorm really delivers one of the best shooting experiences ever to hit a home console.

The year is now 2219, nearly a hundred years after space travel has became reality. Over the years, humanity has spread throughout space as colony after colony was established. Now, at this point in time life extends all the way to Orion. However, with this huge network of colonies growing year after year, the Star Federation has found it increasingly difficult to keep security tight. Finally, in a last ditch effort to keep peace, the Federation puts all twenty of the space colonies under strict martial law. Unfortunately this law is only the beginning of a bigger problem. On the planet of Secilia, home of the strongest colony of them all, the Secilia Federation is formed by a group of rebels. Soon they begin to win victory after victory and eventually defeat Earth and its Star Federation. Finally, the Secilia Federation makes its intentions clear and begins to evacuate the earth so they can destroy it. This task is not as easy as the Secilians think though. Deep within the Balca section of Earth, a new spacecraft called the R-gray has been completed. This ship is the only thing powerful enough to penetrate the Secilia Federation's strong defenses. So begins the fight to stop the Secilian Federation from destroying earth, otherwise known as Operation Raystorm.

So far, shooters have been high in numbers, but low in quality on the PlayStation. Raystorm is a top down shooter with graphics that are something else. Playing through any of the game's eight challenging levels, the camera goes absolutely nuts. It pans and swoops across the landscape, as smooth as glass, and delivers motion that will knock your socks off. You have to see it to believe it. The explosions and enemies themselves are also of the highest caliber. When a boss explodes you almost want to duck for cover as the screen lights up and the fallen foe sets aflame. The ships themselves are your standard fare though. They are nice and detailed, but very small and sometimes are easy to lose sight of in the heat of battle. At times the great graphics are overdone as the screen will get cluttered with enemies and explosions. Loss of sight is more of a threat than the enemy fire itself.

Audibly this game could have been a lot more. The sound effects of the enemy fire and explosions are nice and clear but just don't do much for the game. At the beginning of each level there is an announcer that states your location and star-date, but again even this is very quiet. The other disappointing thing in the way of sound effects is that your own ship's regular weapon doesn't even make a noise. It just silently works its magic. As far as music, you can choose either regular or an arranged soundtrack. Neither of which really gets you pumped to play. They are fitting to their respective stages, but don't serve much of a purpose except to keep things from being silent. The music would have been more appropriate as a techno or rock soundtrack, rather than the game's synthesized, new wave sound.

In Raystorm there are three different choices at the title screen being the Arcade, Extra, and Option modes. Arcade mode takes you through all the stages at whatever difficulty you set in options. In Extra, the game has enhanced visual effects, and its own preset difficulty. Lastly in options, you can set your controller configuration, music type, and even individual stage difficulty settings. The standard bells and whistles basically.

Now, supposedly there is a difference in the challenge level of Arcade and Extra mode, but to be completely honest, the game is hard as hell no matter which mode you play. The game, by default, only gives you up to five credits, which unless you can avoid getting hit for long lengths of time, don't last very long. The lack of sufficient credits only becomes more relevant when you play two players simultaneously as the five are shared among both players. This is only made more tedious since the screen gets cluttered so often. You will find yourself getting confused about where you are, and dying for the stupidest reasons (didn't see a bullet in an explosion). All in all, Raystorm isn't impossible, but don't expect to beat it very quickly.

Your basic attacks on each ship are divided between a blaster and a lock-on weapon. The blaster is self-explanatory and can be configured to be rapid fire if you choose. The power, however, differs for each ship. To put it simply, the R-Gray 2 has more lock-on weapons but has a weaker blaster than the R-Gray 1. It just depends on if you want powerful attacks available at any time, or want a good lock-on for strategic battles. My only complaint about the weapons in Raystorm is that I would have liked to see a wider variety. No matter if you choose the R-Gray 1 or R-Gray 2, the weapons for your ship never change other than getting stronger. They will remain a bullet flurry and heat seeking missiles as the R-Gray 1, or lasers and lightning bolts as R-Gray 2.

Raystorm is, in all honesty, the sleeper hit. By now this title has dropped through the floor price wise, but if you can still find it at a local game store, you'd be wise to pick it up. I've yet to play a shooter as challenging and impressive as Raystorm, even since the days of playing R-Type Leo at a local arcade. Until Square's Einhander comes out, if you buy a shooter, make Raystorm your choice. You won't be sorry.