To the untrained eye, Heavy Fire: Shattered Spear might look like an adequate Call of Duty substitute; and with its $20 price encouraging impulse buys, that’s presumably the goal. But its efforts to merge modern military action with a Time Crisis–inspired, cover-based lightgun shooter — despite the fact that it supports only standard controllers — can't even justify that meager investment.
Much like a first-person shooter, Heavy Fire shows your current firearm onscreen by default, but it's a visual trick — there's actually no active player movement allowed, as you're pushed along a set path from one shootout to the next. Instead, you're at times able to duck into cover using the right analog stick to tilt left, right, or down as indicated. With reticle movement mapped to the left stick and no options to swap the controls, Heavy Fire manages to reverse the expected inputs of the games it visually mimics, with notably awkward results.
Being shot from three separate screens with little control is just as fun as it sounds.It's not just the lack of control or a comfortable scheme that makes this budget shooter seem so deficient, though; it's truly everything about the experience. The game may be functional, but limited resources and lack of ambition shine through at every turn. Stiff animations and laughable textures give it the look of a much older game, while the flat-spoken mission introductions are guaranteed to make you groan. On top of that, you can clear all 12 missions in less than 90 minutes total, although doing so unlocks an additional difficulty setting.
If it'd been an entertaining 90-or-so minutes, perhaps Heavy Fire would warrant the cheap buy-in. Sadly, the game's best feat is its effective simulation of how little fun it is to be repeatedly shot. Without the exaggerated and potentially dodged attacks in typical arcade lightgun shooters, you'll just be pummeled continually with machinegun fire even if you use cover effectively, plus the missions occasionally have miserable scenarios where you're being shot from three different screens, leaving you open to attack from one area while clearing another.
It's as maddening and absurdly designed as it sounds, and even the simple local co-op play — which allows four reticles onscreen at once — isn't enough to make Heavy Fire appealing. Affordability can't save this tactless mash-up; your $20 is better spent on an XBLA gem, some good DLC, or a better retail shooter you might have missed in the past.
Don't let the lens flare fool you: Heavy Fire frequently looks like a last-gen leftover.PUBLISHER: Mastiff • DEVELOPER: Teyon • ESRB: Teen • MULTIPLAYER: 4 on same screen only • ACHIEVEMENTS: Effortless • COST: $20 • RELEASE DATE: January 28, 2013
– Dull, on-rails shooter with awkward controls.
– Low-budget production that shows little ambition.
– Game can be completed in 90 minutes or less.
? Remember how fun some old-school lightgun shooters were?
