Top Gun 2 review
God Damn was I excited when the review code for Top Gun 2 popped up in my mailbox. Kenny Loggins singing Danger Zone, bare chested Alpha Males playing volleyball, and Kelly McGillis pouting my name, they all flashed through my head excitedly as I installed the game and got a rush of nostalgic excitement that threatened to explode my impressionable mind.
Upon starting the game, the familiar yet hair raising Top Gun soundtrack starts, first the percussion then the iconic guitar solo. You are then greeted by Viper, who seems to have be promoted to Admiral – but hey the man deserves it! You’re told straight away to jump in the Jet and kill some bad guys. Unfortunately 27 minutes later I finished the entire game.
Your first mission is to hunt down a SAM launching Hydrofoil which is blocking relief to a nearby city. A SAM launching Hydrofoil! The cliché boss fits in perfectly though with the charm of the game, and it plays almost like a game from the film’s era, with it being very reminiscent of the original Afterburner. The graphics are sharp, movement is smooth and there is no pop up save on one later mountain range level. Slight slowdown is present when 8 or more enemy planes explode at the same time, but it’s excusable and pretty cool to watch in slow motion at any rate.
The missions go from implausible to faintly ridiculous, including taking out prototype helicopters, or tanks that can fly and roll as fast your F-14 on full afterburner. The final mission is the best and has you chasing a Nuclear ICBM into the stratosphere (although Viper does say to follow it into space!), with your object being to destroy it before it hits America. Again crazy, but it’s a welcome break from the previous missions of kill 150 normal planes before battling a boss linearity.
Controls for your jets are tilt sensitive, with touch buttons for your Vulcan cannon, missiles and two special weapons. You have three jets to choose from, F14, F16 and F18. They only differ in their variance of special weapons, with one defensive and one offensive. The best is the F16 once you have upgraded its shield and missile barrage, and the missions go from being twitchy to comfortably easy. Controlling your actual jet is tricky, but can be done after a few minutes play until you are relatively comfortable. The game doesn’t last long enough for it to be too exasperating anyway
Whilst the presentation seems to be 80’s inspired, I fear it’s from laziness rather than design. The original iPhone game had 10 missions, this only has 7. And with only three jets to choose from, and gameplay that is recycled mission after mission until the last is inexcusable from the same studio that brought us its predecessor. £2 for 27 minutes of gameplay, which has no replay is almost a complete waste of money. And for all its short lived charm, I simply can’t recommend Top Gun 2 – Sorry Ice Man you need to find a different wingman this time around.
