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{{Short description|1996 helicopter-based shooter video game}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = Soviet Strike
| image = Soviet Strike PlayStation.jpg
| caption = North American PlayStation cover art
| developer = [[Electronic Arts]] <br> [[EA Tiburon|Tiburon Entertainment]] <small>(Saturn)</small>
| publisher = Electronic Arts
| series = [[Strike (video game series)|''Strike'']]
| engine =
| platforms = [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]], [[Sega Saturn|Saturn]]
| released = '''PlayStation'''{{vgrelease|NA|October 29, 1996<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=1999-03-02 |title=Game Informer News |magazine=[[Game Informer]] |url=http://www.gameinformer.com/news/oct96/103096b.html |access-date=2023-04-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990302073022/http://www.gameinformer.com/news/oct96/103096b.html |archive-date=1999-03-02 }}</ref>|EU|November 1996}}'''Saturn'''{{vgrelease|NA|February 17, 1997<ref>{{Cite web |title=Electronic Arts - News Room, Electronic Arts Ships Soviet Strike for the Sega Saturn |url=http://www.ea.com/companyinfo/press/sovsatrn.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970605143344fw_/http://www.ea.com/companyinfo/press/sovsatrn.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=1997-06-05 |access-date=2023-04-15 }}</ref>|EU|February 21, 1997<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Lomas|first1=Ed|url=https://retrocdn.net/index.php?title=File%3ACVG_UK_184.pdf&page=53|title=Checkpoint - The month's events and software releases at a glance. Feb-March|magazine=[[Computer and Video Games]]|issue=184|publisher=[[Future plc|Future Publishing]]|date=March 1997|pages=53}}</ref>}}
|released = '''PlayStation'''{{vgrelease|NA|October 31, 1996|EU|November 1996|JP|February 28, 1997}}'''Saturn'''{{vgrelease|NA|November 1, 1996|EU|February 1997<ref name="saturn mag"/>|JP|September 18, 1997}}'''PlayStation Network'''{{vgrelease|JP|November 11, 2009|NA|September 14, 2010}}
| genre = [[Shooter game|Shooter]]
| modes = [[Single player]]
| producer =
| designer =
| artist =
| composer =
| programmer =
}}
 
'''''Soviet Strike''''' is a helicopter-based [[shooter game]] developed and published by [[Electronic Arts]] for the [[PlayStation]] in 1996 and the [[Sega Saturn]] in 1997. The game is a sequel to the [[Strike (video game series)|''Strike'' games]] which began on the [[Sega Genesis]] with ''[[Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf]]''. ''Soviet Strike'' is the series' first installment for a [[History of video game consoles (fifth generation)|32-bit console]] and was first conceived as ''32-bit Strike''. Early on, it was intended for the [[3DO Interactive Multiplayer|3DO consoleplatform]], before development changed to the PlayStation.
 
''Soviet Strike'' is set after the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|disintegration]] of the Soviet Union]], and takes place in a fictionalised Russia, Eastern Europe and around the [[Caspian Sea]]. The player pilots an [[Boeing AH-64 Apache|Apache]] helicopter and battles with the forces of Shadowman, a renegade ex-communist figure. Like its predecessors, the game features shooting action mixed with strategic management of fuel and ammunition, but has more authentic [[3D computer graphics|3D graphics]], as well as a modified overhead - as opposed to [[Isometric video game graphics|isometric]] - perspective. The game also features a more realistic enemy [[Artificial intelligence (video games)|artificial intelligence]] and environment. Critics received the game positively, praising the graphics and [[full motion video]], while commentary on the gameplay and difficulty was more mixed.
 
