I Love This Game!
As youve no doubt read by now, you dont control your character directly, you press X to run forward along rails, then hold a direction as indicated on screen to select a route. When it comes to combat, the game plays more like a strategy game than a shooter, you aim at the enemy, then have to select the appropriate character, and kill them in a specific manner, which means when multiply enemys are on screen, the actions pretty hectic!
Now heres the thing, ive heard the games alot better on gamecube, and if it is then the niggles on the PS2 that bring the game down should hopefully be alot better. During fights the game can slow down ALOT and you see a loading screen every 2 seconds that really screws your eyes up. The graphics are a little rough in places too. These will no doubt be better on the GC so id recommend that version if possible.