Description
When looking for old gaming I.P.s that need a modern coat of paint, you probably wouldn't find a fairly obscure, almost 30 year old game like "Hard Edge" on most people's list...
Released outside Japan and Europe as "T.R.A.G. - Tactical Rescue Assault Group: Mission of Mercy", the game was not particularly well-liked when it initially released in 1998 by Sunsoft for the original PlayStation. The game was a colorful, anime-inspired 3D action / adventure game in the style made popular by games of the day such as "Resident Evil", "Doctor Hauzer", "Alone in the Dark", "Parasite Eve (II)", and others with pre-rendered or low-poly backgrounds and fixed camera angles that cut from scene to scene. While most games that used the style were remembered for being fairly dark or brooding, HE was a bit campier and, in retrospect, a pretty decent game. It also has some die-hard fans, so when "Hard Edge: War Zone" was announced by the "revived" Sunsoft back in April, a tiny part of the gaming community was ecstatic.
More news came out and people learned it was going to be a "Real-time Tactical Card Battle" game... the change in genres turned some off, but I was still on board as that didn't bother me. Then we learned it was going to primarily be shaped around online multiplayer... things started sounding pretty bad at this point as HE didn't have a particularly large base to begin with, which means it was bound to be DOA at launch. As more info came out, I was both concerned and excited about the project; enthusiasm from the team was evident with quite a bit of artwork, developer interviews, discussions about the original HE (which is available on modern platforms), the creative process, BitSummit... some hype was being generated prior to launch day. And then the "full" game launched... and silence. Priced at $16, I tempered my expectations and was fully prepared for a simple Indie-like game, but I wasn't "quite" prepared enough, apparently.
HE:WZ is kind of a mess, which is a shame because I REALLY want to like it. With a "Story Mode" which is basically a glorified ~30 minute tutorial for the online mode which doesn't do a good job of fleshing out the mechanics and sorta "prequelizes" events of the first game while trivializing them as they... (*SPOILERS?*)
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Wipe the memories of the operatives, so it's almost like it never even happened.
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Then there's the "Mission Mode" which makes you use two random teams (either Alex & Michelle or Burns & Rachel, you can't choose) which has a basic Rogue-like structure and would be simple fun if the game wasn't notorious for crashing constantly with soft locks (causing you to lose any and all progress for a run), turning the "bulk" of the game into an excruciating nightmare (as progress in this mode allows you to gain experience and levels needed to increase your card deck and get permanent upgrades). We then have to talk about the "actual" online mode with dead lobbies, reduced visual fidelity, and choppy / glitchy gameplay (and that's with bots, it could be even worse with actual players)... the simultaneous actions of the characters is cool in theory but is confusing and not integrated very well in practice, and you have 20 seconds to try and coordinate with your team and figure out what they're doing and then plan two or three steps ahead of that... yeah.
At its core though, the game is a turn-based card battler where you use cards from your deck and take down the enemy. Each card has a cost associated with it and can be used as described or for movement. Every character has cards specific to them which will alter your playstyle a bit, but the game lacks a lot of QoL features, like being able to actually see your allies cards so you can plan your moves, the inability to save during a mission (which would have at least mitigated crashing issues), better (visual) indicators for how cards interact in the environment (explosions won't go around corners, diagonals will target adjacent characters, etc.), more than a tiny handful of maps, fully translated text (some minor stuff is still in Japanese), notes that upgraded cards only work online (this gets very confusing during Mission Mode the more you grind), etc.
It's a true pity when everything is said and done because I love the look of the game; they absolutely nailed the perfect cross-section of retro low-poly anime characters and modern hi-res graphics, making it look like a really shiny Dreamcast or PS2 game, but it should not have been released as-is and was swiftly abandoned after launch. There's a term making the rounds these days called "Vibe Coding"... and this "feels" like a byproduct of it with all the rough edges. If you want a proper espionage card battler, play the (superior) games, "Battle Hunter" or "Metal Gear Acid". If you HAVE to try this, you can at:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4612870/Hard_Edge__War_Zone/
This is a video covering all major facets. Enjoy.