It was released on the [[PlayStation Store]] in Japan on November 11, 2009<ref name="JPstore"/> and in North America on September 14, 2010.<ref name="NAstore"/>
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STRIKE's victory in the Black Sea leads them to the Caucasus, where Sadissa Savak, leader of the fictional state of Irek, begins aggressive overtures against local fighters. In the mission (which is supposedly north of the main battle area where Desert Strike took place), the player and Amad join forces with a militia run by Amad's relatives in stopping Ireki troops from capturing an abandoned Soviet chemical weapons plant. With STRIKE killing Savak (and passed off as the victim of a car crash), the group goes to a heavily irradiated Transylvania to rescue Nick once more, this time from Dr Grymyenko Ukrainian, who wields an arsenal of ballistic missiles. The player is also tasked to kill the Shadowman's lead armor commander, Vila, who operates a special red-turreted T-80, and aid in the destruction of an abandoned nuclear reactor the Shadowman is planning to use.
 
The final mission takes place in Moscow, with the Shadowman's unleashing his minions in the KGB, the military and the [[Russian mafia]] in attempting a coup against President [[Boris Yeltsin]]'s government. The player must prevent a bombing on the [[Kremlin]] before seeking out and killing the Shadowman. The game's end sequence depicts Andrea delivering a televised news report blaming the destruction on an earthquake and consequent gas fires.
 
==Development==
''Soviet Strike'' began development as a game for the [[3DO Interactive Multiplayer|3DO]] under the working title of ''32-bit Strike''.<ref name="retrogamer"/> Strike series creator Mike Posehn assisted in early programming and the design but otherwise did not wish to work as part of a large team, necessitated by the move to a more advanced console. The development team, who had already spent several months working on the 3DO version, decided to rework it instead as a PlayStation game when it was clear that the 3DO's demise was inevitable; an additional two years' labor time was the result. The team re-evaluated the basics of the 16-bit games and aimed to create more lifelike environments and enemy behaviour.<ref name="nextgen preview"/> The 3D engine - created by the ''[[Road Rash#Road Rash (3DO)|Road Rash]]'' 3DO team - used satellite images of real topography,<ref name="GF preview"/><ref>{{cite journal|title=EA Strikes Back!|journal=Maximum: The Video Game Magazine|issue=7 |publisher=[[Emap International Limited]]|date=June 1996|page=81}}</ref> imposed on polygonal maps.<ref name="ign"/> It also modified the preceding isometric viewpoint - which caused buildings to obstruct the player's view - to an overhead perspective with which the player could move and see over terrain and structures.<ref name="GF preview"/> In order to ensure proper spatial relations and unit placement, the team built three dimensional reliefs of each mission on sheets of [[plywood]].<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Planning the Attack|magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|issue=86 |publisher=[[Ziff Davis]]|date=September 1996|page=51}}</ref> Unlike some of its predecessors, ''Soviet Strike'' features only a helicopter - albeit with power-ups in some levels - and the team also abandoned the unpopular on-foot levels found in ''Urban Strike''. The developers aimed to include more humour in the game, with other additions being voice-overs and full motion video.<ref name="nextgen preview"/>
 
The later Saturn version featured a number of changes: an optional easy difficulty setting (providing the player with twice the fire-power and slower fuel consumption), adjustable brightness on the heads-up display; two hidden powerful weapons; hundreds of bug fixes from the PlayStation version; extra sound effects added to helicopters; improvements to the graphics of control and menu screens and compass; and more improvised fuel added to level 4.<ref name="showcase"/> It was also compatible with the Saturn's then-recent [[Analog stick|analogue controllers]].<ref name="saturn mag"/><ref>{{cite magazine|title=Sneak Previews: Soviet Strike|magazine=[[GamePro]] |issue=102|publisher=[[International Data Group|IDG]] |date=March 1997|page=52}}</ref> The game was followed by a further sequel, ''[[Nuclear Strike]]'', released for the PlayStation in late 1997.
 
