Heli Attack 3

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Heli Attack 3

Developer(s) squarecircleco.
Publisher(s) squarecircleco.
Designer(s) Lavpreet
Engine Adobe Flash
Platform(s) OS independent (web based Flash applet)
PC (special edition)
Release date June 17, 2005
Genre(s) Run-and-gun shooter
Mode(s) Single player
Media Web interface
PC CD-ROM (special edition)
System requirements 600 MHz processor (low setting)
2.0 GHz processor (medium setting)
3.0 GHz processor (high setting)
Web browser and internet access
Adobe Flash Player
Input methods Keyboard and mouse

Heli Attack 3 is a run-and-gun shooter game designed by Lavpreet and created by the company squarecircleco.[1] and released on June 17, 2005. It is the third in the Heli Attack series of games in which the player takes on the role of a paratrooper who must travel through different locations or zones and use a wide array of different weapons to destroy a series of helicopters, or helis, whilst these enemies simultaneously attempt to harm and, ultimately, kill the paratrooper.[2]

There are sixteen different levels in Heli Attack 3;[3] in earlier levels the helis are comparatively weak with inaccurate and low powered guns.[4] As they progress through the game, the player must take on helis which are more difficult to destroy, and with weaponry that can cause considerable damage to their character's health. There are also a number of purely ground based enemies in the game; in early levels these have either weak weapons or none at all, but in later levels their aim is highly accurate and, if ignored, they pose a big threat to the health of the paratrooper. They are very hard to kill after that and require much more powerful weapons to destroy.

Contents

[edit] Weapons

Heli Attack 3 has been applauded for featured a wide range of thirty-two different weapons,[5] nineteen more than its prequel. At the start of the game, in the training area, you start with all weapons that do not have to be earned throughout the game. After which you start the game with 3 weapons. After completing each level you will gain access to a new weapon. All levels (even the training level) except the final level have a weapon that you can get.

  • Knife - A small weapon with unlimited number of uses, is stronger than weapons such as the pistol, but has to be used at very close range. Available from the beginning.
  • Bow&Arrow - A medium sized weapon that fires slower than the pistol or knife but is moderately powerful. Unlimited uses. Unlocked after level 1-1 or with the cheat code: john rambo.
  • Grenade - A small, but moderately powerful weapon. The grenades come in small packs and explode on impact with enemies or over long periods of time. Must be lobbed high in the air. Available from the beginning.
  • Pistol - A small weapon with unlimited ammo, is the average weapon and has an average fire rate. Available from the beginning.
  • Machine Gun - This medium sized weapon is very similar to the pistol but fires bullets a bit faster. When a helicopter is destroyed from above during HyperJump, this weapon is available for use. Available from the beginning.
  • AkimboMac10's - A pair of small Mac10's firing two bullets per shot at twice the rate of the Pistol. Available from the beginning.
  • Chain Gun - A very dangerous weapon. Comes in a 100 ammo clip that fires extremely fast and does loads of damage, most effective against Big Guns. Can be found in Training Zone or anyway unlocked after level 1-2 or with the cheat code: old faithful. (Using Time powers can increase accuracy of this, since it has a high recoil.)
  • Shotgun - Fires four shots, slow to reload. Available from the beginning.
  • Double Shotgun - Fires eight shots, same reload time as the Shotgun. Unlocked after level 1-3 or the cheat code: this is my boomstick.
  • Sniper Rifle - Fires one very fast moving, heavy damaging bullet. Has laser sight. Unlocked after level 1-4 or with the cheat code: its a jackal.
  • Grenade Launcher - Fires a grenade with longer range and more damage than the standard Grenade. Has an arc trajectory so it is more effective when shooting close to the target. Available from the beginning.
  • RPG - Fires a grenade that is much more powerful than the normal Grenade at the enemy, eliminating the annoyance of having to lob grenades in the air. Available from the beginning.
  • Rocket Launcher - Fires a slow, unguided, powerful missile that does heavy damage. Available from the beginning.
  • Seeker Launcher - Exactly like the Rocket Launcher but homes the closest enemy. Available from the beginning.
  • Drunken Launcher - Fires three "drunken" rockets which fly around randomly. Hard to aim with but does heavy damage. It is best to shoot at close range. Unlocked after level 2-1 or with the cheat code: moonshine.
  • Guided Launcher - Exactly like the Rocket Launcher but where ever you move the arrow (mouse), the missile follows. It is extraordinarily effective when shooting many and then attacking a single target with all of them. After about 15 seconds the rockets will self-destruct if the player has not yet steered them into a target. Unlocked after level 2-2 or with the cheat code: follow the leader.
  • FlakCannon (secret weapon) - A medium sized weapon that fires 20 small spike balls. Shooting at close range is the most effective. Found in Training Zone or in level 3-3. Unlockable with cheat code: Shrapnel
  • Shotgun Rockets - Fires three rockets with ⅓ of the damage in the standard RocketLauncher. Shooting at close range is the most effective. Available from the beginning.
  • Flame Thrower - Fires a continuous beam of flames. Causes most damage at close range. If shot correctly, the "flames" can destroy a Big Gun with very little ammunition. Damage amounts lessen as the flames fly farther. Available from the beginning.
  • Sparkplug (secret weapon) - Fires two electric balls that entertwine each other. Found in level 1-3 and unlockable with the cheat code: 9 Volt.
  • Goo Gun (secret weapon) - Fires a small orange glob of goo. It sticks to walls, etc. but causes limited damage; most effective against moving ground targets. Found in level 2-2 and unlockable with the cheat code: Gloop.
  • Bladerang - A large weapon that, if aimed correctly, will be a one hit kill, even on a "Big Gun". It can also attack multiple enemies multiple times. Unlocked after level 2-3 or with the cheat code: Australians all let us rejoice.
  • Laser Rifle - Shoots fast traveling lasers that shoots right through enemies (allowing a single round to attack multiple enemies). Unlocked after level 2-4 or with the cheat code: alpha.
  • Auto Laser Rifle Like the Laser Rifle it shots lasers but much more quickly. Unlocked after level 3-1 or with the cheat code: beta.
  • Shotgun Lasers - Shoots three lasers, same reload time as Shotgun, most effective at close range. Unlocked after level 3-2 or with the cheat code: gamma.
  • Rail Gun - A weapon that fires a depleted uranium slug at near light speed. Available from the beginning.
  • Anytime - Shoots a larger depleted uranium slug with more damage thanks to an explosive pack, though it is slower. Unlocked after level 3-3 or with the cheat code: i dont have time to bleed.
  • Air Strike - When used causes an airstrike of bombs to be dropped against the enemies. Unlocked after level 3-4 or with the cheat code: call in artillery.
  • Taser - A large electric weapon that does a one hit kill, though the target can still fire until destroyed. Available from the beginning.
  • Soundwave - Fires soundwaves that does constant damage to enemies and shoot through walls. Unlocked after level 4-1 or with the cheat code: bass in your face.
  • A-Bomb Launcher - A weapon that fires a slow, unguided Uranium-235 A-Bomb that is a one-shot one-kill weapon. Its blast effect is also powerful. Unlocked after level 4-2 or with the cheat code: missile launch detected.
  • Black Hole Generator - Creates a black hole that sucks in all enemies and shots present on screen. Extremely useful against Big Guns. Unlocked after level 4-3. Can also be unlocked by the cheat code: Wash away the rain.

