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"Heatseaker [Wii]"

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This thread has been linked to the game 'Heatseeker'.
Wed 02/05/07 at 16:41
Moderator
"possibly impossible"
Posts: 24,985
Console flying games are either as shallow as a puddle or far too involved with strategy. If they do get the feel right, they’re more often than not just let down by bad gameplay (Over-G Fighters anyone?). Is Heatseaker, then, a rare feast of a flying game that gets the balance just right? Well, yes and no.

Although the game is out on PS2 and PSP, it’s the Wii game that peaks the interest, thanks to the motion sensitive controls. But getting the most out of these does involve changing the initial setup. Don’t stick with the Wii remote for movement, but go for using the Nunchuk to move and the Wii remote for firing missiles and the setup is perfect.

Once into the game, you’re given a very brief setting, no long and drawn out storylines here. As a rookie pilot you are given a small amount of training, then immediately find yourself sucked into a full scale warzone. But by this time (about 3 minutes in) you’ll have already got used to the controls and the smile will be showing as you gun down another enemy plane.

Yes, it’s pretty simple to start with and you’ll be involved in dogfight after dogfight, but that’s just the first stage. Soon you’ll be taking out aircraft carriers and missile silos too. This all makes for varied enough gameplay and the missions are never dull.

Ok, so far so good. It’s a great game, yes? Well, yes and no. You see, while the balance of the game itself is right, with lots of targets and both arcade and simulation style controls, sometimes it’s all to easy to defeat the enemy. There are 3 difficulty levels, the hardest actually giving you a challenge, but once you get used to aiming and firing your missiles they don’t really take all that much time to dispatch.

Another issue is that there is no multiplayer. This game cries out for a split screen dogfighting mode, but you just get the single player game.

Not only this, but the graphics aren’t really that great either. They do a good enough job, but they’re Gamecube graphics at best and I’ve seen better in other Wii games to know that it can cope with far nicer graphics than this.

A lot of reviews seem to compare this game to Burnout, and yes, there is a certain similarity, fast destructive flying (or driving) and trying to inflict as much damage as possible, but while Heatseaker is a fun game, it doesn’t have the same long lasting appeal as the Burnout games because, at the end of the day, you can’t really make one skyline any different to another.

Heatseaker is a great arcade game and perfect for any Top Gun fans, think of it as a modern Afterburner and you wouldn’t be far off, just don’t expect it to keep your interest once you’ve played through the missions.
There have been no replies to this thread yet.
Wed 02/05/07 at 16:41
Moderator
"possibly impossible"
Posts: 24,985
Console flying games are either as shallow as a puddle or far too involved with strategy. If they do get the feel right, they’re more often than not just let down by bad gameplay (Over-G Fighters anyone?). Is Heatseaker, then, a rare feast of a flying game that gets the balance just right? Well, yes and no.

Although the game is out on PS2 and PSP, it’s the Wii game that peaks the interest, thanks to the motion sensitive controls. But getting the most out of these does involve changing the initial setup. Don’t stick with the Wii remote for movement, but go for using the Nunchuk to move and the Wii remote for firing missiles and the setup is perfect.

Once into the game, you’re given a very brief setting, no long and drawn out storylines here. As a rookie pilot you are given a small amount of training, then immediately find yourself sucked into a full scale warzone. But by this time (about 3 minutes in) you’ll have already got used to the controls and the smile will be showing as you gun down another enemy plane.

Yes, it’s pretty simple to start with and you’ll be involved in dogfight after dogfight, but that’s just the first stage. Soon you’ll be taking out aircraft carriers and missile silos too. This all makes for varied enough gameplay and the missions are never dull.

Ok, so far so good. It’s a great game, yes? Well, yes and no. You see, while the balance of the game itself is right, with lots of targets and both arcade and simulation style controls, sometimes it’s all to easy to defeat the enemy. There are 3 difficulty levels, the hardest actually giving you a challenge, but once you get used to aiming and firing your missiles they don’t really take all that much time to dispatch.

Another issue is that there is no multiplayer. This game cries out for a split screen dogfighting mode, but you just get the single player game.

Not only this, but the graphics aren’t really that great either. They do a good enough job, but they’re Gamecube graphics at best and I’ve seen better in other Wii games to know that it can cope with far nicer graphics than this.

A lot of reviews seem to compare this game to Burnout, and yes, there is a certain similarity, fast destructive flying (or driving) and trying to inflict as much damage as possible, but while Heatseaker is a fun game, it doesn’t have the same long lasting appeal as the Burnout games because, at the end of the day, you can’t really make one skyline any different to another.

Heatseaker is a great arcade game and perfect for any Top Gun fans, think of it as a modern Afterburner and you wouldn’t be far off, just don’t expect it to keep your interest once you’ve played through the missions.

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