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8 Sep 2014 - 12 Sep 2014
Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5
There are people in trouble! You: an ace helicopter pilot. Them: civilians or military personnel, trapped behind enemy lines. Dodge anti-aircraft fire, take out the bad guys, and land just long enough to affect an evac.
I'm old enough to remember playing the original Choplifter when it came out. It's basically the same game with updated graphics, and arguably that's both a strength and a weakness. I do like the added third dimension, though the controls can be a little sluggish in pointing "downrange" and taking out the bad guys.
Essentially it's just back-and-forth over the two-dimensional landscape. There are some good setpieces (desert, urban, jungle) and silly voicework (especially in the zombie level). The voiced lines can get a little repetative if you need to repeat a section over and over again - which you will, because it's really a score attack game. Sure, you can reach the basic objectives, but you'll be chasing that high score because that's what unlocks later levels and better helicopters.
That's an odd decision in and of itself. Why not just unlock the level as you progress through the story? OK, so there's not much of a story to begin with. But theoretically, any player can understand that level 3 comes after level 2. So if I've played through level 2, why should I have to get a certain score, especially if I only made it through by the skin of my teeth? I don't see a very clear reason to do it; there's not much of an increase in difficulty, just a different setpiece and a different excuse to pick up civilians and run downrange with them.
Quite fun, and a nice bit of nostalgia. I do suggst muting the sound if you're going for a high score, as the voice work doesn't get any better on the thirty-third listen, and can't be skipped.