Assault Heroes 2 - Review
Added May 31st, 2008 by Artie Augustyn
Wanako Studios’ dual-stick shooter Assault Heroes 2 is a sequel to the original Assault Heroes that was released in 2006. Even though the studio has had at least a year and a half to upgrade this new installment, Assault Heroes 2 is identical to its predecessor, only improving the experience, rather than adding to it. Despite the lack of innovation, Assault Heroes 2 proves to be a high quality game and is easily recommendable to any fan of the genre that hasn’t become sick of the already superfluous stock of dual-stick shooters that currently clutter the marketplace.
Similar to the first game, you play as the only surviving member of an elite force whose task is to rid the world of evil forces. There’s practically no plot whatsoever and the game doesn’t bother trying to explain why you’re at the various locations you visit. The important thing is that there are enemies to kill, and bosses to conquer.
You begin each level inside an assault jeep that’s equipped with a variety of weapons. A minigun, flak cannon, flamethrower, and freezing gun complete your arsenal of bad guy destruction. Each weapon seems to have a specific purpose. The flak cannon is perfect for reigning carnage upon enemy vehicles. The flamethrower and freezing gun can easily decimate a crowd of infantry, and the minigun can be used for anything. All of these weapons can be improved by collecting upgrades left behind by fallen enemies. Even though ideally you’d want to switch between these weapons depending on the situation, the mingun seems to perform adequately in any given scenario, so you’ll never have a reason to change up your tactics.
Should your vehicle ever be destroyed your character is ejected to the ground, where on-foot combat takes place until your vehicle respawns. The on-foot controls mimic the vehicular combat, with some obvious changes. Instead of a minigun you have a submachine gun, instead of flak cannon it’s a rocket launcher, and so on. Even though the weapons have a different name, they all have the same effect as their vehicle counterparts. If you don’t want to risk losing a life whilst fighting on foot you can attempt to locate another vehicle. Along with your assault jeep you may also find a tank, a helicopter, or even hijack one of the enemy’s rigs. However hijacking a vehicle is near impossible since enemies spawn in large groups, and the helicopter is weak, and often crashes for unexplained reasons, leaving the tank as the only plausible substitute to your jeep. Attempting to mix up the action is a nice gesture, but impractical when tested out.
Constant backdrop changes along with the cornucopia of enemy variations keep the gameplay engaging. You’ll fight across ice plains, in the jungle, on mars, in space, against foot soldiers, kamikazes, robot elephants, apes, dinosaurs, mechs, helicopters, giant bugs, and the occasional boss fight. When coupled with the variety of weapon choices you have, it’s possible to have a lot of fun playing through the campaign that spans across thirty areas.
Unfortunately, around half-way through the game you’ll start to realize that you’re repeating the same actions all the time, and the initial appeal of blowing stuff up wears off. There’s a co-operative alternative if you have a friend over or on Xbox live in an attempt to rejuvenate the stale single player. But the campaign is the only piece of content in the game.
Don’t be mistaken, Assault Heroes 2 is the crème of the crop when it comes to dual-stick shooters. The lengthy campaign is enough to warrant the $10 price tag, just be sure not to burn through it too quickly. If you’re a fan of dual-stick shooters, or want a game that accurately represents the genre, there’s no better choice than Assault Heroes 2.
