


You can also hang on the orbs and twirl around in 360 degree circles, which is good for taking a stand against large numbers of enemies. Since your plasma chain acts like a slingshot, it’s important to keep up the momentum and travel quickly. The physics also work a little differently than other games with grappling hooks. As long as you’re vaguely in the vicinity of one of those orbs, the hook will automatically shoot towards it as long as you’re pressing the button, even if it’s not visible on screen. All throughout the stages are little green orbs that act as grappling points. The plasma chain works a little different than other games, though. He must defend the planet of Elm from invaders, protecting their many princesses.ĭespite being a 3D game, all of the action takes place along a 2D axis. The hero is a warrior named Shark, who wields a sword called Unbreakable, and carries a grappling hook called the plasma chain. Released only in Japan in 2003, it gained a small word-of-mouth following due to its inclusion on a demo disc for the Official PlayStation Magazine (issue 79), but despite being published by Sony, was not chosen for localization. For those that wanted something similar, the closest anyone could get was the vaguely obscure PlayStation 2 title ChainDive.
#Pcsx2 chaindive series#
At the completion of the demo, a splash screen touted an American release as "Coming Soon", but ChainDive was never released outside of Japan.Until the 2009 reboot of Bionic Commando, Capcom’s acrobatic wire swinging series lay solely in the realm of 2D. on a demo disc packed with the Official PlayStation Magazine, Volume 79, in April 2004. A training mode is available with demo videos and tutorials.Ī playable demo of ChainDive was released to the U.S. Time Attack and Combo Attack modes are unlocked after completing the game. Many stages end with boss encounters and are capped with in-game and illustrated cutscenes with Japanese voiceover. Though most levels are based on grappling and swinging through stages, one level sees Shark snowboarding down an icy mountain, another running towards the screen from a huge monster while carrying a female companion over his shoulder. A combo counter slowly dwindles and when it finally times out Shark is awarded points for his successive moves and his health is even restored upon touching down on the ground for a moment. The gameplay and combo system is designed to encourage fast, non-stop flying action as Shark freezes a series of enemies, latches on and dives through them and continues bounding forward to the next batch. With swift timing, the sword can also be used to deflect enemy fire, freezing them in their tracks. Once frozen, Shark can latch onto enemies with the Plasma Chain, diving straight towards them with his sword, and destroy them for points and a boost in momentum. The particular enemies in ChainDive can be frozen just by approaching Shark's swinging, spinning blade but cannot be destroyed by it. Shark also has a double jump that can be activated at any time.įor attack and defense, Shark carries a glowing purple-blue, double-ended sword. For example, latching onto an orb from below will propel Shark upward but his trajectory can always be influenced by moving the left analog stick. Once attached, his momentum and the left analog stick can be used to adjust his swing.

The player character, Shark, carries the 'Plasma Chain' which allows him to latch onto the plentiful green orbs that populate the levels. The camera pans, zooms and tilts during scripted sequences and in-game cut scenes but the gameplay remains solely 2D. ChainDive, developed by Japan's Alvion and released on PlayStation 2 in October of 2003, is played from a 2.5D perspective with 3D visuals and backgrounds locked on the 2D plane.
