1 player
Memory card(one block)
Teen(13+)

Once in a while a game comes along that for some reason, it's 
addictive. Soviet Strike, and perhaps spoiling the rest of this review, 
is one of those games. The game, thankfully, follows the same 
traditional gameplay of its 16-bit brothers(Dessert Strike and Jungle 
Strike). What is more rare, this game offers the complete package. 
Unlike so many great games, their FMV is less than inspiring -- RE, 
Warhawk, and Disrupter to name a few. Soviet Strike combines some of 
the best FMV and gameplay I have seen to date, making this title really 
shine in all its glory. Is no surprise EA went all out to bring you the 
best money can buy. Strike fans will no doubt love EA’s latest attempt. 
The game definitely maintains the same formula that made the series 
popular What makes the game charming is its hip and stylish FMV. The 
scenes are really first grade, with sometimes 3, 4, or 5 small screen 
segments taking place at once. It feels like an MTV video, with cut 
scenes of something you would see at CNN reporting another conflict in 
war-torn Boznia. The FMV have live scenes from the Gulf conflict, so, 
you’ll see tanks hovering at great speeds, armies launching an attack, 
and equipment been shredded to pieces as it's hit. In conclusion, the 
FMV sets the mood of the game and the outline and plot of your Strike 
force. And what is Strike? Strike Force is a new-age paramilitary group 
that simply stops wars before they happen, in other words you’re often 
fighting alone behind enemy lines.

Russia is calling: Soviet Strike!

The Intro of the game has some meshing scenes that blend together, with 
a voice over to produce an excellent introduction to what’s ahead. 
Along with the music, you feel a frantic thriller is about to be 
unleash against you. Be afraid, be very afraid!

Main Menu: Boot Up STRIKE.net

Here, you can load/save the game. You can also enter a password. New 
passwords are issue at the end of each successful Campaign.
In Config mode: prepares your chopper to best deal with the hot zone 
you’re heading into Control: Configure the controller layout in one of 
four ways. Audio: Set the volume for both Music and Sound Effects.
Strike Files: This is audio mix with FMV that contains classified 
information.

Graphics of the Game!

The graphics have all been remodeled. The animation of the chopper 
deserves high praise, and the sound of its rotor blade is soft, but 
very realistic and won’t annoyed you. The non-repeating terrain is 
actually a creation from aerial flyby photos of actual locations, 
so the terrain is totally digitizes and shows a lot of detail in its 
full scope. All the moving pieces and artillery, although small 
looking, are highly detail. Not one piece of equipment is blur, or 
choppy. You will see the tank treads to everything that every vehicle 
contains, all rendered with great colour. The trails of missiles moving 
to their targets are very cool looking, leaving behind a white smoke 
trail that screams great perfection. Everything is eye-candy, no 
graininess, or pop up. The self contained levels have all their unique 
layout, the art and animation are highly intricate -- the explosions of 
enemies and buildings varied. One can only notice the vehicles and 
artilleries break out in a heavy thud, with breaking chunks of debris 
spreading out, with the familiar red explosions that precede a hit. 
Even the larger pieces in the game, like the destroyers destroy 
completely, with graphics of total destruction busting up, then falling 
into the water with splashes. In other words, everything goes with a 
bang. Some of the terrain lights mildly by the explosion and amount of 
debris flying about -- a nice touch. My only nit-picking of the 
explosions is they don’t transpire smoothly with a higher frame rate. 
But for what it does, the animation is cool. Also, the water terrain in 
level two is nothing fancy like Agile Warrior, so you won’t see waves 
smoothly flowing as your chopper hovers over it. However, you will see 
the water break way as assault crafts move about the area. (The bigger 
pieces in the level, the carrier and destroyers' don’t move up or down 
to give you that feeling they're on the sea) Note: The graphics to some 
degree, remind me of another game I played for the Sega Genesis: Mercs, 
a game made by Capcom.

Control!

Your chopper handless extremely well, and you can travel in a 360 
degree angle. You can pilot your chopper in one of two views, Classic 
or Chase View. The Chase view is self-explanatory, giving you the 
overhead view with your chopper hovering at the bottom of the screen. 
The Classic view will let you rotate your chopper around an object 
without much of the terrain moving. With the L1/R1 button your chopper 
can jink left or right. All the buttons for the controller are use. But 
the only noticeable flaw to this great game is the jerkiness of the 
camera. The camera does not rotate smoothly. It jerks slightly as 
though it's moving in a series of steps, not by much, so you won’t be 
too conscious of its awkward movement. Another point, to successfully 
target smaller enemies like foot soldiers, it will take some practice. 
There is no chain gun cursor so you have to adjust your rate of fire by 
the marks and tracers it leaves on the ground, over all, very simple 
and easy controls to pick up and learn.

Sound!

The shooting FX are well attended to, with the exclamation of soldiers 
being hit with their familiar groan when dying. In level 2, I shoot one 
of the idled trucks and explode, with the driver running in flames 
while heading into the water screaming: "First aid! Second Aid!" Then 
he jumps into the water and his misery is short live. Small touches 
like these that bring depth to the game. It enhances the game! Another 
time (level 2), I shoot one of the trucks parked by the camp, and the 
driver decides to make a run for it. When I followed it, I try shooting 
it down, then, just before the truck runs over the cliff, the driver 
and passenger jump off the vehicle. Great stuff! The truck movement was 
fast, and very realistic moving to and fro, trying to dodge your fire. 
Some soldiers scream out loud, "Nyyah, nyah, you missed...Ooof!" The 
wav-files are crystal clear and free of any hiss, or low recording.

