Fireblade
It's got helicopters, it's got decapitations, it's got cloaking, but does it have what it takes to be fun?
Published: June 26, 2002
I've seen plenty of examples of a don't-judge-a-book-by-its-cover-type game, but Fireblade ranks up there with the best of 'em. My first impression largely still stands; Fireblade isn't an amazing game by any stretch, but some of the more extreme jagged edges about the whole gameplay experience have been smoothed out a bit. Where once I saw only a fugly looking, needlessly difficult and cumbersome game; I now see an engine that represents scale quite well, a game that's challenge, and a flight model that responds well once you tussle with it for a while.
But again, it's not like my first impressions have been completely whipped around 180 degrees. I still find Fireblade to be oddly mixed in delivery, throwing some slickly designed, easy to navigate menus at you, then spitting out redundant mission briefings before and during the levels. Missions can vary wildly from high-engergy, incredibly addictive efforts to seemingly impossible or cheap setups. Because of this, you're left with a game that never really settles in to a decent groove, and as a result, you can't really enjoy it, even if you can see some of the positive aspects.
Fireblade is a shooter, first and foremost. It's got some semblance of a "story", but it's largely irrelevant. The game takes its name from an organization born out of the need for a unified threat against terrorism all over the world. One such terrorist faction, a group calling themselves the United Eastern States are slowly gaining power, and with the possibility of the UES equipping themselves with nuclear arms, it becomes necessarily to bring out the big guns.
And that's the story, really. The missions you play for the most part are variations on one of three themes: 1) blow something up; 2) escort troops or vehicles to a location... so they can blow something up; 3) fly under the cover of radar and visual stealth... so you can blow something up without being seen. You'll repeat these general themes across a total of four campaigns the first and last offering five missions, and the second and third saddling you with four. Each campaign takes place in a different locale, but you'll likely hardly notice since the terrain rarely varies significantly on than texturing and elevation and in some extremely rare cases, weather.
This is where you come in; pilot and gunner for a pair of elite choppers that are loaded to the gills with firepower. Fireblade two different attack choppers; the nimble, agile AV-76 Vendetta and the bulkier, troop hauling UV108 Talon. Both borrow from a mishmash of different real-life helicopter designs, and with the exception of troop transport in the Talon and a jet engine-powered turbo boost mode in the Vendetta, the only difference between the two is handling. Both helis can slip into stealth mode and both carry the same weapons payload. That said, there's never an option as to which you'll be flying in every mission, but since the Talon handles like a bathtub with rotors, the Vendetta is used for everything but missions where troop transport is necessary.
There's plenty of destruction on the agenda, but frankly I don't see any massive problem with this. Fireblade makes an attempt to weave threads of story through each of those missions, but it never really tries to make the game seem like anything more than a simple matter of blowing shit up. However, as I said before the fun factor on any given mission can vary wildly, leaving you begging for more on one mission and wondering how long you can keep replaying another. While you're in any given level, tossing salvo after fiery salvo of rockets at your targets, the burned out hulks may cough up refills for your primary unguided rockets, your secondary weapon (which ranges from a half-dozen guided missiles to a few dozen multiple lock-on stinger missiles to that staple of video-game carnage: the rail gun). On occasion, you'll also come across a likely needed health refill.
The biggest problem I had with the game wasn't necessarily the gameplay (though there were times where I was seeing red as I mashed the x button to replay a level for the 20th time because of a deluge of enemy fire or a clumsily failed objective forced me to restart), it was the overall presentation. Fireblade feels uneven in spots, connecting on just about every level at some parts with perfectly scored music, missions that are deliciously fun and the feeling that you truly are flying a nimble little wingless instrument of death, but more often than not the pacing or the delivery of certain moments feels stunted or rushed. It's hard to put a finger on, exactly, but I have a feeling a bit of this comes from the graphics.
Ah, the graphics, simultaneously eyebrow-raising in their detail and grimace-inducing in their fugliness. As I mentioned at the beginning of the review, the game is not without it's technical merits. For the most part, the game runs smoothly, tossing out ample particles when appropriate (like when weapons fire connects with water or with bullets pepper an enemy vehicle) and heaping on that nigh-ubiquitous motion blur when in turbo mode, and merits some kudos. The sense of scale is nice, with troops dotting the floor before you like little ants and larger, more intricate buildings rising up in perfect scale.
The problem is, it's all painted with a rather muted palette, as if someone went on a bender, spewed the contents on a computer screen, and then had the whole mess digitized at a low resolution. Everything has a drab, lifeless feeling, and the ground texturing in particular is a blurry, blotchy mess of thick pixels. I'm not saying levels as big as the ones Fireblade boasts should have razor-sharp texturing on everything, but neither should things look as underwhelming as they do. Animation, too, feels quite stiff. When troops run, they shuffle along with a stuck-in-molasses overly-slow gait, pumping their arms and legs in slo-mo with jerky, klutzy movements. It hurts the game quite a bit, giving it a rushed, first-generation look to an engine that's merely competent.
