Light gun games have fallen by the wayside in recent years. Namco’s Time Crisis and Point Blank dominated the genre in the mid-nineties, but the additional cost of gun peripherals and the often-troublesome calibration of said devices perhaps held these shooters back from mainstream success. Today, motion controllers have removed the need for a separate gun accessory and have proven to be as accurate as their firearm counterparts. With Time Crisis making a Move-enabled return and others following suit, Cohort Studio’s The Shoot serves as a competent taster of what’s to come.

Matrix pillars are in style

As it’s aimed at the family demographic, you won’t be blasting armed goons to shreds with meaty hand-cannons or anything like that. Sorry gore-seekers, this is not the place for you. Instead you assume the role of an action movie star running around film sets, shooting waves of robots and aliens across several themed stages. Our playthrough saw us tearing up an underground subway station under siege from menacing androids and flying brains, accurately placing shots with the Move controller while avoiding hostages.

True to the light gun genre, the action is entirely on rails, although there is plenty of excitement to be had thanks to a relentless barrage of enemies and highly destructible scenery. We had a blast shooting the tiled walls and pillars of the subway station to smithereens as fragments of porcelain and steel flew about the screen in over the top fashion. While you are firmly rooted to the beaten track, the game does allow you to tilt the controller and lean to either side and dodge incoming rockets. It’s a nice touch, but we found it difficult to pull off when we needed it most.

As we got into the groove of destroy enemies, we built up a slow-mo bar that we unleashed by spinning around on the spot. While it worked well, we got shot to bits while spinning around, suggesting that you have to be careful when activating this skill. It’s not the pinnacle of risk-reward, but it does require clever use. We jumped on a hurtling subway train and battled flying drones on the roof before reaching the first sub boss, a lumbering mini-gun toting mech that we dispatched with surprising ease.

Red Move Redemption

The real star of the show was the end level boss, a screen-filling robot called Robotomus Crime. As we emerged from the subway line and out into the chaotic streets, we took on the gigantic enemy as it smashed open a bank and attempted to make off with bags of cash. Throughout the fight, we gradually chipped away at the bosses’ health and successfully shot glowing parts of its anatomy when prompted to break off its armour.

After finishing off the iron giant, our hands-on session came to a close, although we were left wanting to play more. It may not have the tense pacing of Time Crisis or the variety of Point Blank, but it’s a fun, chaotic and well-presented shooter that works well with Move. It’s not a control revolution, but Sony’s peripheral fits the purpose here perfectly. More light-gun games please!