The warning signs are there from moment one, if you're tuned in. The first thing you see is a sound options panel and you'll be tapping all over it trying to change the setting before you realise that you have to tap the word 'Sound' and not the blob or the actual setting. At this point, you start to think "Hmm.... maybe this is a port from another game platform and I shouldn't be surprised if things are a bit rough".
Then, for a brief few minutes, things start to look up. A neat title screen (above, right) is followed by some super texture-mapped 3D modelled animation, seemingly being rendered in real time. Ships, planes, landscapes - not rendered incredibly fast, but usably so and your opinion changes to "Wow, there's some serious computer gaming in this title after all - it's definitely worth persevering with".
On top of all the texture mapping, a back story is built-up and you're introduced to your Apache variant, your helicopter for the game. You can skip this intro sequence if you like by tapping on the right hand advance icon:
And then the game starts. Which is where everything goes downhill. Although the main game engine uses the 3D models above, they're used incredibly sparingly and from a distance, presumably because of performance problems on non-accelerated Nokia smartphones (all the current S60 5th Edition devices). Worse, Heli Strike descends into a top-down 2D shooter - and not a very good one.
Your Apache can be moved within the flying corridor from left to right by tapping on on-screen controls, while tapping on the right-side bullets icon fires a salvo of something or other off towards enemy surface or aircraft.
So a standard game idea then. The twist here is supposed to be that by tapping on the up or down icons you can swivel the whole view into proper 3D (as if you're flying into the 3D landscape) - sounds good, but having done this, the game swivels the view back to top-down within a second or so, either by design or because (again) the processor can't keep up the frame rate in this view.
In addition, the frame rate when flying in simple top-down mode is poor, with your bullets and other craft stuttering around the screen as if on an underpowered, poorly specified device that's not really fit for gaming... oh, wait.
Within the constraints of Nokia's current hardware, Heli Strike could just have been rescued by making firing continuous and by implementing accelerometer control, both eliminating the clumsy screen tapping needed. A final nail in Heli Strike's coffin is that the 3D scenery is far more limited than the opening intro would have you believe - as the same island comes up in front of you for the tenth time in 5 minutes, it's easy to see where corners have been cut.
I'd estimate that half the budget for Heli Strike went into the opening and help screen background animations. If not 90%. At which point the actual game engine itself was rushed out with little or no play-testing.
There is a seriously good 3D engine in here struggling to breakthrough the limitations of Nokia's mediocre touchscreen hardware - but the current version of Heli Strike merely hints at its potential. In the meantime, attack, attack, attack avoid, avoid, avoid.
Steve Litchfield, Ovi Gaming, 4 June 2010