Play for a while, though, and you'll notice that there's a pretty decent physics and particle model in place. It wasn't until one of the last missions when I noticed that the twin plumes of acrid black smoke curling from my damaged engines would actually get blown and punched apart if I flew backwards so they were forced into the rotors. Fast moving vehicles like jeeps don't just explode, they cartwheel end over end, the back ends flipping around as the gas tank explodes. And that's just if they're traveling in a mostly straight line. If they happen to be turning, the explosion rolls the truck, turning the contents into a flaming, spinning ball of wreckage. The destructive animations vary by weapon used as well, so machine gun fire tends to leave a burned out shell while rockets tear the vehicles apart. Arms, legs and heads on troops can be shot off individually with bullets, which is especially fun on the sniper missions. Troop idle animations range from twirling rifles to conversational arm gestures to exercises to stay warm in the cold. The tiny details like this show plenty of work went into the core engine, it's just a shame it's all buried under a more obviously ugly exterior.
While the graphics lend a less polished feel the game, the sound helps hold things up a little more. The game's soundtrack, while sparse on tracks definitely has some depth. It's nothing more intricate that anything you'd hear in a Jerry Bruckheimer, but by the same token it does well to pump you up with a do or die-style driving tempo. There are some nice movements that change in tempo and pace throughout the piece, in particular the menu music. Words like "movements" and "piece" make it sound like the score is something epic, which it isn't, but it holds up well, as do the effects, which provide gratifying pings and booms.
Explosions seem a little withered, but I suppose they wouldn't sound like massive walls of bass if you were a few hundred feet away in a helicopter. The chop-chop-chop of the engines responds well to things like turns or changes in speed, which is a nice touch, and the sound of bullets spanking the hull (which you'll hear nearly constantly) sound great. If there is a major gripe in sound, it has to do with voice acting, which seems to come from the same person trying to deliver a couple different performances with the barest modicum of variety. The gravelly-voiced pre- and mid-mission officer sounds like he's trying to sound tougher than he actually is, but the rare female quip does a fair job of soothing the ol' eardrums. Or perhaps I'm just a fan of hearing the fairer sex speak. In either case, it's more pleasant than 99% of the chatter you'll hear during the game. Overall, though, the sound package may well be the most complete feeling part of Fireblade's delivery.
It's because of this unfortunate feeling that the game's not quite everything it could have been, especially in graphical presentation that I can't recommend it with a glowing review. The gameplay is decent, but the missions are a bit too mixed in difficulty and play, and the engine, while certainly robust in delivering small details, fails to wow on the whole. The elegant, sliding menus look fantastic, and the music and effects resound with a nice, tight, high production feel. Since Fireblade will probably only take a good 10 hours to beat anyway, it might not be a bad idea if you're looking for a rental where you can turn you mind off and just go to town blowing the crap out of, well, everything. Otherwise, though, it's probably best to stay clear unless you absolutely MUST have a new helicopter game, and even then you should wait till it drops to bargain bin price.
But again, it's not like my first impressions have been completely whipped around 180 degrees. I still find Fireblade to be oddly mixed in delivery, throwing some slickly designed, easy to navigate menus at you, then spitting out redundant mission briefings before and during the levels. Missions can vary wildly from high-engergy, incredibly addictive efforts to seemingly impossible or cheap setups. Because of this, you're left with a game that never really settles in to a decent groove, and as a result, you can't really enjoy it, even if you can see some of the positive aspects.
Fireblade is a shooter, first and foremost. It's got some semblance of a "story", but it's largely irrelevant. The game takes its name from an organization born out of the need for a unified threat against terrorism all over the world. One such terrorist faction, a group calling themselves the United Eastern States are slowly gaining power, and with the possibility of the UES equipping themselves with nuclear arms, it becomes necessarily to bring out the big guns.
And that's the story, really. The missions you play for the most part are variations on one of three themes: 1) blow something up; 2) escort troops or vehicles to a location... so they can blow something up; 3) fly under the cover of radar and visual stealth... so you can blow something up without being seen. You'll repeat these general themes across a total of four campaigns the first and last offering five missions, and the second and third saddling you with four. Each campaign takes place in a different locale, but you'll likely hardly notice since the terrain rarely varies significantly on than texturing and elevation and in some extremely rare cases, weather.
This is where you come in; pilot and gunner for a pair of elite choppers that are loaded to the gills with firepower. Fireblade two different attack choppers; the nimble, agile AV-76 Vendetta and the bulkier, troop hauling UV108 Talon. Both borrow from a mishmash of different real-life helicopter designs, and with the exception of troop transport in the Talon and a jet engine-powered turbo boost mode in the Vendetta, the only difference between the two is handling. Both helis can slip into stealth mode and both carry the same weapons payload. That said, there's never an option as to which you'll be flying in every mission, but since the Talon handles like a bathtub with rotors, the Vendetta is used for everything but missions where troop transport is necessary.
