REVIEW: Heatseeker

Yes, we're sick of World War games, however, if someone talks about sky kissing heights and having some goose-bumping dogfight while sitting in the cockpit of sophisticated all-weather tactical fighter planes like F-15 Eagle, then you aren't down anymore with worthless frustration and dismay.

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Heatseeker is one of those adequate titles that keep you playing, holding your attention by perpetuating the commotion that all IR Gurus & Codemasters tend to bring to you through its beautiful creation.

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Game-Plot:

As you know, the game is very first in the ultramodern flight/action series, though contains no sequel, so it's obvious that the game has no monotonous long game plot. The game places you in the role of a peacekeeper in the International Council (IC) monikered Downtown. You are always accompanied by a wingman named Divot.

The airborne rage starts as a news channel airs the live telecast of a terrorist attack and it is IC's liability to put efforts to counteract invaders attack; as it's predefined, the organization attempts to run-down dictator's mean intentions and sets his force to attack the dictator.

Gameplay:

Heatseeker is a game that revolves around the fictional world conflict, so contains a completely different standpoint. You are showering tons of missiles from the heights of about 2000 feet and make enemies get down on keens. Most of the time, you find yourself flying overseas, in infinitely big space, cruising over oceans and islands.

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While slashing the air at the speed faster than sound, you suddenly meet a fierce air attack and you go cataleptic instantly, that brings you extra fun. Top Gun ardent fans will definitely love this game.

Apart from a variety of weapons and aircrafts, the game also offers enemies, in abundance. In these plenty of aircrafts, the player can chose any one to fly with, and each one with slightly different control scheme that can be equipped with different weapons, like - air-to-air missiles and ground attack weapons. The game offers players more than 30 jets and 40 different weapons containing few modern fighters like the F-15 Eagle, F-35 Lightning II, SR-71 Blackbird, etc.

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The most interesting aspect of the game is dogfights that in generally are very well accomplished and is a lot of fun. All of these weapons are brought into use during missions and brings a pretty good experience while choosing weapons, setting angle of attack and gunfire, in the nick of time.

Players can blow up bridges, airports, docks, and military bases in the highly destructible environment. The game comes with a choice of either first or third person viewpoint.

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The game is multiplatform flight/action game that is available on Sony's PSP, PS2 and Nintendo's Wii.

Both PS2 as well as PSP game versions are good but it is Wii version on which the developers have sweated hard. In Wii version, the Wii-mote is used to control the position of the plane while the Nunchuck keeps a check on the acceleration. This works literally good, but the annoying thing is the pointer that appears permanently on the screen, making gameplay a bit outlandish. The continuous appearance of remote pointer on the screen renders the player go astray making you hit sea or ground and the player finds it too hard to target a plane because the pointer often goes out of range.

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Price: $29.99-$49.99

ESRB Rating: T

Pros:

Variation in gameplay

Action scheme is exceptional

Controls are excellent

Sound effects are moderate

Cons:

No multiplayer mode

Graphics looks cartoonish sometimes

Bottom-line:

Had Heatseeker been developed exclusively for Nintendo's Wii, the game could have been a little more fun, but sadly, the multiplatform has killed the charm as other developers have failed to do justice with the actual theme. If players cope with the weaker presentation values and just single-player mode, then I bet they will find the game really imbibing, because the game brings forth a completely different theme.