Action games are conspicuously absent from the Wii?s software library right now so Heatseeker was an essential pre-order for me almost by default. After spending a couple of hours playing it today I?d tentatively place it in the same league as Excite Truck ? for whilst it's not going to set the world on fire it feels quite novel and is good fun to play.
It also bears more than a passing thematic resemblance. It?s all simplified controls, squealing rawk music, and ludicrously gratuitous action. And, *sigh*, it looks like the back of a truck too. That's hardly surprising being as Heatseeker started out as a PS2 /PSP title but it's still a disappointment to see such poor water and cloud effects in a game that predominantly involves flying through clouds and over water.
But since fugliness seems to be a given with Wii games right now, the controls are more worthy of discussion. The default controls are a simplified arcade flight model similar to Afterburner, or for sim fans there is a more demanding professional mode.
Arcade plays somewhat like Rogue Leader in that you steer the plane by aiming the crosshairs with the Wii remote. The plane then ?flies itself? in the direction you point, altering its own yaw and roll accordingly and levelling itself out when you fly straight. There is still a small element of realism in this mode in that the controls react gradually rather than twitching instantly like in Rogue Leader. Changes in speed also take time to accumulate so don?t expect to be stopping on a penny. Similarly, the faster you fly, the larger your turning circle, so adjusting your throttle becomes a key component of dogfighting.
Professional mode is more like a flight sim and is much harder to use. As well as adjusting your pitch by moving the remote up and down you must also roll the plane yourself. If for example you wanted to bank left, you must first roll the plane 90 degrees to the left and then pitch up to adjust your yaw. This would work fine except that your natural inclination with a remote is to point it rather than adjust it in 3D space; similarly, years of conditioning have probably taught you to hold a joystick vertically and adjust it by pushing, rather than tilting one horizontally.
Fortunately you can opt to use the Nunchuck instead of the remote and this feels more natural. It takes a lot of effort to master though as it is surprisingly sensitive, even to the point where it becomes difficult to make minor adjustments such as when firing your cannon at ground targets. This mode also has a couple of quirks with button mapping.
Firstly, missiles are your primary weapon so you naturally want to fire them with the right forefinger, but the button for missiles stays mapped to the trigger underneath the remote, which is in your left hand if you play with the nunchaku in your right like a joystick. It feels wrong.
Secondly, using the analogue stick to adjust your throttle can throw your aim out a bit when chasing fast-moving targets. Unfortunately you cannot remap the buttons, which is a terrible shame if you refuse to fly left-handed.
There is a certain satisfaction to be had in learning the controls however, and the game itself becomes increasingly more fun as you do so. The gameplay is simplicity itself ? find enemies, lock onto enemies, watch enemies disintegrate in slow-mo Impact Cam ? but immensely satisfying nonetheless. It?s fast-paced, straightforward, uncomplicated blasting.
Anything more than that will have to wait until I've had the time to play it properly. Right now though, I?m having a lot of fun just trying to strafe ground targets and shoot down enemy fighters using the cannon instead of the easier option of missiles. It seems so much more personal when you can see your cannon strike chewing up the ground around your target
Did I mention that the explosions are ace?
I?ll post more impressions as I play more of the game.
It also bears more than a passing thematic resemblance. It?s all simplified controls, squealing rawk music, and ludicrously gratuitous action. And, *sigh*, it looks like the back of a truck too. That's hardly surprising being as Heatseeker started out as a PS2 /PSP title but it's still a disappointment to see such poor water and cloud effects in a game that predominantly involves flying through clouds and over water.
But since fugliness seems to be a given with Wii games right now, the controls are more worthy of discussion. The default controls are a simplified arcade flight model similar to Afterburner, or for sim fans there is a more demanding professional mode.
Arcade plays somewhat like Rogue Leader in that you steer the plane by aiming the crosshairs with the Wii remote. The plane then ?flies itself? in the direction you point, altering its own yaw and roll accordingly and levelling itself out when you fly straight. There is still a small element of realism in this mode in that the controls react gradually rather than twitching instantly like in Rogue Leader. Changes in speed also take time to accumulate so don?t expect to be stopping on a penny. Similarly, the faster you fly, the larger your turning circle, so adjusting your throttle becomes a key component of dogfighting.
Professional mode is more like a flight sim and is much harder to use. As well as adjusting your pitch by moving the remote up and down you must also roll the plane yourself. If for example you wanted to bank left, you must first roll the plane 90 degrees to the left and then pitch up to adjust your yaw. This would work fine except that your natural inclination with a remote is to point it rather than adjust it in 3D space; similarly, years of conditioning have probably taught you to hold a joystick vertically and adjust it by pushing, rather than tilting one horizontally.
Fortunately you can opt to use the Nunchuck instead of the remote and this feels more natural. It takes a lot of effort to master though as it is surprisingly sensitive, even to the point where it becomes difficult to make minor adjustments such as when firing your cannon at ground targets. This mode also has a couple of quirks with button mapping.
Firstly, missiles are your primary weapon so you naturally want to fire them with the right forefinger, but the button for missiles stays mapped to the trigger underneath the remote, which is in your left hand if you play with the nunchaku in your right like a joystick. It feels wrong.
Secondly, using the analogue stick to adjust your throttle can throw your aim out a bit when chasing fast-moving targets. Unfortunately you cannot remap the buttons, which is a terrible shame if you refuse to fly left-handed.
There is a certain satisfaction to be had in learning the controls however, and the game itself becomes increasingly more fun as you do so. The gameplay is simplicity itself ? find enemies, lock onto enemies, watch enemies disintegrate in slow-mo Impact Cam ? but immensely satisfying nonetheless. It?s fast-paced, straightforward, uncomplicated blasting.
Anything more than that will have to wait until I've had the time to play it properly. Right now though, I?m having a lot of fun just trying to strafe ground targets and shoot down enemy fighters using the cannon instead of the easier option of missiles. It seems so much more personal when you can see your cannon strike chewing up the ground around your target
Did I mention that the explosions are ace?
I?ll post more impressions as I play more of the game.
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