I went into Desert Strike thinking it was a fast, top-down shoot'em up. It's actually a methodically paced, highly strategic action game with a large emphasis on exploration and resource management. Taken on its own terms, it's a brilliantly designed game.
There are four campaigns, each set on large wide open maps filled with enemies, buildings, missions and, critically, resources. While the missions are listed in order in the pause menu, along with the map and a wealth of other info, most can be completed in any order. It was a lot of fun learning what the objectives were and finding optimal ways to complete them.
Exploration, resource management and careful approach of enemy strongpoints are the keys to the game. While there is no time limit, there is an urgency due to the fuel gauge constantly going down, replenished by fuel drums dotted around the map. Some are placed in the open, some have to be found by demolishing structures or vehicles. Likewise the crucial ammunition crates. Civilians and POWs serve as armor restoration when picked up and rescued, and it's this juggling of armor, ammo and fuel management between strike runs that will form the main gameplay loop.
The actual combat takes some getting used to: the chopper is fragile and can be downed in seconds if you take a head-on approach to enemy tanks or AA weapons. You have to take care to peel off enemy locations from the outside in, not get surrounded and always be moving. Even so, death comes fast and often early in the learning curve. The game is hard, but as you explore each map you'll find ample resources to balance out the challenge. The game offers several control settings, and as I understand it some of them play easier than the default "with momentum", but I used the default, adjusted, and enjoyed it.
The most unfortunate decision in the game design was to omit any HUD elements whatsoever. This gives the game a very nice clean look, but you have to pause to see your ammo counts and fuel meters, which often led me to run out of ammo in the middle of a fight - which does not end well - or stray too far away from a fuel drum before the low fuel siren goes off, too late. A couple of counters tucked into the corners would have eliminated a few hundred pauses to check on them.
The lack of in-game music was a choice I enjoyed, as it places the emphasis on the sound effects, which are excellent. I also found the ambiance of the gentle thrump thurmp the chopper makes created a great deal of tension, and hearing it cut with the whoosh of an AA missile firing from nearby was constantly raising my heart rate.
Against this is the unfortunate stereotyping of the Middle Eastern bad guys. I knew this was likely going in, given the setting, but seeing a stereotypical Hollywood brown person with a beard and desert fatigues cackling while lowering a blonde woman into a barrel of acid in the very first scene of the game was jarring, and doesn't get any better from there. 90's racism following Desert Storm had a very particular flavor, and it was not good.
Looking past the wrapper of the setting and villains, Desert Strike is an incredibly well designed and balanced game. I had a lot of fun just exploring the maps and finding secrets, surveying the resources with which to string together the campaign of missions. It stands apart from the many run and gun, shoot'em up games on the Genesis. I'll definitely be picking up both sequels, Jungle and Urban Strike.
There are four campaigns, each set on large wide open maps filled with enemies, buildings, missions and, critically, resources. While the missions are listed in order in the pause menu, along with the map and a wealth of other info, most can be completed in any order. It was a lot of fun learning what the objectives were and finding optimal ways to complete them.
Exploration, resource management and careful approach of enemy strongpoints are the keys to the game. While there is no time limit, there is an urgency due to the fuel gauge constantly going down, replenished by fuel drums dotted around the map. Some are placed in the open, some have to be found by demolishing structures or vehicles. Likewise the crucial ammunition crates. Civilians and POWs serve as armor restoration when picked up and rescued, and it's this juggling of armor, ammo and fuel management between strike runs that will form the main gameplay loop.
The actual combat takes some getting used to: the chopper is fragile and can be downed in seconds if you take a head-on approach to enemy tanks or AA weapons. You have to take care to peel off enemy locations from the outside in, not get surrounded and always be moving. Even so, death comes fast and often early in the learning curve. The game is hard, but as you explore each map you'll find ample resources to balance out the challenge. The game offers several control settings, and as I understand it some of them play easier than the default "with momentum", but I used the default, adjusted, and enjoyed it.
The most unfortunate decision in the game design was to omit any HUD elements whatsoever. This gives the game a very nice clean look, but you have to pause to see your ammo counts and fuel meters, which often led me to run out of ammo in the middle of a fight - which does not end well - or stray too far away from a fuel drum before the low fuel siren goes off, too late. A couple of counters tucked into the corners would have eliminated a few hundred pauses to check on them.
The lack of in-game music was a choice I enjoyed, as it places the emphasis on the sound effects, which are excellent. I also found the ambiance of the gentle thrump thurmp the chopper makes created a great deal of tension, and hearing it cut with the whoosh of an AA missile firing from nearby was constantly raising my heart rate.
Against this is the unfortunate stereotyping of the Middle Eastern bad guys. I knew this was likely going in, given the setting, but seeing a stereotypical Hollywood brown person with a beard and desert fatigues cackling while lowering a blonde woman into a barrel of acid in the very first scene of the game was jarring, and doesn't get any better from there. 90's racism following Desert Storm had a very particular flavor, and it was not good.
Looking past the wrapper of the setting and villains, Desert Strike is an incredibly well designed and balanced game. I had a lot of fun just exploring the maps and finding secrets, surveying the resources with which to string together the campaign of missions. It stands apart from the many run and gun, shoot'em up games on the Genesis. I'll definitely be picking up both sequels, Jungle and Urban Strike.