Soviet Strike

Our editors remember playing the original Desert Strike years ago. Flying around in that three-fourths perspective world, blowing away terrorist after terrorist and saving the world from nuclear annihilation...now that was fun.

The fun could be back (but in a 32-Bit fashion) when Electronic Arts' newest addition to the Strike series, Soviet Strike, hits the streets since it's being developed by some of the original Strike designers.

In past Strike games, commandos (garners and their pals) would fight terrorists, drug lords and ex-military madmen. In Soviet Strike, players are up against something that could show up in today's headlines-the warring factions in the People's Republic (a.k.a the Soviet Union) and the remnants of the old Soviet army. Players still have to manage their fuel, ammo and armor to ensure success.

The graphics in Soviet Strike are photo-quality. The terrain is mapped with digitized textures that gamers won't see repeating again and again. The terrain is based on actual geographic maps. The vehicles are 3-D as well, based on the actual helicopters, turrets, jeeps and other crafts. On top of this, the game features two camera views: classic and chase-plane.

Soviet Strike also features some "living" elements as EA states. These include a living battlefield where enemy soldiers and vehicles react to situations depending on if the gamer is attacking them or not. This way the enemies won't keep coming and coming-in other words, the artificial intelligence is enhanced. Coupled with the new Al, the soundtrack also changes depending on the intensity of battle.

As gamers play, they get briefed by the Strike organization-the team behind the missions of the past and the new Soviet attack. The team includes: The Commander, a hardcore military man, a hacker, complete with jive-talk, and a secret agent posing as a CNN-esque reporter. Soviet Strike also features the hot new method of communication-players can use STRIKE.NET, a web of intelligence with info on the enemy and their plans. This way players can get all of the information on mission objectives, enemy vehicles as well as ammo, fuel and armor refill locations.

Soviet Strike has a load of missions to play through. Some are relatively short while others will make gamers wonder if they'll ever make it back to the base. Rescuing prisoners is a major concern in many of the levels so mastering the winch certainly wouldn't hurt.

Soviet Strike promises to be everything the old Strike games were with incredible 32-Bit graphics and enemies with Artificial Intelligence that will make gamers really hate 'em. Besides, since Strike's motto is: "We stop the war before it begins," gamer's will want to do the same.

Gamers couldn't get enough of Desert Strike and Jungle Strike for the 16-Bit home systems. Because of this demand, the same team that brought out the original is producing a new Strike to check out. Soviet Strike for the Sony PlayStation uses the same great control and awesome type of missions the originals are known for. The enhanced features of Soviet Strike include: enhanced Al so enemies won t attack in the same way each time, state-of-the-art graphics and EA's new IMS sound technology which provides improved dynamics. This new version also includes multiple camera angles. The top headlines in today's news reflect the nature of your missions.

The long-awaited sequel to Electronic Arts "Strike" series made its formal debut at the E3 trade show last May. When the our editors first saw this game, it was love at first sight Officially titled Soviet Strike, EA has been working very quietly and secretly for the last year on creating the ultimate 32-Bit flying/battle simulation game. The game producers and directors, some of whose work dates back to the original 16-Bit Desert Strike, knew that this version had to create an experience for the player that never had been done before. Otherwise, the game would be just another "fun" game, lost in the crowd of other flying games this Christmas. And with the previous Strike games being the largest non-sports products that EA had, the staff set their sights high and started with a clean slate.

Led by the team of John Manley-game director, Rod Swanson-director, The Edge, Michael Becker-creative director The Edge, and backed by some of the most creative people in the industry, the group set out to mold the game idea. It had to be similar in concept to the previous games-the premise had to be plausible and something the player could relate to and get into. It also had to relate to something currently going on in the world. After kicking around some ideas, the focus shifted to Russia and the turmoil that was going on in the different parts of that country.

With the location decided I upon, the staff went back into the other Strike games and did surveys as to what types of levels were the most popular with the players. They found that people loved to blow things up (but not mindlessly), there had to be people to rescue, clues to find and items to get to complete the missions.

These objectives had to be balanced but not to the point where the player became frustrated and quit. The replay value had to be there to keep the person engrossed in the game-a game, it turned out, quite similar to the first one in the series: Desert Strike.

With the concept and goal established, the next problem was to decide how to fill the massive amount of memory available on a CD game. This extra memory allowed the group to open up the horizons and do things that were unthinkable in the days of the 16-Meg carts. Things like really being able to kick up the emotional level in the game by including better sound, voices and video clips-lots of them, over 1,200 in totaL.so far. But this isn't another mindless motion-video game. These are all small clips which inform and tantalize the player. Audio and video which include actual battlefield reports, payoff cinemas, radio war drama-many of which are under user control. The video is windowed and presented in a CNN news style.

It is interspersed throughout the game and there to keep the player totally immersed in a real war. It gives the player a reason to get through each of the missions and to the madman at the end of the game.

