Desert Strike

"Start of a great series."

Cashing in on the Gulf war, Desert Strike puts you in the cockpit of an Apache AH-64 attack helicopter and puts you right in the middle of a madman's desert back yard.

Desert Strike is about a mad dictator making a nuclear threat against the world from his base in the Gulf. The allies have a ship in the area and you need to go in and stop their plan before it is too late. You can't just go straight for the mad guy though, first you must destroy many of his weapons and buildings stroon across the desert which are all helping to realise his evil dream.

Before you start the game you get to choose a co-pilot to accompany you around the Gulf, each has their own characteristic which you need to consider before heading off. Two of the pilots are missing in action and can be picked up by finding them during the campaigns.

The game is spread over four campaigns which are split into several missions each getting harder as you progress. When you start each campaign you will be given a briefing before getting into your chopper, then all the information you need can be accessed through the menu. The missions start fairly simple with liberal amounts of weaponry guarding the area to be flown over, as you progress though you will see yourself dodging more and more bullets, missiles and anything else they can throw at you. An early mission for example will be to destroy an enemy airfield or rescue some hostages held in a prison. These will be lightly guarded and fairly simple to undertake, later in the game you will be protecting oil fields and heading into the madman's bunker which are surrounded by rapid firing tanks and SAM missile launchers. You need every ounce of navigational skill to just dodge the weaponry before you can even think of returning fire.
Your chopper is far from invincible and one too many bullets will send it hurtling towards the ground resulting in a loss of one of your lives. If your fuel tanks run out the same fiery fate awaits you, so that is another thing to keep your eye on, as is your weaponry. Your chopper can hold eight hellfire missiles, twenty eight hydra missiles and over a thousand cannon rounds, these are soon depleted into enemy buildings and weaponry. Luckily armor, fuel and ammunition can be found in various places around the dunes.

The graphics are pretty restricted due to the desert setting and the constant background colour does get repetitive. It does change slightly later in the game as you spend some time over the sea and then the last campaign is done in half light changing the colours slightly. The buildings and weapons that you stumble upon as you fly around the dunes look nice though and break up the monotony of the sand nicely. The best touches are when the game cuts from the action and gives you a small sequence to show what is going on. There are a couple on each campaign and it gives the game a chance to show that it can produce some good graphics. Overall the game does as much as it can graphically, it is just too restricted in the first place given the location.

The music is limited to the intro screens and between campaigns, while you are playing you only hear the choppers engine and the sounds of weaponry being exchanged. This is not as bad as you might think even though a little music in the background may have livened things up a little bit.

At first the game seems pretty difficult and you will get shot down a few times before you perfect the controls and your technique to destroying enemy weapons. After some practice though you should crack the game wide open, most of the missions are straight forward and there are only a couple of tricky ones that should hinder your progress. Good gamers will have it finished in days.

Desert Strike is one of the better shooters on the Genesis, the variety in the missions keeps you entertained while the challenge is just right. The sequels do surpass this in every way but all series' have to start somewhere and this is a very nice start.

Graphics - 5
Sounds - 5
Gameplay - 8
Game size - 7
Addiction - 7

Overall - 7

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/18/02, Updated 01/18/02