Heatseeker

Heatseeker on the Wii is not a flight simulation game. In fact, it’s almost the complete opposite of your standard flight sim and the rules of flying have been thrown out of the window.

When turning the game on for the first time you’ll be presented with new game, mission mode and options. Selecting new game initiates the campaign mode of the game. This mode is the main experience of Heatseeker and completing each of the 18 levels unlocks the ability to play that stage in the mission mode with any plane that you have unlocked. Each level of the game ranges from about 5 to 15 minutes and completing bonus objectives will unlock new planes and new versions of those aircrafts.

Speaking of the planes in the game there are 16 different killing machines and most of them have 2-3 variants. Each variant adds better weapon load-outs and a new paint job (usually a form of camouflage) but there are clearly some planes that are better at flying and destruction than others that seem to be added in just to pad out the roster and get blown up as being flown by the enemy. Some planes; such as the F-117 Nighthawk stealth bomber and the SR-71 Blackbird are fun in concept but terrible in the air - simply a novelty. The best planes in the game are the likes of the F22 Raptor which is blisteringly fast and excellent in a plane-on-plane dogfight.

Another feature of Heatseeker is the ‘impact-cam’. This adds to the action by sometimes automatically showing a full-screen slow motion replay of your missile leaving your plane and connecting with the enemy. This is satisfying and can also be triggered by holding down the B button as you fire your weapon. Although the automatic replay can be irritating when you are in the middle of a fight, as the action continues around you while the clip is playing. Although you can’t be damaged, if you have just spent time trying to locate a group of speeding enemy fighters in your sights, they will have already flown away by the time it is over as the replay can’t be skipped.

Getting back to the story, well, there isn’t too much! But then again, who needs a reason to blow up hundreds of planes. Most missions follow the path of trying to ‘investigate’ who is responsible for causing trouble in the world and then concludes in the final mission of each of the four chapters by finishing them in the most explosive and fiery way. There are tense moments though in some missions when trying to shoot down incoming nuclear missiles and when your plane is nearly falling apart, leaving a blazing trail in the sky. Although, a nice touch to prevent you having to repeat the mission when you are exploding, is the checkpoint system. This is where the game auto-saves after completing an objective. If this feature had not been incorporated I can see repeating the missions over and over again, only to be shot down or crash due to taking the cursor of the screen for a moment and spiralling towards the ground, being very frustrating.

There are two control options: arcade and professional, and these are also a nice addition to the game. Arcade mode controls the plane by aiming the wii remote at the screen and your plane will follow that point. Professional involves twisting the wii remote to tilt your plane and turn. But as the name suggests this method is only for those experienced with the game. On both control methods pushing the nunchuck analogue stick forwards speeds your plane up and pulling it back has the opposite effect. The B button fires your primary weapon, the A button selects an enemy plane to destroy, the 1 and 2 buttons control the radar options, the Z button fires your machine guns and the D-pad direction buttons each have their own functions, ranging from activating stealth functions to ordering your CPU controlled wingman to attack or defend a target. But even these controls are flawed. Pressing down on the d-pad changes your weapon and pressing left gives an order to your partner. But activating stealth requires a combination of down and left, and when these are pressed, it changes your weapon and stops your wingman attacking or defending. Simple things like this could have been tested and changed and makes the production of the game seem a little rushed.

Overall, Heatseeker on the Wii is a fun game although technically lacking. The environments are not very detailed and the planes aren’t the best looking things on the Wii, but, if you have time to notice or care, you aren’t playing it right! Another technical fault is that there is no support for the EDTV/HDTV option on the Wii, so when the game is being viewed through a component cable, the screen does not fill a widescreen TV - leaving a black area of nothing around the action. However Heatseeker is a must have game for people who aren’t as fussed with the technicalities and just want to play an arcade styled shoot ‘em up and travel as fast as is possible without leaving your home. Three difficulty levels add replayability but with the inclusion of some multiplayer options this game could have overcome its flaws to be a great game. I’d love to see a sequel with better graphics and online/splitscreen co-op missions.