Fire Blade

In Midway's semi-venerable tradition of arcade-style combat helicopter games (e.g. Chopper Attack), FireBlade casts you as the pilot and gunman of a heavily armed helicopter battling terrorists.

East, West, and Ne'er the Twain Shall Meet

As a member of the FireBlade organization, you will pilot a heavily armed helicopter through 18 heated missions in an attempt to stomp out state-sponsored terrorism one cell at a time. Showing a distinct lack of originality, Midway calls the bad guys the United Eastern States and the good guys the Western Nations.

The rogue easties are amassing weapons of mass destruction and now an elite team called FireBlade has been mobilized to eliminate the threat. As a hotshot FireBlade ace, you get to use the latest in aerial combat technologies to perform a variety of duties, such as protecting allied convoys, infiltrating enemy camps and, of course, blowing up lots of stuff.

Dual Choppers

Two distinct choppers are at your fingertips: the Vendetta, a tactical powerhouse that is quite maneuverable but has a small payload; and the Talon, a slower transport copter with heavy armor. Both can pick up health and weapon power-ups, including rockets, guided missiles and swarming missiles. All is not blam-blam-blam, though: Stealth Mode allows you to sneak by enemies undetected and search for targets via thermal imaging.

You are automatically assigned the appropriate helicopter. During each mission other members of the team will offer assistance via radio, but their advice is rarely enough to get you past your objectives. You'll have to plow through the manual if you want to discover the finer points of disabling enemies with the electro-magnetic pulse weapon or activating the sniper sight.

Day and night missions will challenge you to use all available gadgets. Four campaigns will sweep you across the Swiss Alps, the Arizona Desert, the Amazon Jungle and the Arctic Circle. Weather effects like snow and rain add realism to the experience.

Graphics

An overall lack of color and detail give FireBlade a bland look, but the developers manage to fill the screen with tons of action that seldom slows down. The terrain and sky have a natural look and effects like swirling dust around low-flying helicopters are a nice touch. A multiplayer option would have greatly increased replayability.

Bottom Line

Combat-helicopter games have long been popular, so it's good to see one finally touch down on the Nintendo GameCube. A good selection of gadgets provides some exciting moments, but the limited number of missions and so-so graphics will keep FireBlade from making many top-ten lists.

Source:

www.nintendo.com – Nintendo GameCube

THE ONLY THING LEFT STANDING IS FREEDOM.

In the cockpit of FireBlade there is one goal: use whatever means available to annihilate the terrorist cell flaming up around the globe.

• Unleash multiple deadly, hi-tech weapons, including Sniper Cannon, Swarming Missiles, EMP Weapon, Rail Gun and Homing Missiles.

• Battle through 18 missions in four campaigns at the helm of the carrier chopper or the Vendetta attack copter.

• Feel the rush of turbo and VFF upgrades as your helicopter partially transforms and exhibits its blinding jet aircraft speed.

• Run silent in Stealth mode, evade enemies with your thermal imaging sensors and use the EMP weapon to disable alarms while remaining undetected.

Bonus DVD content: Attack Helicopter Documentary "The Roar of War"

Source:

Back of Case - Playstation 2 (U.S.)

Fireblade straps players into the cockpit of two sophisticated and explosive military helicopters, both armed with an incredible arsenal of weaponry and firepower. As a hotshot pilot thrust into treacherous terrain from the jungles of Micronesia to the pinnacle mountains of Monument Valley, players surge through taxing hostile enemy assaults, gun-down key strategic locations, and engage in dangerous stealth missions.

Source:

www.xbox.com