[edit] Enemies

There are eight different forms of enemy present in Heli Attack 3. Four of these are the helis which you must destroy in order to progress through the game, and the other four are ground based enemies, two of which will actively attack you and two of which will not. With the exception of holograms, destroying any of these enemies will earn you points and extended use of the time powers.

[edit] Ground based enemies

Holograms are immobile red and yellow holographic projections, designed purely for target practice in the Training Zone. Rollers are present in earlier levels, and are small wheeled robots with limited mobility and no weapons. Walkers are larger and more mobile than Rollers and similar in appearance to the Drone. Its 'head' section splits apart to reveal a gun that can only fire in the direction that the robot is pointing. Finally, Sniper Robots are equipped with guns and can aim with high accuracy in any direction, though it is immobile. They are very low to the ground and are the smallest and most deadly of the ground enemies.

[edit] Helis

Drones, the weakest of all Helis, are small unmanned machines with ineffective guns that can only fly at a set altitude. The Flying Bug better resembles a standard helicopter, and is fitted with a light machine gun that can do moderate levels of damage but that has a bad aim. The second most powerful of the enemies is the Small Thread, an angular helicopter with better aim and more armor than the Flying Bug. It is equipped with both a heavy machine gun and bombs, which cause a lot of damage on contact with the player. The strongest of the enemies, is the Big Gun; reminiscent of the Apache helicopter. It has a highly accurate, rapid-fire chain gun that can rotate to fire large quantities of bullets in all directions. It is also equipped with forward-firing rockets that inflict a lot of damage if you are hit. Level select(All Levels): You are the moon master

[edit] Zones

The player firing a MachineGun on Zone 2-3 of Heli Attack 3.
The player firing a MachineGun on Zone 2-3 of Heli Attack 3.

Excluding the training zone, Heli Attack 3 is comprised of sixteen different levels. These are organized into four groups of four, and one of these groups is set in each of the different Zones; for example, the levels in group one are Zone 1-1 through to Zone 1-4, and those in group two are Zone 2-1 to Zone 2-4, and so on.