==Reception==
{{Video game reviews
<!-- Reviewers -->
| Edge = 7/10<ref name=edge/>
| EGM = 8.125/10 (PS)<ref name=EGM89/>
| GSpot = 5.5/10 (PS)<ref name=gamespot/>
| Hyper = 90%<ref name = "HyperPS">{{cite magazine|last=Stepnik|first=March|date=January 1997|url=https://archive.org/details/hyper-039/page/60/mode/2up|title=Soviet Strike|workmagazine=[[Hyper (magazine)|Hyper]]|issue=39|pppages=60–61|accessdate=December 25, 2021}}</ref>
| IGN = 8/10 (PS)<ref name=ign/>
<!-- Custom reviewers -->
| rev1 = ''[[Sega Saturn Magazine]]''
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}}
 
Soviet Strike has an aggregate review score of 76.30% on [[Gamerankings]] for the PlayStation release, based on five reviews.<ref>{{cite web|title=Soviet Strike for PlayStation |url=http://www.gamerankings.com/ps/198719-soviet-strike/index.html|website=[[GameRankings]]|access-date=18 December 2017 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209001256/http://www.gamerankings.com/ps/198719-soviet-strike/index.html |archivedate=December 9, 2019}}</ref> <ref name = "HyperPS">
 
Reviewers praised the realism of the terrain graphics.<ref name="gamespot"/><ref name="nextgen"/><ref name="saturn mag"/><ref name="ign"/><ref name="gpro100"/><ref name="gamefan saturn"/><ref name="EGM89"/><ref name=GPro103>{{cite magazine |title=Saturn ProReview: Soviet Strike|magazine=[[GamePro]]|issue=103 |publisher=[[International Data Group|IDG]] |date=April 1997|page=82}}</ref> ''[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]'' said: that "the game makes a giant leap forward in terms of the environment" but called the explosions "average",<ref name="nextgen"/> while other reviewers found them impressive.<ref name="saturn mag"/><ref name="gamefan saturn"/><ref name="gpro100"/> [[Jeff Gerstmann]] said the vehicles "look good",<ref name="gamespot"/> while another reviewer''[[IGN]]'' called the structures "highly realistic".<ref name="ign"/> ''Next Generation'' felt the structures and vehicles together with the terrain formed an "impressive" environment. The magazine felt the animation was "average",<ref name="nextgen"/> and several other reviewers said that it sometimes gets choppy.<ref name="gamespot"/><ref name="EGM89"/> ''[[GameFan]]'''s Saturn review summarised the graphics as "first-rate",<ref name="gamefan saturn"/> while Russian magazine ''[[Great Drakon]]'' also praised them.<ref name="drakon"/>
 
Critics called the [[full motion video]] stylish,<ref name="ign"/><ref name="nextgen"/><ref name="EGM89"/><ref name=GPro103/> and praised the acting.<ref name="saturn mag"/><ref name="nextgen"/><ref name = "HyperPS"/><ref name="EGM89"/><ref name=GPro103/> Gerstmann said the FMV had "some of the best CD-ROM acting seen in a long time" and called it the game's "only real plus".<ref name="gamespot"/> ''[[Hyper (magazine)|Hyper]]'' favorably described the sequences as a mixture of "the dark bits of [[The X-Files]] and the explosiveness of any big budget action flick".<ref name = "HyperPS"/> ''[[Edge (magazine)|Edge]]'' noted the new video but felt it was "over-the-top" and intrusive,<ref name="edge"/> while others disagreed.<ref name="ign"/><ref name="nextgen"/> ''[[GamePro]]'' compared the FMV to [[Gulf War#Air campaign|Desert Storm]] if reported by [[MTV]], saying its "hip new attitude" was "part of the charm",<ref name="gpro100"/> while another''[[Sega criticSaturn Magazine]]'' said the sequences "spice up the proceedings a fair bit".<ref name="saturn mag"/> Reviewing the Saturn version, ''GameFan'' noted a poorer quality of FMV than in the PlayStation version.<ref name="gamefan saturn"/> Gerstmann felt the sound to be "dull",<ref name="gamespot"/> while ''Next Generation'' called it "exemplary". Others praised the quality of the gunfire sound effects,<ref name="gpro100"/><ref name=GPro103/> and noted humour in the enemy troops' utterances.<ref name="nextgen"/><ref name="gpro100"/><ref name=GPro103/>
 
