AirStrike 3D: Operation W.A.T. Demo

Arcade shooters are not difficult to imagine, but they can be tricky to design properly, because every little inconvenience can throw players off and cause them to stop playing. There are plenty of good examples out there, although the genre is quite barren at the moment, because the industry took a different path a few years ago and realism is much more appreciated nowadays.

AirStrike 3D: Operation W.A.T. is a classic arcade game in which you basically have to shoot everything that moves, in order to clear the levels and advance further into the campaign. As you go along, better helicopter models are unlocked and the enemies get tougher, not to mention the bosses that await you at the end of every chapter, which should provide you with quite the challenge.

There isn’t much of a story, although if there was one, you probably wouldn’t have the time to acknowledge it, what with all the bullets and missiles flying around. Everything revolves around being able to shoot enemies down, so you should not worry about the why and the who, as long as you have enough bullets left to clear the stage.

One major selling point of the game is the three-dimensional graphics engine, which is quite the novelty in the genre. However, it really doesn’t make too much of a difference when it comes to the mechanics, because you cannot really move in all directions, not take full advantage of the helicopter’s capabilities. The explosions look nice, on the other hand, as does the environment in most cases.

As previously mentioned, bosses are a big part of the game as well, because they guard the way further into the story. Beside the fact that they are big and angry, they also require some serious firepower to take down. Naturally, they all have a weak spot you can exploit, but it may take a while to notice their patterns and learn how to strike efficiently.

In the end, AirStrike 3D: Operation W.A.T. is nothing out of the ordinary, but the amount of fun and entertainment you can get out of it can be worth the bother, as long as you are a fan of the genre. The 3D graphics make no difference whatsoever on the gameplay, so don’t take that into consideration if you are thinking about giving it a try.