Thunderstrike: Operation Phoenix
- December 04, 2001 17:35 PM PST
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Thunderstrike reigns over the PS2.
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This single player game puts you in the pilot seat of a state-of-the art military chopper which you can view from first person, in cockpit, and chase modes as you tackle over 2 dozen missions in Eastern Europe, Alaska, Africa and the Middle East. You have total control of the gunship in addition to customizing your armament per mission objectives.The controls are quite sensitive, and require a bit of practice to command your ride. Of course, understanding the principles of thrust versus direction (the basis of helicopter flight) is a prerequisite to have any level of effectiveness on the missions. Thankfully, there's enough "give" in the controls that "dumb down" the required pilot skills to ensure that you?ll be zooming into action shortly.
The graphics are sharp, but somewhat limited to recreate vast barren landscapes from the air, and there is often use of fog and haze to mask limited horizons. Varying time of day modes create different sky hues that are quite spectacular to fly amidst. Night missions look great, thanks to a night vision mode executed with extreme authenticity, especially when zeroing in on the heat trails of ground targets, and the realistic environments all carry believable three-dimensional weight. Sound effects are authentic, but limited?though that?s no big fault. After all, it?s only in the movies that you battle with a driving rock soundtrack. You'll feel like you're either in the chopper with noise-dampening earphones on or outside the chopper in its blustery wake.
Despite being the only attack helicopter game for the PS2, Thunderstrike: Operation Phoenix succeeds on its own merits as a solid game worthy of your attention. Casual twitch gamers may be turned off by the flying learning curve and amount of strategizing required to complete each mission, but you can?t deny the hedonistic thrill of buzzing over a desolate desert landscape and letting loose!
