Game Preview 17:Heatseeker

Publisher: Codemasters
Platform Available: Wii, PS2, PSP
Release date: March 2007

From the makers of Heroes of the Pacific, comes another flight action game. You play as a peace-keeper astonished to find out that some devastating terrorist attacks have been carried out, and it is your utmost responsibility to make sure that those troublemakers do not get away scot-free. With over 30 playable aircrafts of various variants including the almighty duo of F-15 Eagle and F-16 Falcon, in addition to newer ones like Su-47 and Mig-1.44, you can afford to be finicky in this game. Select the aircraft that is best suited to the job and off you go! Needless to say, each plane will have its own statistics such as amount of engine thrust, amount of lift generated by the wing surfaces, making the game all the more realistic – a recommended treat for both fans of flight action games and aircraft fans. There will be 40 weapons in the game to support the vast variety of aircrafts as well. You will have anything from missiles to bombs at your disposal, many of the names I believe most of us will not be familiar with. Unleash these frighteningly powerful weapons on your enemies at every chance that you have got and there should be no problems involving the killing of your enemies. Good thing the ammo is limitless and the interface has been kept uncluttered and tidy with simplicity in mind. What’s destruction without remarkable effects? Yeah, you name it – Heatseeker will have them covered as much as possible, from the magnificent explosions to the thick smoke bellowing out of the enemy planes. Yes, Heatseeker is a fast-paced game, but that does not mean that you will have no opportunity to observe the special effects. There will be an ‘Impact Cam’ feature in the game that allows incredible close-ups. Visuals, as expected, should be stunning.

The planes will crush into twisted clumps of scorching hot, but useless metals upon demise and the dreaded flames will start to make appearances. The graphical beauty will be utilized on the environments too. Through the course of the storyline mode, you will fly through 10 unique environments, including sandy naval bases and burning oil rigs. You will be able to break bridges, destruct buildings in these environments, giving way to another round of special effects. As far as multiplayer is concern, expect the norm like dogfights and ground assaults, but Heatseeker has added something new: racing. Multiplayer will likely to be offering you a distraction from the single-player missions, with arenas filled with several eager opponents bent on taking you down. However, it is still unknown how many players the multiplayer will support. Besides the PS2 and PSP, Heatseeker will also be arriving on the Wii, which allows for some creative and intuitive control schemes, but the development team is still exploring the possibilities. Until then, mark this article as you may need to check back for more juicy updates.