The music changes with the action in the game. When you pick up fuel or 
upgrade your ammo with pick ups, you will hear its unique upbeat feel 
to the music, as though up-lifting your will to continue the fight. 
When you finish a mission within the level, the music will again notify 
you and refresh the ear with its intro music. A great touch, so you 
won’t hear one mindless track looping over and over. The music itself 
has a nice pop/rock soundtrack for every level, with great digital 
recordings. Its dark tone correlates with the action, and blends well 
with the game.

Gameplay: 10/4 We have a winner! Over.

This game sets apart from the rest of Sony’s shooters because of its 
difficult setting. Although the game has only five levels, the gameplay 
is going to take long hours of try and error to successfully finish the 
many missions within each level. Although the game is highly difficult, 
it by no means is frustrating. What sets itself apart from shooters 
like Warhawk, or Black Dawn for that matter, is the amount of strategy 
involved and limited resources to find throughout the levels. In order 
to succeed, you must limit your resources like fuel, ammo, and armor. 
Strategy and thinking are what’s this game is all about, if you 
go around flying, shooting anything, ignoring friendly MSG’s you won’t 
be able get far, or finish the level alone. This is why I find this 
game very addictive, I’m constantly trying to learn the level and its 
many missions, always searching, and looking for clues. For example, 
level three has only two or three visible fuel items to collect, not 
enough to complete the whole level, however, by shooting tents, and 
buildings you can discover additional fuel items to continue your 
search and destroy the various missions. So getting to know the 
surroundings is very important. I found out there’s plenty of ammo and 
fuels visible and hidden throughout all the levels, so the game is not 
cheap in helping you as long you keep looking for goodies. Although the 
game is difficult, the more you play the game the easier it becomes. (A 
favorable feature) For example, when I started playing the game, I was 
reckless. I would often fight the enemy head on (while I should have 
been fighting them from behind), or ignore checking the map for enemy 
position. But as I progressed and logged countless hours, I adjusted to 
the game play. I learned ambushing the enemy from behind is the best 
method to conserve your armor. Checking the map for enemy position was 
another strategy I learned through try/error, avoiding unnecessary 
conflicts and keeping in mind to my mission objective. Rescuing POWs or 
locals are also essential to keep your armor well boosted when you drop 
them at the landing zones. Also leaving behind a few to pick up later 
will mean better chances of surviving as you conserve your supplies. 
Also, attacking enemy radar first helps you considerably as the 
firepower of your enemy will not increase. Learning to use your three 
types of missiles for different enemies also helps, including small or 
large targets. In other words, the more you play this game, the easier 
it gets and improves your chances to beating the levels. What’s great 
to further mention, all the missions varied in strategy, each very 
different from the other, keeping you guessing for every level you 
play. Every level is consistent, and the strategy unfolds as you play 
the game through try/and error. I found the third level to be the most 
complex. The strategy involved at the beginning of the game is very 
confusing because you don’t have much time as the waves of the armor 
divisions are heading toward the factory. You will grow perplexed early 
on, until you figure out blocking the enemies' path and picking up the 
friendly as they assist you in slowing down the forces are the trick of
this level. This being said, once you finish a level, you’ll really 
feel as though you accomplished something. While the action is not fast 
pace as Black Dawn, the action/shooting in Soviet Strike is enough to 
keep your happy-trigger-finger busy. There is a lot of artillery, gun 
turrets, pillboxes, and moving targets to destroy, including large 
targets and infantry soldiers. The levels of the game increase in 
difficulty, I logged couple hours on the first level alone; about four 
hours on the second level, six hours on the third level, etc. Because 
of its difficulty and strategy, the replay value of this game is quite 
high, chances are, this is one game you won’t breeze through in couple 
days, let alone in two weeks' times. This game requires patience if 
you’re thinking of beating all five levels.

Again, for every level finish, FMV is follow with a small explanation 
to what will take place. The cut scenes as I said before, are hip, and 
the acting for once is excellent, very stylish. EA sure knows how to 
package a game. Within the actual game, sometimes you will hear a 
transmission beeping, calling for your attention. When you switch to 
the map and call up the Super Multi-Functional display, an audio 
voicing will let you know upon the status of the mission. Sometimes a 
FMV will transmit from a friendly or hostage in dire need of your help. 
Ignoring, or refusing these MSG’s will often end your mission. If 
this happens, the commander will transmit his voice over reminding you 
the mission is scrub, and therefore you must return to base. If you 
ignore his MSG and continue playing the game, he warns you once, than 
twice, and later, will pull the plug and your mission is over. The 
combination of FMV and gameplay is really excellent, and only immerses 
you into the story of the game.

Bottom line: this game is nearly flawless: with the enemy AI responding 
to your actions, often effecting other segments to what you do in a 
level, this title deserves much praise and appreciation from the game 
programmers. This is ‘NOT’ another title you can label ‘mindless 
shooter’. It's rich with plot, and strategy, and the more I play this 
game, the more it grows on me -- another well-spent effort by EA. This 
game is worth every penny spent. 95%

Sound:       10
Control:      8
Graphics:     9
Funfactor     9
replay value 10