You know, its funny, we get so
preoccupied with the new/current generation of gaming systems that we
sometimes forget that there are still titles for the previous, yet still
"designed for" gaming systems. In fact, when I am looking at the games I am
interested in reviewing, lately, I seem to be passing up those titles that are
on the PS2, the GameCube and the original Xbox. Why? I don’t know, we all know
that there is potential in these systems, and that developers still make
titles for them, but hey, maybe it’s because we want the latest and greatest.
And, to be honest with you, 99 times out of 100, if a game is made across all
platforms, and there is a PS2 version and a 360 version, the 360 version
always seems to look and sound better for the obvious reasons. But every once
in a while, a title comes out that is exclusive to one system and even though
it is a last-generation system, everything fires on all cylinders and gaming
gold is struck. But not in this case. One, not only because the game isn’t all
that great, but two, the game is available on the Wii and PSP.
Aside from my mindless ramblings
in the above paragraph, I wanted and actually requested this title, because
quite frankly, I wanted to play some serious air-to-air, air-to-ground combat
action. I had hoped that my unnatural itch to fly at mach 3 and blow things up
would be scratched with this title, but alas, I keep on itching and you keep
on wondering just what the devil I am talking about.
"You smell something burning?"
That being said, in Heatseeker,
you play as a, what else, a jet pilot. You run the gamut of about 18 missions
that involve the introductory levels that help you get the basic controls down
while blowing enemies out of the sky, to eventually moving on to more dramatic
fare, which involve blowing enemies out of the sky AND on the
ground. Yes, that is a note of sarcasm that you are picking up on. Sadly in
Heatseeker, the game never really gets past the one trick pony of blowing
things up as a way to move the missions forward. Oh sure, you may have to
defend a base, or go hunt down nuclear weapon smugglers, but in the end, they
all just get blown up. And when I say they all, I mean it. I’m fairly certain
that you will single handedly kill every enemy aviator in both hemispheres as
you unload your machine gun fire into sortie after sortie after sortie. And
miraculously never run out of ammunition. Oh wait a minute there is variation.
Sometimes you drop bombs, other times you drop torpedoes, but in the end,
things still blow up. Am I being a little hard on this game? Well, I don’t
think so. And in all fairness, the game is played like a arcade game, with the
action coming at you fast and furious, only things just get old way to
quickly. To expand on my disappointment in this title, you need to understand
something. And I can clarify everything in one simple sentence.
They blew it.
There, everything is all wrapped
up, but wait, I wouldn’t be a good reviewer if I left it at that. So
understand this. In the game, you get debriefed before each explosion-filled
mission. Only it’s not so much a debriefing as it an personal attack meant to
belittle you into action. The game’s weird plot structure is a hodgepodge of
poor clichés and even poorer voice acting. Your commanding officer treats you
like you are a hotshot pilot (ala Tom Cruise in Top Gun), but it is never
determined why, there is no back-story as to why you are being treated this
way, and in confirming with my father who was a 25 year career military man. A
commanding officer doesn’t generally act this way when he is potentially
sending his men off to die. Maybe it has something to do with your being a
rookie, maybe it’s your nickname, but whatever it is, it doesn’t make sense.
But not only is it poorly conveyed, it is poorly said. The voice acting is a
blistering attack on the English language, the over the top, barrage of orders
just seems so out of place. Really, is anyone this upset?
"Should the unlikely event of a water
landing occur, then your seat cushion can be used as a floatation device."
The graphics in Heatseeker don’t
do the game any justice either. The fighters, and there end up being quite a
few of them, are decently displayed, with different, noticeable attributes.
But the ground and buildings are nothing more than blasé colored blocks and
detail-less pudding. The frame rate, while quick and without lag doesn’t add
any weight to a game that has this poor of visuals. There are an awful lot of
explosions, but they happen so often that the developers clearly didn’t want
them to be too pretty as to distract. Smoke effects were unrealistic and
tracer fire could have been a bit brighter. Either way, the graphics don’t
bring anything to the table in this title, and we all know what the PS2 is
capable of.
I said above the voice acting was
pretty bad, but the cheesy glam rock that saturates this mess only serves to
make you smile, with a solid shock disappointment. Who would have thought this
game would have been made this way. It’s crazy to think this way. It’s almost
achieves the "It’s so bad, it’s good" mantle, but falls just short, making it
so bad.
Lastly, the game feature no sort
of multiplayer mode. Not that it would help, but this is a jet fighter combat
game, and it sort of is expected.
|
Review Scoring Details for Heatseeker |
Gameplay: 7.3
There are two ways to fly the
jets, arcade and professional. The pro mode makes things a little more
difficult, but no so’s you can’t blow lots of things up. You never run out of
ammo and you can perform some well known maneuvers. The controls were designed
to give the player a quick, action feel and for the most part they do deliver.
Graphics: 5.0
There are several real life jets
to pilot and look at, and they do look pretty good. And if I’m being totally
honest, then I will admit the levels are huge and filled with good looking
cloud effects. However, that does not excuse the really bad, ground effects,
the lack of detail, and the "I don’t even know how to explain it" look of the
buildings.
Sound: 4.5
Oh man, I can’t get over that crazy rock music. And the completely
unnecessary yelling that occurs from both your C.O. and your wingman.
Honestly, could your character be any more hated by everyone?
Difficulty: Medium
Sigh, it’s just a middle of the
road, 500 mph, shoot em’ up.
Concept: 5.4
They had different mission, but
they didn’t really feel all that different since you still blow up tons of
enemy aircraft.
Overall: 5.7
I had high hopes for some real
rock em’ sock em’ aviation action, it never happened.
