ONE is pure action. Unbridled, unadulterated, non-stop action. It's amazing that there were TWO Contra games during the fifth generation on Playstation and Sega Saturn, and both were so atrociously generic that even a refresher their existence and atrip to Wikipedia will still leave you dumbfounded that BORING Contra games exist. Meanwhile, there's ONE, a game that embodies what Konami's blood-pumping run-n-gunners are best known for, but is shackled with such a milquetoast name, even Google search results will ask if you weren't referring to a Jet Li movie. We sadly never got its sequel, TWO.

Developed by Visual Concepts, ONE wastes zero time and rushes at you with all the fury of a Guerilla War or Ikari Warriors. No cut scenes, no world building, little dialogue. You're a prisoner on the run, and everything around you starts blowing up. If you had Dualshock controllers when this madness came out, this thing never got a break.

The first stage is a manic run from a police helicopters launching missiles at you while the building's infrastructure collapses. As far as controls go, ONE plays pretty well, but if you're expecting a great deal of substance from what it offers, it seldom goes beyond clear the screen of enemies and proceed forward. Later levels include some frustrating jumping mechanics, which are horrible due to the camera angled at a manner that makes judging your distance quite annoying.

ONE does run smooth and has very short load times, with little in the way of slowdown. This does come at the expense of visuals, and ONE looks pretty choppy, even for games around this era. While this is a look that hasn't aged well, I do have to say that I did like that blend of 2D rendered static images with 3D models. Even if the models looked rough, it was interesting to look at for me. Generally the camera stays far during the more open areas and lots of stuff go BOOM, be it debris or enemies. Foot soldiers are just waves of guys, waiting for you to dispose of them. And for whatever reason, you have melee combat. This was also 1997. It worked poorly.

ONE is straightforward and is a decent enough action game that probably lacks in the character department to resonate with game fans as the years moved on. With Metal Gear Solid, Syphon Filter, and Resident Evil 2 on the horizon, home consoles began to provide  more robust and integral styles of gameplay. ONE is a hell of a ride,but perhaps and antiquated one for the fifth generation.