Heli Gunner 2, an airborne shooter game for Windows Phone

Heli Gunner 2 – frontline air combat is a first person shooter Windows Phone game that places you behind a helicopter mounted machine gun. In a nutshell, you fly around a village destroying enemy targets as they appear.
Graphics are nice, game mechanics could be a little better and the variety of targets range from enemy helicopters to ground troops. In just playing Heli Gunner 2 for the past few days the game has potential but just lacks that "something-something" to keep you pulled into the game.
Game Layout
Heli Gunner 2's main menu is brief with options to jump into game play, view the gaming instructions, view more games from the developer and mute the sound. Instructions are covered on a single screen and while they cover the basics, leave a good bit for you to discover on your own.
Game play is organized in levels but not in the traditional sense. You will have an assortment of objectives (take out "x" number of troops, destroy "x" number of helicopters, etc.) and as you accomplish these goals, you seamlessly transition to the next level of play and new set of objectives.
Game Play
Game play is somewhat simple with Heli Gunner 2 but isn't without challenges. The helicopter flies around an island village automatically with you manning the machine gun and shooting everything in sight. To aim and fire the gun, just tap and drag your finger across the screen. Tapping the screen will not only aim your weapon but also fire it.
The layout of the gaming screen has your level objectives in the upper left corner followed by your health, level number and money count. As you take out the enemy you will earn cash that as far as I can tell is simply your score. There are no opportunities to upgrade weapons, armor on the helicopter or other means to spend the cash.
Your machine gun has an endless supply of ammunition but will overheat if you maintain gun fire for too long. The barrels of the machine gun will begin to glow red and when overheated you'll need to rest the gun for a few seconds.
Again, targets are mainly enemy troops and helicopter that you will face. There are gasoline barrel that you can explode and what appears to be a chicken that runs around the village that you can take out. I'm not sure if it was score related or the fact that I shot the chicken but when I did, I received a bonus weapon (grenade launcher).
The enemy will shoot back, at times using rockets. Your only defense against the rockets is to shoot them down before they hit your helicopter. Sustain enough damage and loose all your life points, the game ends. You do have those annoying, full-page ads with Heli Gunner 2 but thankfully they are only present during the transition from the main menu to the game or after you get blown out of the sky.
Overall Impression
Heli Gunner 2 was a fun game to play for a few minutes but then grew a little stale. The concept isn't all that bad but flying around the same village, over and over, to take out the same enemy gets old.
To the game's credit, once you pass level four the enemies get more aggressive making the game a bit more challenging. But you still circle the same village.
You can try to mix things up by shooting up the buildings but they apparently are made of super-duper Kevlar siding and can't be damaged. You can blow up the gas barrels (which magically regenerate) but that even gets old. Then there's the stray chicken that runs around the village that you can try to shoot. It just gets old shooting up the same things over and over.
I would have preferred a change of scenery (and maybe a few more targets) after every few levels to keep the game fresh. Gaming controls aren't too bad but I would have preferred an on-screen fire control button for the machine gun. You aren't penalized for shooting up the countryside as you move your gun around but a fire control button would help avoid any weapon overheating issues.
To say Heli Gunner 2 – frontline air combat is a bad game isn't exactly on the spot. As is, the game doesn't have much staying power but does have potential. With a little fine-tuning and scenery changes, Heli Gunner 2 wouldn't be a bad title to have in your Windows Phone gaming library.
- Heli Gunner 2 – frontline air combat – Windows Phone 8 – Free – Store Link
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George is the Reviews Editor at Windows Central, concentrating on Windows 10 PC and Mobile apps. He's been a supporter of the platform since the days of Windows CE and uses his current Windows 10 Mobile phone daily to keep up with life and enjoy a game during down time.
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Not the best game, but it's okay
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Looks a lot like a very old PC game that was in included when I bought my 133mhz Packard Bell desktop computer 15 years ago. Swiv 3D I believe it was called.
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I used to play a similar game on the Saga Mega Drive!! In the early '90s!!
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Been There Bro
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That's was a great game. Also came on my Packard Bell from 1994... Loved the music and FX on that.
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Anyone know any game like Shelter?
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A "Zombie" or "Card" game?
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Card game.
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Thats one of my favorite games, love the cards artwork and the game mechanics. It would have been nice having another campaign with some new cards.
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A time pass stuff...will not say best bt ok ok
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The main reason I use wp 1520 is for the games so i download almosyevery new game that comes out, microsoft office and Offline navigation (I travel alot and its a life saving feature). Good for time pass makes me feel like Im playing on windows 95
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You know if you download the offline maps for HERE Maps, you can still pinpoint where you are and navigate without service/internet?
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Can this be played on 512Ram devices..?
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Yes. Just looking in the ratings tells you this now with people's devices listed with their names.
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Choppers n machine guns.... What more can you ask for!
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When is ages of empire coming to wp
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The idea is good, but it could definintely do with a lot of 1st point (1.0) updates. The graphics are... Flight simulator 95-ish, the gameplay gets boring after a while, but it could be really fun with stuff like intresting power-ups, more targets, good challenges, and multiplayer.
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When is the Lumia 630 review coming? I'd love to see it!
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Siraaaaaaa ni siraaaaa.....
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Review for the above game which works good in 512MB RAM devices.
First of all, great concept by the developers of the game.
1.Graphics can be better.
2.Various sceneries will make it more exciting.
3.Separate buttons for Maneuvering and Shooting
4.Reloading the gun when out of ammo will make it more real like. Increasing the overheat time will also do.
5.Overall great gameplay,no lag,no crashes. -
+525
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I just tried the game and it was actually fun when it works. Sometimes, it would crash or lag but when it doesn't it's actually enjoyable. +520 :D
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A Granade throw is must feature to be added in this game.
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Played for a few hours... Getting bored pretty quick
Something must change. Shooting up the same things
gets boring. -
1 time play game. There should be some more levels.