Gerstmann said it consisted of "a raw collection of messy operations",<ref name="gamespot"/> while ''Edge'' praised the game's "inventiveness" - saying it "makes Soviet Strike" - as well as the variety added by the games artificial intelligence. The magazine also felt that while the collecting of supplies added strategy to the action, the limited amount restricted the paths the player might take through the level.<ref name="edge"/> Another''Next criticGeneration'' said the "real-time, living battlefield enhances the urgency of the missions and the player's involvement" and also noted "practically no load time".<ref name="nextgen"/>
 
''GameFan'' complained of a high difficulty and a steep curve, long levels which return the player to the beginning should he die, infrequent opportunities to repair armour and the enemies' tendency to attack the player from beyond his limited viewpoint,<ref name="gamefan"/> and was thankful for the Saturn version's optional easier difficulty setting.<ref name="gamefan saturn"/> ''Next Generation'' also criticised the player's restricted view, calling it the game's "worst problem".<ref name="nextgen"/> One reviewer said revisiting levels to discover missed set pieces aided the game's longevity; ''[[Sega Saturn Magazine]]'' had "some reservations" about the game's replay-value, with only 5 missions, but said it was "very playable and enjoyable",<ref name="saturn mag"/> while another reviewer''GamePro'' called it "a load of fun".<ref name="gpro100"/> Gerstmann criticised the poor scrolling, erratic motion and imprecise control,<ref name="gamespot"/> ''Great Drakon'' praised the controls,<ref name="drakon"/> while ''GameFan'' noted they had improved in the Saturn version. The reviewer also enjoyed this version's new weaponry.<ref name="gamefan saturn"/> Another''Next reviewerGeneration'' pointed to some "minor flaws", saying the HUD "smacks of 16-bit era graphics";<ref name="nextgen"/> ''GamePro'' said the game's one flaw was the lack of an HUD map to save the player the trouble of hitting pause whenever they need to check their position.<ref name=GPro103/> The game impressed ''Great Drakon'''s reviewer, who praised the attention to detail and the reviewer found the story convincing.<ref name="drakon"/> [[''IGN]]'' said: "Everything about this game is great. Excuse me for gushing, but when you come across a game that's as fun to play as Soviet Strike, and great looking, you really sit up and take notice."<ref name="ign"/>
 
Gerstmann called the quality FMV "a small victory in a larger conflict", saying the game had "too many little problems to recommend it" and that it "simply doesn't play as well as the old 16-bit Strike games."<ref name="gamespot"/> ''Sega Saturn Magazine'' called it a "worthy addition" to the series and also noted improvements to the Saturn version.<ref name="saturn mag"/> They named it their "Game of the Month".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Out Now|magazine=[[Sega Saturn Magazine]]|issue=18 |publisher=[[Emap International Limited]] |date=April 1997|page=96}}</ref> ''GameFan'' said the game "is everything you could wish for from a 32bit ''Strike''" and that "it plays brilliantly, and exercises both your trigger finger and grey matter."<ref name="gamefan"/> The magazine later reflected that the Saturn version was somewhat better but nevertheless very similar to the PlayStation original. It recommended the game to ''Strike'' fans but felt it would be an "in at the deep end" introduction for newcomers to the series.<ref name="gamefan saturn"/> ''Edge'' summarised: "this is a fairly well-engineered continuation of the four-year-old Strike series", which retains the gameplay of the original but updates the graphics to ''[[true 3D]]''.<ref name="edge"/> Scary Larry of ''GamePro'' felt the game might be too slow for fans of faster paced action games, but recommended it for players of previous instalments in the series.<ref name="gpro100"/> Air Hendrix of the same magazine called it "An outstanding mix of white-knuckle combat and challenging strategy".<ref name=GPro103/> [[Allgame]] later felt: "The series peaked with the release of Soviet Strike."<ref name="allgame nuclear"/>
 
