Thunder Wolves Review: Blasting Away Everything In Sight

Thunder Wolves Review: Blasting Away Everything In Sight

Thunder Wolves
PC/Steam (Also Available on PS3, Xbox 360)
$14.99
Shooter

Thunder Wolves puts players in the pilot seat of a helicopter and sends them out to war, unloading unlimited amounts of destruction upon numerous bad guys. Thunder Wolves is pure arcade and pure shooter. Sure, there is a storyline about some hotshot pilots set during the 1990’s, and the story is told in narration by obnoxious voices, which completely fits the arcade theme of the game, but this title won’t have you focused on those things. It’s all about the mission, the unloading of multiple weapons, and the crazy explosions in a game that’s full of pure arcade madness.

There are choppers, machine guns, missiles, guided missiles, nukes, and, of course, the most deadly of them all, the f-bombs! There is so much more than that as well as players set off to different locations, doing battle above land while firing upon ground troops, tanks, and Humvees. There are also moments that are spent out at sea, sinking ships and using depth charges to raise a sub.

Each mission takes around 10-20 minutes, depending on difficulty level, play style, and quickness, and each mission features multiple objectives for players to complete. There are moments where I feel the mission carries on for just a bit too long, but most of the time I find them to be at the right length. Also, I feel that there is enough variety in most missions, helping pass the time quickly. As players progress in the campaign, they’ll unlock additional helicopters as well, nine in total.

Each mission has moments where it’s not only about flying the chopper, but using the chopper’s gun to snipe at enemies from a distance and using the side turret on the helicopter to unload on anything and everything. There are also other unique situations that happen in the game, such as being shot down and using the guns to fend off approaching enemy troops. Heck, there is even a mission where players control a tank and guide a bunker busting missile, which gives Thunder Wolves plenty of different options besides the basic gameplay.

Players spend time infiltrating bases, protecting VIP targets, and simply stopping the enemy from carrying out their plans. Depending on the difficulty level, the game can make these missions very challenging. Even on the casual setting, the game is super intense.

Thunder Wolves is a nice choice for those who enjoy a good all-out assault in their arcade shooters, and that’s exactly what they get! There is also a scoring system in place as players earn points by destroying enemy targets. High scores for each mission and difficulty are uploaded on the leaderboards, which helps with the replay value.

Thunder Wolves does arcade very well, even though it’s not the most unique game ever. It can certainly cure any craving someone might have for intense aerial combat. It has mindless action that is still quite entertaining, especially when things get intense with everything happening at once; firing missiles, holding down the guns, locking on to targets, and shooting off flares to avoid enemy fire. Did I mention that it gets a bit crazy?

My only major gripe with the game comes from overly repetitive voice-overs. Besides that, gamers will enjoy playing a non-serious arcade shooter that has them blowing up everything in sight while jamming out to rock music.

Score: 7/10