AirStrike II

AirStrike II is a game that brings back the old arcade atmosphere that dominated in the beginning of the video games era, when hitpoint bars were standard and guns could be fired forever without recoil or overheating. Thus, just like in the first game, you get to control a couple of helicopters that wage havoc and destruction upon everything that stands in their way.

Beside the six new aircraft types, this sequel also encompasses a huge number of additions when it comes to enemies, locations and landscapes, since you can now enjoy five new environment looks and over one hundred units across the campaign. Moreover, the boss fights are here as well, giving you the opportunity to face off against powerful foes and do your best to destroy them before you get killed yourself.

Naturally, the game mechanics have remained largely unchanged, although there are some significant improvements when it comes to control responsiveness and the smoothness with which the helicopter responding to your commands. This way, you get more control over the vehicle and it is easier to avoid the enemy attacks, as long as you are fast enough.

Since the foes are getting stronger and stronger as you advance further into the campaign, you need to be able to match their strength as well. Hence, there are a variety of new weapon upgrades and different ammo types that can be picked up as you cruise along, ranging from powerful missiles, to rapid-fire machine guns. Naturally, these get less and less effective as you increase the difficulty level, making it substantially harder for you to avoid being damaged.

From a technical standpoint, the graphic engine has been improved with a large array of new features, such as variable weather conditions, better unit models and some very detailed landscapes to go along. There are also some nighttime missions now, which, beside looking extremely well, also involve the fact that it is more difficult to spot and hit the enemies.

In the end, AirStrike II is all about action, since there are very few moments when your sub-machine gun is not firing and that's only because you switched to missiles. Hence, in case you are on the lookout for some memories from a long-forgotten era, the game at hand is the perfect reminder.