A Review: Chopper Attack, N64 1998
Chopper Attack, or Wild Choppers in Japan, is a helicopter-based action-shooter developed for the N64 by SETA Corporation and published by Midway Games. This game is very simple and allows the player to take control of one of a roster of pilots and guide them and their helicopter through a series of missions and modes. The game features numerous mission types in a variety of locations, such as bombing enemy bases, escorting Air Force One, and rescuing prisoners of war.
This is one of those games for me that just wasn't quite long enough for me to really get into. I liked what I played and thought that it was a pretty fun little shooter with some strong mechanics, but there just wasn't enough of a game to really enjoy. The play was nicely simplistic but also repetitive, and after a while, it felt like you were just playing the same scenarios over and over. The meat and potatoes of this game were pretty average, I found, but it had moments where you could honestly have some good fun. I did find that the controls were somewhat blunted and the responses to inputs were a little sluggish, but once you allowed for them, it did open the game up a fair bit. The camera was a problem for me, and more than once I found the inability to pan it under the players chopper to be a problem. The computer was able to fly at much higher altitudes than the player could too. Which made it stupidly easy to lose contact with a mission objective. This was especially true during the various escort missions and was a point of frustration for me more than once. I thought it strange that you couldn't control your own altitude and were instead limited to what the game decided for you. This made no sense to me, as you are flying a chopper; surely you should be able to raise and lower yourself? The levels I found to be fairly well laid out, and I didn't mind the AI; it presented a nice challenge. Though there were some points where the computer seemed to get lost easily and would take a while to come back into bounds. This was frustrating at times and meant that I would come far too close to running out of fuel than I was comfortable with, and more than once I failed a mission due to this issue. Still, this was an okay game if you could turn the other cheek, as it were.
Graphically, I thought this game was a little too basic, but it wasn't ugly or anything. The various aircraft were well modelled and had a pretty good amount of detail and variation. I liked the animations for the helicopter rotor blade, weapons, missiles, and in-game objects. I thought that the mountains and environments were a little too repetitive, and some of the resolutions were on the low side, but it wasn't a massive issue. The backgrounds were okay, and I liked the simple lighting and shading work that was done. The HUD was clean and gave the player all of the needed information, and I liked the fact that it didn't clutter the screen.
Overall, this is a very simple little shooter featuring helicopters and is an okay way to spend a few hours here and there.
5/10 – Okay!
Signed Off – Leonardo – PSJ
This is one of those games for me that just wasn't quite long enough for me to really get into. I liked what I played and thought that it was a pretty fun little shooter with some strong mechanics, but there just wasn't enough of a game to really enjoy. The play was nicely simplistic but also repetitive, and after a while, it felt like you were just playing the same scenarios over and over. The meat and potatoes of this game were pretty average, I found, but it had moments where you could honestly have some good fun. I did find that the controls were somewhat blunted and the responses to inputs were a little sluggish, but once you allowed for them, it did open the game up a fair bit. The camera was a problem for me, and more than once I found the inability to pan it under the players chopper to be a problem. The computer was able to fly at much higher altitudes than the player could too. Which made it stupidly easy to lose contact with a mission objective. This was especially true during the various escort missions and was a point of frustration for me more than once. I thought it strange that you couldn't control your own altitude and were instead limited to what the game decided for you. This made no sense to me, as you are flying a chopper; surely you should be able to raise and lower yourself? The levels I found to be fairly well laid out, and I didn't mind the AI; it presented a nice challenge. Though there were some points where the computer seemed to get lost easily and would take a while to come back into bounds. This was frustrating at times and meant that I would come far too close to running out of fuel than I was comfortable with, and more than once I failed a mission due to this issue. Still, this was an okay game if you could turn the other cheek, as it were.
Graphically, I thought this game was a little too basic, but it wasn't ugly or anything. The various aircraft were well modelled and had a pretty good amount of detail and variation. I liked the animations for the helicopter rotor blade, weapons, missiles, and in-game objects. I thought that the mountains and environments were a little too repetitive, and some of the resolutions were on the low side, but it wasn't a massive issue. The backgrounds were okay, and I liked the simple lighting and shading work that was done. The HUD was clean and gave the player all of the needed information, and I liked the fact that it didn't clutter the screen.
Overall, this is a very simple little shooter featuring helicopters and is an okay way to spend a few hours here and there.
5/10 – Okay!
Signed Off – Leonardo – PSJ
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