Back in the 90s, Electronic Arts put out a series of helicopter games for 16-bit consoles. Desert, Jungle, and Urban Strike utilized their unique perspective and arcade/sim design to deliver a series of difficult combat scenarios for players to overcome. Multiple times I've tried them, and multiple times I've failed horrifically. It happens. Someone makes a game that isn't for me. Not the end of the world. Anyway, the series was a decent success, garnering a dedicated fanbase that's still around today. One of those fans even went so far as to create an um... I can't quite call it a homage. It's more like a springboard. Megacopter: Blades of the Goddess retains the Strike ideology, but then mutates it into something that... Well, let's just say that it also isn't for me.
The world is in danger! Mankind's last hope is Jack. An ordinary pilot with an extraordinarily low chance of survival. Luckily(?) for him, the vehicle he's piloting is none other than the Megacopter. This abomination was the result of ancient AZ-TECHnology and countless human sacrifices. As such, its standard arsenal of machine guns and rockets is backed by powers that are not of this world. Simply tapping the A button while holding a direction will perform an evasive dash. Having a fine method for escaping bullets is cute, but real devastation requires blood orbs. Destroyed enemies have a chance of dropping an orb, so be sure to swoop in and grab it with your crane before it disappears.
Picking up ammunition and armor with the crane was a common sight in Strike Series, and that's retained for this game. In fact, both titles are structured similarly, with the player being tasked to destroy enemy structures or rescue civvies. They're often heavily guarded, and reinforcements are never far behind. Blades of the Goddess also features pizza tokens and hearts. Gather both to upgrade equipment and AZ-TECH powers.
Where these helicopter-games try to align is in the combat. Enemies will attack from both ground and the air. Destroy enemy soldiers or artillery with the right trigger, and drones or helicopters with the left trigger. The quasi-isometric perspective makes it pretty easy to keep track of the action. Getting kills is a different story, since it relies on somewhat finicky aiming controls along with weaponry that's designed for precision. Strafing around a group of soldiers is simple enough but gunning them down requires more skill, and potentially multiple attempts. I mean, it makes sense for a game with simulation elements. After all, a killing machine shouldn't be too good at killing.
However, what truly separates Strike Series from Blades of the Goddess is that the latter is trying to create an arcade/sim/arcade sandwich. Taking cues from golden age shmups, this modern shooter adds a lot more bullets. Almost all of these projectiles move at danmaku-lite speeds. Depending on the circumstances, you could see as much as 40% of the screen get cluttered with tiny orbs of damage. Usually, I'd say death instead of damage, but Megacopter has enough armor to take a beating. Its size is still a problem though, because it has little trouble catching quite a lot of whatever the enemy is throwing its way.
There's a very real disconnect between how players deal with enemies, and how enemies deal with players. Reptoids don't have to think about where they're aiming or running out of ammo. They shoot in the general direction of the helicopter, and maybe they'll land a hit. Meanwhile, the helicopter has to ensure that they're targeting what they're trying to destroy, and they have to carefully manage their ammunition. Each weapon also has a recharge time, so there's no scenario where holding down the fire button does anything worthwhile. To me, this is like trying to play Operation! and Dodonpachi at the same time. I have to doublecheck that my gatling gun can kill one little soldier while his buddies and anything else in the vicinity blast away without a care.
In these ugly situations, the AZ-TECH powers can be really useful. That likely won't happen until the mid-to-late game though, because grabbing blood orbs with a crane in the middle of a heated battle is a crazy bad idea. Instead, save up those hearts to unlock the "grab orbs just by getting close" power. Then, you'll want to grab Obsidian Strike, because it temporarily disables all enemy equipment. It'll make surviving the fortified zones so much easier. One of the more enticing (and early) powers turns Megacopter into a whirlybird of destruction... but you'll drop it the instant you fly too close to a turret and get shredded.
Still, even when it seems like I'm playing Blade of the Goddess the right way, I'm not having a lot of fun. Here's me, piloting a kickin' rad helicopter and blowing stuff up, but my mind is obsessing over weird details. The targeting cursor was off by a millimeter, so a burst of gatling fire missed its mark entirely. Can't press the wrong trigger, or else the homing rockets won't home in. There's an entire wall of bullets here and the evade-dodge meter isn't full, so better just retreat and try a different angle. The gratuitous violence gives me the impression that I'm supposed to revel in the slaughter, but instead all I do is catch myself overthinking. What's left to say? There's no connection. Maybe this would appeal more to someone who's also a big fan of Strike Series. Unless of course, they're also turned off by the idea of navigating a unfamiliar bullet-hell just to play something they grew up with.
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