Konami and WayForward pull out all the stops with not two, not four, but six playable characters with different skills. The cast is still led by Bill Rizer and his barracks friend Lance Bean, but we will also find the alien hybrid Lucia, already seen in the PS2 episode Shattered Soldier. The young lady is equipped with a grappling hook to move more skillfully. Another welcome surprise is the presence of a Probotector unit. Well known to European players for having replaced the human protagonists in the first episodes, censorship required, the robots now show up on the end of their fuselage on occasion.
New recruits
Two new faces are joining the ranks. Lieutenant Stanley Ironside is a loud-mouthed soldier with Iron Man-style armor, capable of flying over the battlefield in a jetpack to shoot down enemies in complete safety. A native fighter from Galuga, the great Ariana will fight alongside career soldiers to liberate her island. As of now, his special ability is unknown.
Contra: Operation Galuga is significantly a reinterpretation of the very first episode, taking up its codes, weapons and scenario with some new features to modernize the sauce. Thus, the official site tells us that each weapon can be overloaded to trigger a specific special attack. The trailer shows a nice diversity of blasters, from the grenade launcher to the black hole launcher, without forgetting the laser or the spread. A few motorcycle phases will punctuate the story, to be done alone or in pairs. An Arcade mode will accommodate up to 4 players to increase the score.
Contra: Operation Galuga is planned for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series and Switch in early 2024.