==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="gamespot">[[{{cite web|first=Jeff |last=Gerstmann]],| authorlink=Jeff [Gerstmann |url=http://www.gamespot.com/soviet-strike/reviews/soviet-strike-review-2549410/ |title=Soviet Strike Review], |website=[[GameSpot]], |date=1 Dec, 1996, Retrieved |accessdate=27 May 2012}}</ref>
<ref name="ign">Staff,{{cite [web|first1=Adam |last1=Douglas |first2=Doug |last2=Perry |url=http://psx.ign.com/articles/150/150525p1.html |title=Soviet Strike], |website=[[IGN]], |date=12 June 1998, Retrieved |accessdate=27 May 2012}}</ref>
<ref name="edge">''[[Edge (magazine)|Edge]]'', Dec 1996 (issue 39), pp. 70-71</ref>
<ref name="EGM89">{{cite magazine|title=Review Crew: Soviet Strike|magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|issue=89|publisher=[[Ziff Davis]]|date=December 1996|page=94}}</ref>
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<ref name="GF preview">Mike Griffin, ''[[GameFan]]'', Nov 1996 (issue 47; vol. 4 no. 11), pp. 70-71</ref>
<ref name="allgame nuclear">Bryan Melville, [https://web.archive.org/web/20141114231306/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=6635&tab=review Nuclear Strike Review], [[Allgame]], Retrieved 21 Sept 2012</ref>
<ref name="JPstore">[{{cite web |url=https://store.playstation.com/#!/ja-jp/%e3%82%b2%e3%83%bc%e3%83%a0/%e3%82%bd%e3%83%93%e3%82%a8%e3%83%88%e3%82%b9%e3%83%88%e3%83%a9%e3%82%a4%e3%82%af/cid=JP0006-NPJJ00216_00-0000000000000001 JP|title=Latest PS Store Link], '''|website=PlayStation Store''', Retrieved |accessdate=28 April 2017 |archive-date=26 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526211028/https://store.playstation.com/#!/ja-jp/%e3%82%b2%e3%83%bc%e3%83%a0/%e3%82%bd%e3%83%93%e3%82%a8%e3%83%88%e3%82%b9%e3%83%88%e3%83%a9%e3%82%a4%e3%82%af/cid=JP0006-NPJJ00216_00-0000000000000001 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name="NAstore">[{{cite web |url=https://store.playstation.com/#!/en-us/games/soviet-strike-(ps3-psp-ps-vita)/cid=UP9000-NPUJ00061_00-0000000000000001 NA|title=Latest PS Store Link], '''|website=PlayStation Store''', Retrieved |accessdate=28 April 2017 |archive-date=26 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526211028/https://store.playstation.com/#!/en-us/games/soviet-strike-(ps3-psp-ps-vita)/cid=UP9000-NPUJ00061_00-0000000000000001 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
}}
 
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[[Category:1996 video games]]
[[Category:Cancelled 3DO Interactive Multiplayer games]]
[[Category:PlayStationEA NetworkTiburon games]]▼
[[Category:Electronic Arts games]]
[[Category:Helicopter video games]]
[[Category:PlayStation (console) games]]
[[Category:PlayStation Network games]]
[[Category:Sega Saturn games]]
[[Category:Shooter video games]]
[[Category:Single-player video games]]
[[Category:Video game sequels]]
[[Category:Video games about nuclear war and weapons]]
[[Category:Video games developed in the United States]]
[[Category:Video games set in Asia]]
[[Category:Video games set in Moscow]]
[[Category:Video games set in RussiaTransylvania]]
[[Category:Video games set in RomaniaUkraine]]
▲[[Category:PlayStation Network games]]
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