Heavy Fire: Shattered Spear
PlayStation 3
Nostalgia Factor:
I’ll start off this review by stating that I am a big time trophy hunter when it comes to PS3 and PS4 games. I’m always on the lookout for easy platinum trophies, even if the game attached to it looks like it sucks major ass.
About five years ago there was a big flash sale on the PlayStation Network where several PS3 games were available for only a buck apiece. Most of these games looked like trash, but I learned that Heavy Fire: Afghanistan would yield an easy platinum trophy while still being relatively enjoyable to play. I bought the game, I played it, I enjoyed it, I got the trophy, and I moved on. I’ve barely given that game a second thought in the five years since I last played it.
Until now. I recently stumbled upon a free seven day trial of PlayStation Now, and I decided to play something quick and easy since I only had seven days to play. The game at the top of my list: Heavy Fire: Shattered Spear. Why? You guessed it: because it contains an easy platinum.
Would the game itself be worth the time it took me to earn that platinum trophy? Read on and you shall find out.
Story:
There is a story to be found here, not that it is very good. I do have to give the game’s creators a little bit of credit for trying, however. The “rail shooter” format of the game doesn’t allow much for an in-depth storyline. Do you remember the storyline for Virtua Cop or Lethal Enforcers? I didn’t think so.
You take control of a US solider who is fighting overseas in the Middle East. You have to shoot terrorists, infiltrate their hideouts, and stop their evil plans. Pretty basic stuff. The main plot of the game revolves around seizing a nuclear weapon that these terrorists have gotten their hands on. Once you do that, the game ends.
This is not the type of game you play for its story, so I was willing to forgive the fact that its plot and its characters are paper-thin. I played this game to shoot stuff and get a platinum trophy, and I accomplished both of those tasks.
Gameplay:
This game is classified as a rail shooter. That means that you don’t actually control your character or direct him where to go. All you control is a cursor on the screen that you move around to shoot enemies that your character encounters. You start off with a basic handgun, but as the game progresses you can upgrade to shotguns, machine guns, and sniper rifles, among other weapons. You shoot icons on the screen to upgrade your weapons. Health icons and upgrades also appear from time to time. You can destroy boxes and other things in the environment to earn points, which you can use to level your character up in between stages.
Moving a cursor around and shooting stuff isn’t all you do in this game. Shattered Spear also gives you the option to duck under cover to avoid enemy fire or to reload. This adds a little bit of extra strategy to the game as you play. Additional information: one of the shoulder keys throws grenades. Now you know. Each level takes about ten to fifteen minutes to complete. There are no bosses in this game, so don’t expect to fight anything more than just your standard enemy.
There are a few variations to gameplay from time to time. A few stages have you flying over villages at night, escorting your troops to rescue points. Other stages have you riding boats or manning gun turrets to take out your foes. The basic concept of things doesn’t change though. You move your cursor around on the screen and you shoot stuff.
I haven’t played a rail shooter in a while, so it took me a little bit of time to adjust myself to this game’s controls. Things seemed a little jerky and choppy at first. I had a hard time aiming and hitting my enemies. My first thought was that this game must have been released before Heavy Fire: Afghanistan since I didn’t recall having these issues with that game. I did a little research and found out, to my surprise, that this game actually came out two years after its Afghanistan counterpart. Either my memory is faulty, or the series took a major step back between installments as far as playability goes.
Anyway, once I adjusted to the game’s controls, I had a decently fun time playing it. I did not hate it one tiny bit. I see that this game received extremely poor reviews, so I must be pretty easy to please.
*shrugs*
I mean, it's not great, but it is not horrible either.
Graphics:
This is clearly a last-generation PS3 game. Not that it is painful to look at or anything, but it shows its age pretty hardcore. Iffy stage textures, iffy character design, just a little bit of muddiness overall. This isn’t even mentioning the jerky frame rate. Like I said, this game isn’t necessarily ugly, but it ain’t pretty either.
Sound:
Everything sounds okay here. Gunfire, explosions, people yelling and shouting orders in battle – it all sounded pretty authentic to me. I don’t remember a single thing about the game’s musical score, so it must not have been very memorable at all. But then again I don’t remember anything bad about it either, so it must not have been annoying or grating either. It does the job.
Overall:
This isn’t a great game and I realize that. Clunky controls, lazy level design, repetitive gameplay, no bosses, very aged graphics. The game can be a bit overly difficult sometimes too. Expect to die a lot and have to replay the same areas over and over again. It can be quite annoying, especially when you’re running through the game on its highest difficulty to get the platinum trophy. There were a few areas that were so tough I wasn’t even sure I was going to be able to pass. I just had to stick with it, even though certain parts made me want to start tearing my hair out.
Outside of that, I do have to say I enjoyed playing this game. It is fun, mindless shooting. I didn't care about the game's graphics or music or story or its questionable stage design. I just had fun. I shot stuff, I ducked under cover, I shot some more stuff. I threw grenades. I rescued people. I jumped in a turret and mowed down a bunch of enemies. I died dozens and dozens of times. I blew up a tank with a rocket launcher. I shot some guys in the head with a sniper rifle. I flew in a helicopter and blew up some more stuff. I killed some more guys, I ducked under cover, I reloaded my weapon. I died a few dozen more times. Eventually I made it through all of the game's stages, mopped up all the trophies I was missing, and I was done. I'll probably never play it again.
That's the kind of game this is. If that doesn't appeal to you, then Heavy Fire: Shattered Spear is not the game for you. If you like stuff like House of the Dead, Virtua Cop, and Time Crisis, you can find some enjoyment here. I understand why the game has received such poor reviews from the professionals. I have already outlined its flaws and shortcomings in great detail. This game looks like something that was released in the arcades around the year 2000, not something that should have come out in 2013.
Despite all that, I still had a pretty decent time with this game. What can I say? It's not terrible. It's not great, but it's not terrible.
Final Score:
C+
If you liked this review, please check out some of my other game reviews:
No comments:
Post a Comment