Heavy Weapon Review
Heavy Weapon: Atomic Tank, was originally a flash game released in 2005 by PopCap Games. A free version was available to download, with a premium version available for purchase. In 2007, the game was then ported to the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade and boasted some new features upon its release. Almost three years on, PopCap Games and Sony Online Entertainment have now decided to release the game on the PlayStation Network - five years since its original conception, has it stood the test of time?
The premise behind Heavy Weapon is simple. Russia have suddenly decided to invade the United States of America with very little provocation, and the USA have been caught completely by surprise. With all hope lost, the President's advisors suggest surrender as the only realistic course of action, but the President has one last throw of the dice, and calls on Heavy Weapon to level the playing field. That's essentially all the story there is, although there are some very small cutscenes at the half-way mark, and upon completing the game.
There are 19 levels to fight through, and they are all outlined on a map of territories. Before each mission the player is informed of the enemies that will be encountered, as well as a seemingly irrelevant statistic about the territory's population. After choosing to invade, the player is hurled straight into the action, which involves shooting almost everything in sight.
The gameplay revolves solely around the Heavy Weapon tank, which can move left and right on the bottom of the screen. The screen itself moves automatically at a set speed and there is a progress bar at the top, so players can determine how much of the level has passed. The tank can fire in one direction, which is denoted by the player, but there is a full 180 degree scope, so every section o the screen can be hit by fire. The player also has access to a Nuke, which wipes everything out on the screen and a super weapon called the Mega Laser. This destroys anything in its path, but only lasts for a short period of time. A support helicopter also appears sporadically througout levels to drop shield upgrades and other accessories.
Enemies are quite varied in the game, and they come in all shapes and sizes. Initially they start off quite small, with projectiles that are easy to shoot down. However, further progression through the game will lead to far more challenging foes, with weapons that can cause considerable damage. Not only that, but eventually the game becomes exceedingly hectic. Expect to be dodging numerous projectiles at the same time, while trying to destroy the enemies firing them. It makes the game pretty challenging, and there's definitely a sense of achievement upon reaching the end of each level.
When the end of the level is reached, players are greeted with a boss encounter. However, these are often relatively easy compared to the level itself. They generally have very obvious patterns, and their weapons are often very easy to avoid. It's slightly understandable though, as dying on the boss and having to do the whole level again would become exceedingly frustrating after a while. After a certain amount of levels are completed, the bosses are recycled with a slight upgrade, but even then they still don't really pose much of a challenge.
