Desert Strike

THE BAD:
Can get quite hard in the later missions (explained below)

SUMMARY:
This game has got a fairly simple principle, but it's executed in a good fashion. You control a helicopter with 3 different weapons. You must fulfil certain objectives in order in order to complete the map. These objectives can range from destroying radar stations and other buildings to finding and evacuating hostages. There is a storyline to bolster the purpose of the missions as well. Nothing Hollywood calibre but enough to get the job done. The weapons you have are machine guns, rockets and missiles in increasing power and decreasing maximum ammo supply. You can find ammo crates throughout the map as well as fuel drums which are essential because without fuel you'll crash and lose a life. Finding missing soldiers and returning them safely to an evacuation point is the only way to regain armour on your helicopter.

Your Radar is the most valuable thing in the game because it shows you the locations of most important things on the map from objectives to ammunition crates to enemies. Frequently checking your radar will allow you to keep on top of situations. It will also provide you with information on your objectives and the locations of them, if that information is known. Often you won't even know what your later objectives are until you've completed the first few, especially in the later levels.

But one problem I had with the game was this. Your helicopter doesn't get any stronger as the missions go on. That isn't a problem in itself but what is a problem is the radar. It will only show up the new enemy that you meet on the map. On the first map the most powerful enemy can do a fair amount of damage to you, but on later missions despite the fact they are still very powerful, your map only shows the even more powerful units. That's great as it allows you to avoid danger, but now the previous units aren't shown up so you can lose a hell of a lot of armour in the blink of an eye by flying over units you didn't know were there. This is compounded by the fact that ammo and fuel seems to get more scarce as the levels go on, as do the people MIA who you can rescue to restore your armour. You do get 3 lives per level, which early on is more than enough, but towards the end of the game you'll struggle to survive even with all 3.

But other than that this game was pretty awesome. The simple controls allows anyone to pick up and play and enjoy the early levels even if they find the game too hard later on. Often a level can take several goes as you use the knowledge you gained from your last attempt to improve upon your next one. I give the game 4/5.