Airstrike II: Gulf Thunder Review

Written by: Dustin Arient Published: April 19, 2005 In a testament to the legacy of Namco's Galaga, most vertically scrolling shooters released in the last decade are set in deep space. However, 1942 (another classic Eighties title) gave rise to a whole new branch of the family that allowed players to rain death from above Earth. Airstrike II: Gulf Thunder from Divo Games has its roots in this subgenre. Gulf Thunder is thoroughly and unabashedly action-oriented. If you play it during your coffee break, your beverage will cool on your desk; there's no time to take a sip. The rules are simple: get your heavily armed attack helicopter to the landing pad at the end of each level without being blown from the sky, and destroy as many enemies as you can along the way. As in all games of this type, the screen automatically moves forward at a steady rate, while you're free to move in the four compass directions to aim and evade enemy ordnance. Unlike Gulf Thunder's arcade predecessors, the vehicles and environments are displayed in 3D. In addition, the camera angle can be adjusted, allowing for different perspectives on the action. The controls are fully customizable; any combination of keyboard or joystick commands can be configured. The default (and most intuitive) option is mouse control. You simply move your mouse to fly your chopper around the screen and press its buttons to fire your guns. Switching weapons is accomplished with the spacebar. A generous variety of guns and missiles are supplied to you in the form of ammo crates strewn about each level and as pickups disgorged from the wreckage of your foes. Rapid-fire blasters produce a large cone of destruction in front of you, guided rockets seek the enemy without aiming, pin-point laser bolts deliver heavy damage to isolated opponents, and some weapons generate lightning bolts and shockwaves. Certain armaments are better suited to taking out ground-based adversaries, while others work more efficiently against aircraft. Your equipment can be upgraded as you progress, increasing its usefulness. Also available are special devices that can launch tactical nuclear bombs and remote strikes from airplanes and orbiting satellites. Repair packs, shields and other beneficial items materialize from time to time to aid in your survival. The environments are pleasingly detailed. Rather than being a static landscape, the terrain undulates with mountains, rippling water, destructible buildings, bridges, power lines and palm trees that sway with each explosion. The ground also plays a role in the action by reflecting the dynamic lighting from weapons fire. The laser beams and other effects are extremely well done, too. The tactical nuke and lightning gun, for example, produce pyrotechnics that can fill your entire field of view. The enemies you face are as varied as they are numerous. They come in the form of helicopters of every size and configuration, from small, easily destroyed cannon fodder to enormous gunships that can take an incredible pounding and deliver long strings of missile fire. There are also fixed-wing aircraft, ground-based artillery, a variety of tanks and even boats. All of the models are well designed and sport crisp, colorful textures. The music consists of a few adequate, but unspectacular, techno tracks, while the sound effects (especially the explosions) are quite satisfying. Although there isn't a lot of grand strategy to be found here, there are plenty of reflex-testing moments, when the sky and ground fill with enemy fire, and split-second decisions must be made as to which direction to dodge, which opponent to destroy first, and when to risk disaster by dashing forward to pick up a health pack or weapon. That said, there are a few minor problems. First, the player-controlled helicopter is too large for the landscape it inhabits. During intense firefights, it can seem like there's just not enough room to maneuver and avoid gunfire. (Changing to a fully overhead view helps somewhat.) This issue is compounded by the fact that, as you approach the extreme left or right, the nose of your craft aims slightly toward a point in the center of its range of motion. The more you traverse to the edges, the greater the slanting. This causes some problems with aiming at targets that reside in the upper corners of the screen. I also felt the normal difficulty setting is far too hard to be called normal, especially the first two or three levels. Lastly, the program completely disallows any attempt to Alt-Tab back to your desktop, which is disappointing, since this is the sort of game I like to keep running and play in five minute breaks while doing things like writing reviews. Airstrike II: Gulf Thunder is far too addictive and fun to let these small imperfections bother me, though. The graphics are rich, resplendent with blazing effects and explosions, and run with uncompromising smoothness. The huge variety of enemies and weapons, the intuitive controls and the persistently challenging missions are several notches above the garden variety shareware offering. I'd recommend this title to any game player who has fond memories of the 80's.