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It’s
that old oft told story: CIA operative steals nuclear
warhead, you get sent to hunt him down with a modest
selection of super apache helicopters, harrier jets,
tanks and hovercraft!
For me Soviet Strike is one of the Saturn’s unsung
greats, building on a well established and respected
series, Soviet Strike took that important step towards
the next level of gameplay, with both player craft and
enemy vehicles being fully 3D texture mapped models. Add
to this the ability to change your view through 360
degrees, and this game could add a level of depth and
gameplay that no other isometric shooter of the time
could come close to.
The AI in Soviet strike is top notch, NPCs react in an
extremely realistic and intelligent manner to your
presence, this also adds another level of difficulty to
the game, but not one which I have found frustrating in
the least, the extra challenge is indeed welcome as I
found previous offerings in the series to be rather
easy.
Soviet strike is also of course the first game in the
series to add cinematic cut-scenes, which do an
excellent job of drawing you more deeply into the plot
of the game.
The fluidity of the gameplay is nothing short of
fantastic, despite its 3D programming shortcomings the
Saturn handles the 3D environments with ease, and shows
no slowdown or serious texture distortion, unlike the
PSX version!
One issue with Soviet Strike is that it doesn’t appeal
directly to fans of its genre.
Conventional shooter fans that are not familiar with the
series will find the steady pace, constant hunts for
supplies and cut-scenes very frustrating.
I think Soviet Strike has to be one of Electronic Arts’
best releases on the Saturn, it become obvious when
comparing it to its other console release that the
Saturn version was properly optimized with the
appropriate amount of time and effort devoted to it.
A truly great game, and a sound and cheap edition to
anyone’s collection, however those with a short
attention span need not apply.
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