We are still waiting on a suitable Amiga AGA emulator with robust recording features before tackling such games.
Firestorm: Thunderhawk 2
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Screenshot |
Player's Review
PlayStation version of Firestorm: Thunderhawk 2 (Thunderstrike 2 in the US)
This game has been played on Hard difficulty to avoid the bad ending I got with Thunderhawk played on Normal difficulty. As it turns out, it was not required to play on hard in this sequel as there was no real ending either way, Just an anim followed by credits. A real disappointment after the time put in but if I think about it, the overall presentation of the game is also lacking when compared with the first game. The longplay seems to make the game look shorter than the first, but that's because this time I didn't set my self the task of killing absolutely everything on each mission.
I play through all missions in order. I don't bother messing with load out as I would probably end up taking the wrong load out for the mission and not realise till the end. I played on Hard, but thankfully the game seems so much easier than the first game anyway. There are no plains to worry about if you fly above radar like in the first game. I pretty much to fly in to the face of danger all the time, energy be damned. As long as you keep moving you can avoid most hits. This strategy works well for most of the game however when the time comes to face ships, you have to be more careful as they take a lot to kill and carry a lot of firepower. The most difficult enemies in this game are the boats and Trees!
The final campaign steps up and makes Hard mode feel like hard mode and makes you have to think about your health bar. Its nearly all ships and heavy artillery which will tear you apart given half a chance. Of course playing on hard, you get no meaningful amount of firepower and pretty much have to use your cannon the whole game and just the cannon makes the final campaign a lot of work. I really don't like the escort missions, as there is no way to protect them all. They are often ambushed and don't fight back. I have to scout ahead and get as many of the mortar launchers as I can and then try to find any mobile artillery in the escorts way. Thankfully only 1 vehicle has to make it through.
The final level, OMG the final level in particular has you pretty much having to kill everything. All enemies are heavy artillery and they want to end you. The briefing pretty much says to just destroy the base (everything on the island). I failed this a few times at first without realising why. It turns out there is a huge artillery boat moving through the centre canal, and if it escapes, its game over. No mention of this in the briefing and going to it right at the start is a bad idea with all the artillery around. Once I found it, I had to make quick work of it else it would just annoy with random gunfire me while I kill other targets. I make it out of the mission with a slither of health, one stray bullet would have done me in.
What I found strange with the final level, and it may have started at an earlier point in the game is that If I get mission fail its an instant game over with a dismissal with no chance to retry without first going back to the password screen. if I am killed its game over with all 3 continues burned instantly. Anyway, onto the Mission start times for those interested. It's by no means an optimal play through. I often just go around killing random stuff after the mission if I have health to spare in an aid to try and unlock those merits
00:02:50 S.America - Arms Running
00:34:54 S.America - Stealth Down
00:53:00 Panama Canal - Canal Crisis
01:14:43 C.America - Recapture Town
01:34:40 Eastern Europe - Escort Convoy
02:04:17 Middle East - Recapture Territory
02:25:40 Middle East - Oil Dispute
02:57:09 S.China Seas - Piracy
This game has been played on Hard difficulty to avoid the bad ending I got with Thunderhawk played on Normal difficulty. As it turns out, it was not required to play on hard in this sequel as there was no real ending either way, Just an anim followed by credits. A real disappointment after the time put in but if I think about it, the overall presentation of the game is also lacking when compared with the first game. The longplay seems to make the game look shorter than the first, but that's because this time I didn't set my self the task of killing absolutely everything on each mission.
I play through all missions in order. I don't bother messing with load out as I would probably end up taking the wrong load out for the mission and not realise till the end. I played on Hard, but thankfully the game seems so much easier than the first game anyway. There are no plains to worry about if you fly above radar like in the first game. I pretty much to fly in to the face of danger all the time, energy be damned. As long as you keep moving you can avoid most hits. This strategy works well for most of the game however when the time comes to face ships, you have to be more careful as they take a lot to kill and carry a lot of firepower. The most difficult enemies in this game are the boats and Trees!
The final campaign steps up and makes Hard mode feel like hard mode and makes you have to think about your health bar. Its nearly all ships and heavy artillery which will tear you apart given half a chance. Of course playing on hard, you get no meaningful amount of firepower and pretty much have to use your cannon the whole game and just the cannon makes the final campaign a lot of work. I really don't like the escort missions, as there is no way to protect them all. They are often ambushed and don't fight back. I have to scout ahead and get as many of the mortar launchers as I can and then try to find any mobile artillery in the escorts way. Thankfully only 1 vehicle has to make it through.
The final level, OMG the final level in particular has you pretty much having to kill everything. All enemies are heavy artillery and they want to end you. The briefing pretty much says to just destroy the base (everything on the island). I failed this a few times at first without realising why. It turns out there is a huge artillery boat moving through the centre canal, and if it escapes, its game over. No mention of this in the briefing and going to it right at the start is a bad idea with all the artillery around. Once I found it, I had to make quick work of it else it would just annoy with random gunfire me while I kill other targets. I make it out of the mission with a slither of health, one stray bullet would have done me in.
What I found strange with the final level, and it may have started at an earlier point in the game is that If I get mission fail its an instant game over with a dismissal with no chance to retry without first going back to the password screen. if I am killed its game over with all 3 continues burned instantly. Anyway, onto the Mission start times for those interested. It's by no means an optimal play through. I often just go around killing random stuff after the mission if I have health to spare in an aid to try and unlock those merits
00:02:50 S.America - Arms Running
00:34:54 S.America - Stealth Down
00:53:00 Panama Canal - Canal Crisis
01:14:43 C.America - Recapture Town
01:34:40 Eastern Europe - Escort Convoy
02:04:17 Middle East - Recapture Territory
02:25:40 Middle East - Oil Dispute
02:57:09 S.China Seas - Piracy
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