There's plenty of destruction on the agenda, but frankly I don't see any massive problem with this. Fireblade makes an attempt to weave threads of story through each of those missions, but it never really tries to make the game seem like anything more than a simple matter of blowing shit up. However, as I said before the fun factor on any given mission can vary wildly, leaving you begging for more on one mission and wondering how long you can keep replaying another. While you're in any given level, tossing salvo after fiery salvo of rockets at your targets, the burned out hulks may cough up refills for your primary unguided rockets, your secondary weapon (which ranges from a half-dozen guided missiles to a few dozen multiple lock-on stinger missiles to that staple of video-game carnage: the rail gun). On occasion, you'll also come across a likely needed health refill.
The biggest problem I had with the game wasn't necessarily the gameplay (though there were times where I was seeing red as I mashed the x button to replay a level for the 20th time because of a deluge of enemy fire or a clumsily failed objective forced me to restart), it was the overall presentation. Fireblade feels uneven in spots, connecting on just about every level at some parts with perfectly scored music, missions that are deliciously fun and the feeling that you truly are flying a nimble little wingless instrument of death, but more often than not the pacing or the delivery of certain moments feels stunted or rushed. It's hard to put a finger on, exactly, but I have a feeling a bit of this comes from the graphics.
Ah, the graphics, simultaneously eyebrow-raising in their detail and grimace-inducing in their fugliness. As I mentioned at the beginning of the review, the game is not without it's technical merits. For the most part, the game runs smoothly, tossing out ample particles when appropriate (like when weapons fire connects with water or with bullets pepper an enemy vehicle) and heaping on that nigh-ubiquitous motion blur when in turbo mode, and merits some kudos. The sense of scale is nice, with troops dotting the floor before you like little ants and larger, more intricate buildings rising up in perfect scale.
The problem is, it's all painted with a rather muted palette, as if someone went on a bender, spewed the contents on a computer screen, and then had the whole mess digitized at a low resolution. Everything has a drab, lifeless feeling, and the ground texturing in particular is a blurry, blotchy mess of thick pixels. I'm not saying levels as big as the ones Fireblade boasts should have razor-sharp texturing on everything, but neither should things look as underwhelming as they do. Animation, too, feels quite stiff. When troops run, they shuffle along with a stuck-in-molasses overly-slow gait, pumping their arms and legs in slo-mo with jerky, klutzy movements. It hurts the game quite a bit, giving it a rushed, first-generation look to an engine that's merely competent.
Play for a while, though, and you'll notice that there's a pretty decent physics and particle model in place. It wasn't until one of the last missions when I noticed that the twin plumes of acrid black smoke curling from my damaged engines would actually get blown and punched apart if I flew backwards so they were forced into the rotors. Fast moving vehicles like jeeps don't just explode, they cartwheel end over end, the back ends flipping around as the gas tank explodes. And that's just if they're traveling in a mostly straight line. If they happen to be turning, the explosion rolls the truck, turning the contents into a flaming, spinning ball of wreckage. The destructive animations vary by weapon used as well, so machine gun fire tends to leave a burned out shell while rockets tear the vehicles apart. Arms, legs and heads on troops can be shot off individually with bullets, which is especially fun on the sniper missions. Troop idle animations range from twirling rifles to conversational arm gestures to exercises to stay warm in the cold. The tiny details like this show plenty of work went into the core engine, it's just a shame it's all buried under a more obviously ugly exterior.
While the graphics lend a less polished feel the game, the sound helps hold things up a little more. The game's soundtrack, while sparse on tracks definitely has some depth. It's nothing more intricate that anything you'd hear in a Jerry Bruckheimer, but by the same token it does well to pump you up with a do or die-style driving tempo. There are some nice movements that change in tempo and pace throughout the piece, in particular the menu music. Words like "movements" and "piece" make it sound like the score is something epic, which it isn't, but it holds up well, as do the effects, which provide gratifying pings and booms.
Explosions seem a little withered, but I suppose they wouldn't sound like massive walls of bass if you were a few hundred feet away in a helicopter. The chop-chop-chop of the engines responds well to things like turns or changes in speed, which is a nice touch, and the sound of bullets spanking the hull (which you'll hear nearly constantly) sound great. If there is a major gripe in sound, it has to do with voice acting, which seems to come from the same person trying to deliver a couple different performances with the barest modicum of variety. The gravelly-voiced pre- and mid-mission officer sounds like he's trying to sound tougher than he actually is, but the rare female quip does a fair job of soothing the ol' eardrums. Or perhaps I'm just a fan of hearing the fairer sex speak. In either case, it's more pleasant than 99% of the chatter you'll hear during the game. Overall, though, the sound package may well be the most complete feeling part of Fireblade's delivery.
It's because of this unfortunate feeling that the game's not quite everything it could have been, especially in graphical presentation that I can't recommend it with a glowing review. The gameplay is decent, but the missions are a bit too mixed in difficulty and play, and the engine, while certainly robust in delivering small details, fails to wow on the whole. The elegant, sliding menus look fantastic, and the music and effects resound with a nice, tight, high production feel. Since Fireblade will probably only take a good 10 hours to beat anyway, it might not be a bad idea if you're looking for a rental where you can turn you mind off and just go to town blowing the crap out of, well, everything. Otherwise, though, it's probably best to stay clear unless you absolutely MUST have a new helicopter game, and even then you should wait till it drops to bargain bin price.