Story aside, there had to be more eye candy. This is the 32-Bit generation and the days of barren sprite terrain or unrealistic-looking polygon pyramid-type cities don't sell anymore. The goal became to create a complete, rendered, rich landscape accurate to the smallest detail. As you can see from the above screen shots, they have accomplished this goal admirably.

Visual concepts worked out, the story had to be created. The first design script laid out the game features, the look and feel of the game, the art processes, the missions and campaigns. From there, they started doing the detailed script. To assure that it was done properly, they hired a professional writer to make sure that everything was well written.

That was a year ago. Since then the game has evolved into five highly detailed missions-any one of them could be a game in itself. Overall, the producers guarantee that this game will be more than a challenge to the best Strike experts in the nation. In total, they have estimated that there will be more than 100 hours of gameplay in Soviet Strike.

The game is nearing completion now and having played through just the first mission, our editors walked away totally amazed. Not since the release of the first Strike cart has there been a game that has caused such excitement and anticipation. Soviet Strike is easily, hands-down, the best flight/adventure game ever to be made-for any system.

Soviet Strike is ready to fly into 32-bit skies with a deadly arsenal of high-powered graphics and strategic, mind-blowing gameplay. You'll have to conquer 40 missions of destruction by piloting a high-tech helicopter to preserve freedom throughout the world. Armed with missiles, machine guns, and rockets, you can pretty much blow up everything you see on-screen, and details like soldiers fleeing for their lives, and even bursting into flames as they run, are incredible. If you fail to rescue one of your comrades, you can fly overhead and witness his execution, or take out the firing squad before they blow him away. Get ready to strike a blow against communism.

Soviet Strike will feature striking cinematics to go with tough-as-nails helicopter combat.

Guerrilla Gameplay

Strike flies across five locations, which, as in the 16-bit originals, consist of several missions--40 in all. Your chopper's armed with a mean arsenal of hard-boiled high-tech weaponry. You rain destruction on enemy machines from a behind-the-aircraft view or the classic stationary Strike view, where the helicopter rotates around the terrain.

Story Line: Strike Four

EA wants to get back to Strike basics, so Soviet Strike's story line sets up a classic Strike scenario. In its rush to glasnost, the Soviet army (the world's largest) left a lot of nukes just lying around. The Shadow Man, an ex-KGB officer, is busy stockpiling atomic weapons in order to put Commie hard-liners back in power. You once again play a pilot for the ultrasecret U.S. "black ops" group, the Strike Organization.

Striking Graphics

Strike's graphics are amped for 32-bit duty, particularly the size of the Strike copter. EA pumped up all the machines, buildings, and characters, including the "little" soldiers, citizens, and agents you must pick up. Explosions in the beta version were absolutely awesome Strike vets will notice that the Apache gunship here is "strikingly" similar to the Apache in Desert Strike.

Strike fans, limber up those trigger fingers! Tne Shadow Man, an ex KGB operative, is trying to rip off Soviet nukes to put the hard-line commies back into power. You're a trigger-happy copter jockey fighting for democracy. Everything about Strike is massive-from the enormous 40-mission game world to the aircraft, a Desert Strike-style Apache gunship loaded for bear. You can switch gameplay views between the standard stationary-terrain Strike look and a behind-the-chopper view. Strike is poised to strike!

Get ready, Strike fans! The original chart-topper chopper is back. Veteran heli-hackers will love this version--although first-timers may wonder what all the hubbub is about.

The game follows the same outline as the 16-bit versions. You're a pilot in the Strike Force--a new-age paramilitary group that stops wars before they happen. This time the hot spot is the former Soviet Union, and you command missions, from rescuing POWs to destroying radar installations behind enemy lines.

Part of the charm of this upgrade is the hip new attitude--the cut scenes are like Desert Storm as seen on MTV. There's also vicious humor in the voice-overs: Some soldiers scream "Nyah, nyah, you missed...Ooof!" as they're shot.

The graphics have also been remodeled. The chopper and the enemies look great, and the non-repeating terrain was created from aerial flyby photos of actual locations. Also, there's nice detail in the backgrounds.

Strike fans will have to get this game; fans of the faster-paced Black Dawn and Warhawk may find the strategy-heavy gameplay slow. Still, give Soviet Strike a spin you may find yourself hovering for hours.

Graphics

Strike is resplendent with gorgeous rendered backgrounds and small but detailed graphics. The explosions are satisfying eye-candy, as are the burnt-out buildings.

Sound

Funny exclamations and good shooting effects enhance the game. Shooting down soldiers was never this sidesplitting (and never should be).

Control

Your craft handles well, but rookies will need to practice a while before they'll be able to consistently target the smaller enemies.

Fun Factor

While not as fast-paced or aggressive as other chopper games, Strike's still a load of fun. Whirl this one into your PlayStation and you won't regret it.