To complete Zones 1-1 through to 4-3 you must destroy a set number of helis before you are killed. However, the final level Zone X only ends when you are killed: your task is to destroy as many enemies, particularly Big Guns, as you can before this happens to amass a high score. Since a player's arsenal may, be low at this stage since all non-infinite ammunition weapons are lost when you die, a random weapon appears on the ground to pick up at the start of the level.

[edit] Training zone

The training zone is set in a secret laboratory located in North America, and is the starting point of Heli Attack 3 where the player can learn how to play the game.[6] Onscreen tips guide the player through the different skills they will need to master, and they are provided with infinite amounts of ammunition. Time powers can be used for any length of time. The training zone is similar to the last levels, but is supposedly located in a different place.

[edit] Later zones

Levels 1-1 through to 1-4 are set in an alpine area of the Russian arctic, and these early levels are comparatively easy, allowing the player to warm up their skills and build up their arsenal against small waves of weak opponents. The second set of four levels are set in the Amazon jungle, a tropical location which hosts slightly harder levels against stronger and more dangerous opposition, where the player must take out many more helis than before to proceed. To unlock the jungle level, use the cheat code: ive got jungle fever, shes got jungle fever. To unlock the canyon level, use the cheat code: aint no mountain high enough. To unlock the secret laboratory level, use the cheat code: who rides the wrecking ball.

Levels 3-1 through to 3-4 take place in canyons located in Africa. The helis in these levels are more powerful than in the Amazon jungle, and there are considerably more of them to be destroyed than there were in the previous zone. The final zone in Heli Attack 3 is set in the underground lab, a secret laboratory which, whilst identical in appearance to the training zone, is supposedly located in Australia. The four levels here are the hardest of all, with large numbers of strong helis that must be destroyed in order for the player to proceed.

[edit] Time powers

Time powers are a unique feature in Heli Attack 3 which allow the player to control the speed of time within the game universe. This, if executed carefully and cleverly, gives the player a big advantage over their opponents since they are able to move faster than the enemy and their projectiles. Time powers only work for a limited period and take a long time to recharge after use; however, this process can be accelerated by destroying any kind of enemy. There are three different time powers in Heli Attack 3, TimeDistort, which slows down both the player and enemies, TimeRift, which slows down enemies but not the player, and TimeBreak, which completely stops enemies, but has no effect on the player. In addition, there is TimeSink, a power-up which falls from helis and allows the player to use any combination of the time powers for its duration.

The player can also perform a HyperJump, which allows him to jump higher than normal. The power bar for HyperJump recharges very quickly. If a player destroys a heli from above while performing a HyperJump, the player gains 25 rounds for the Machine Gun.

[edit] Critical response

Like its predecessor, Heli Attack 3 received a very positive response from gamers. It was particularly commended for building on the strengths of Heli Attack 2 and integrating more weapons into the game.[5] Reviews also noted that the movements of the paratrooper had evolved with him able to jump significantly higher as well as climb and crawl.[4] Such was its popularity that Heli Attack 3 was voted Miniclip Game of the Year 2005 - despite which, one of the main complaints about the game was their official host, Miniclip. Many gamers found that the design of the website caused significant problems if they clicked outside of the relatively small area of the screen which held the game; gameplay would either stop temporarily, allowing enemy fire to hit the paratrooper without him being able to move or respond, or, worse still, if the player clicked on the large and prominently placed advertisements they would be taken away from the game and lose their score and progress.[4][7] Unfortunately, large numbers of Heli Attack 2 players found Heli Attack 3 did not have the addictive quality of Heli Attack 2, and thought the ground enemies were a pointless distraction.

[edit] Glitches

  • Sometimes a land-based enemy may stop moving near the corner
  • When the Black hole launcher is used and the flash applet is not selected, instead of shaking the screen the enemies and player shake

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ squarecircleco. (English) Heli Attack 3 (accessed through main > games > Heli Attack 3). Retrieved on 2006-07-13.
  2. ^ Sadowski, Aidan. Review of Heli Attack 3 (English). Retrieved on 2006-07-13.
  3. ^ Heli Attack 3 (English). Shockwave.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-29.
  4. ^ a b c Heli Attack 3 review (English). Jay is Games (2005-06-18). Retrieved on 2006-07-29.
  5. ^ a b Review of Heli Attack 3 (English). 4Games.
  6. ^ gotoAndPlay() review of Heli Attack 3 (English) (2006-01-15). Retrieved on 2006-07-13.
  7. ^ June 2005 Indie Game Monthly Round-Up (English). Game Tunnel (June 2005). Retrieved on 2006-07-30.

[edit] External links