[Gaming On a Budget] Strike Force Heroes

It's been awhile since I last sat down and wrote an article.  While I'd love to say it was because I've been spending most of my time working, romancing my girlfriend, writing the next Great American Novel, or spending quality time with friends and family, it's really not.  Not that I haven't been doing that (because I totally have, ask anyone), it's mostly because the semester ended and I was tired of doing anything related to journalism and also because I'm lazy.

Mostly because I'm lazy.

But then today while I was trying to avoid writing with all of my considerable might and willpower I came across a gem of a game: Strike Force Heroes.

Even the loading screen is pure awesome. | Armorgames.com

I saw the game on NotDoppler (the go-to game site of any man worth his salt) and figured any game with "Strike" or "Force" or "Heroes" would be worth trying out.  The fact that "Strike Force Heroes" has all three of these buzz words in its title made not-clicking on the link to play it impossible.

After waiting for the loading screen to finish its business, I was greeted by the title screen.

Which was also pure awesome.  Look at the fire and the bullets and the knife guy! | Armorgames.com

It looks like some 80s arcade game and something for the SNES decided to get drunk and make a boxart baby.  After entering my name I entered the world of Strike Force Heroes.  It turned out that the game isn't so much a strategy game (which I had been hoping for), but was instead a side-scrolling shoot 'em up.

If you've played any of JuiceTin's other games (Raze or Raze 2) or the old and rather popular Unreal Flash game, you already know how to play Strike Force Heroes.  You enter the battlefield, move around with WASD or the arrow keys, and shoot your way to victory.  Simple and incredibly fun.

However, to say that Strike Force Heroes is the same as Raze or Unreal Flash would be a lie.  Following the incredibly popular Battlefield 3's footsteps, Strike Force Heroes (which I will refer to as "SFH" from now on) uses a sort of "class-system."  There are four classes: Medic (Assault), Assassin (Recon), Commando (Support), and Tank (Engineer?).

Each class has its own weapon, skill, and kill streak options.  For example, the Medic class focuses on using assault rifles and similar weapons, machine pistols and submachine guns (which are shared by all classes), kill streaks that focus on supporting and healing allies, and skills that make him harder to kill by restoring his health.  Overall, the medic is pretty well balanced and can be easily played by anyone.

Image courtesy of Armorgames.com

The Commando is sort of like the Heavy from TF2, it runs around with a big gun and shoots things full of holes.  Higher damage and rate of fire than the Medic's assault rifles, but its range and accuracy aren't as good.  I've found that the Commando is the best class to use when I want to rack up the kills.

It's also the best class to use if I want to look like a total bad-ass! | Armorgames.com

The Assassin is the class I'm least familiar with, as I'm a piss-poor sniper in FPS games and my skills in side-scrollers isn't much better.  As one could assume, the assassin is good as using stealth and subterfuge to take out enemies quickly and efficiently.  It uses the standard sniper weapon: the rifle, but if you would rather get up close and personal the assassin can purchase and wield knives in battle as well.  The assassin's skills and kill streaks focus on making it harder to find and pointing out enemies for his allies to take out.

Even when dressed like a Final Fantasy ninja I'm still bad at assassining. | Armorgames.com

The last class is the Tank.  They are good at taking hits and not too shabby at dishing out damage.  The weapon choice available to the Tank is more polarized than those available to the other classes.  Tanks can either use shotguns (close quarter weapons that deal a lot of damage) or shields (deal no damage but when used to block protects the Tank from enemy fire).  I'm currently working with a shield and MP5 submachine gun and it's working out quite well for me.

The fact that I can be an Imperial Stormtrooper makes the Tank class even more appealing. | Armorgames.com

What makes SFH stand out from similar games is the how classes affect the overall gameplay.  In Raze and Raze 2 you get to customize your character, pick a name, and enter the battlefield with a pistol.  You run around shooting people and collecting weapons, ammo, and power-ups.  In SFH you enter the battlefield as whatever class you left up on the Soldier Menu screen (which can be kind of annoying until you get used to it) with the weapons, skill, and kill streak you selected.  Ammo and medipacs can be picked up to help you on your mission, but for the most part you're stuck with what you carried on to the field.

When you die you can pick which class you want to use in your next life.  Each kill nets you experience, which in turn will level you up and unlock new weapons, streaks, and skills.  You also earn money which allows you to purchase the aforementioned things.  Each class tallies its XP and money separately, so the classes you favor will become stronger faster, but it also makes it harder for the other classes to unlock their better weapons and skills.

Image Courtesy of Armorgames.com

The Soldier Menu is pretty easy to navigate and use.  Just click on something and another menu will appear.  Each class's level, money, stats, weapon load out, and skill sets is visible.  The only thing that I found frustrating was the fact that I'd have to click the class I wanted to start the next mission or match with before I left, or I could wind up playing a Medic when what I really needed to use was my Tank.  However, after a few games leaving the menu on the appropriate class became second nature.

I haven't played the campaign much, instead I've been playing Quickplay matches to earn money and XP for my classes.  From what I've gathered though, you play as a member of the Strike Force and you're trying to rescue a scientist or something.  Who knows?  The third level is played on a airplane that's falling out of the sky and being followed by mysterious MiG fighters.  If that's not enough to excite you then you've probably killed your inner child.

Overall SFH is a fun and addicting little game, and is definitely one of JuiceTin's best.  It combines the best parts of side scrolling action games with guns, class-roles, and the kill streak system that has become such a prominent part of shooting games.  I definitely recommend that you give it a try.

For my next article I'd like to review the Skyrim expansion Dawnguard, but since I have a Playstation 3 that currently doesn't work my television and Bethesda and Microsoft are butt-buddies, it might be awhile...

I'm on to you Todd, I know you and Mr. Gates are more than "really good friends."