Nuclear Strike

"The best Strike game as of yet"

So far, out of the Strike series, Nuclear Strike is the best and most fun. The graphics are the best so far, the music is the best so far, and the gameplay is some of the best. I liked this game from the first time I played it. Not only was it challenging at times, but it's pretty fun no matter how often you've played it.

Gameplay (8/10):
The gameplay isn't too bad. The only problems I have faced while playing Nuclear Strike are slow framerates at times where there are large amounts of things happening. Other than that, the control is pretty fluid. The only annoying thing other than the framerate is that the game glitches easily if your Playstation heats up too much.

Story (8/10):
This madman named LeMonde has been causing a big ruckus in the Indocine area. You try to recover him, but he flees and heads to a small island group. He does all sorts of things in the island group. He has an air strip, a military base, a naval base, some ASAT missles aimed at sattelites, and more. After you take out all of his stuff, you capture his brother. You are then led to Pyongyang. After messing with LeMonde and a guy named Kym in that city, it is blown to shreds by a nuclear bomb. In the blown up city, you still have a few missions, and they are tough. After this, you go to the DMZ and you must single-handedly stop a war from happening. A truly magnificent level. Then you go to LeMonde's fortress, which is gigantic, and extremely difficult. In the end, he has some Shiva's Dagger missles, I believe, aimed to destroy the ozone layer. A great story indeed.

Graphics (9/10):
The graphics of Nuclear Strike are pretty cool. The explosions look realistic, the buildings look very realistic, and most of the graphics are well-rendered. Again, the only problem I have is when the graphics glitch up due to the system overheating. Unfortunately, when the graphics glitch like they did in my game, the game is unplayable, and needs to be turned off for a while. But then again, the problem of overheating was solved when I simply turned my Playstation upside down. So the graphics score won't suffer because of my glitching up.

Sound (8.5/10):
The sounds are pretty good. They all fit the war and make you feel more there. The vehicles sound real, the music fits the scenery perfectly, especially in the DMZ where you have to take out like 300 tanks, and the voices are good as well. The game has good audio.

Challenge (8/10):
This game has a good level of challenge to it, but at the same time, isn't hard. I mean, the first two levels are pretty easy, but the third level turns and becomes maddeningly difficult. The fourth one is really hard unless you can find the Harrier, and the same goes for the DMZ. The last level is nearly impossible, because you have to have your man disarm these tanks, on foot, sometimes while they are moving back and forth.

Replay Value (7/10):
The game is fun whether you are playing for the first time or the tenth, but the only difference is the difficulty. There are two modes, easy and normal. The game doesn't change much, but you can change your weapons now and then.

Buy or Rent?:
I'd say rent. Not all people like these types of games, and you should try it before you buy it.

Overall Rating: 8.1

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/05/01, Updated 07/05/01