Campaign for Humans
The simulation plays out the events of the movie "Starship Troopers." Before the missions, videos are shown where General Johnny Rico and his comrades give words of encouragement. You won't be able to play as Rico himself – you have to control a fighter named Samantha, who hunts an Assassin Bug throughout the campaign.
In each mission, Samantha is dropped onto a large open map. The missions given are reduced to clearing and holding territory, as well as pressing buttons – other fighters can't do this. To destroy anti-aircraft bugs, you need to use special explosives, which you still need to find: you can't kill them any other way.
Giant plasma bugs can be destroyed with tactical nuclear warheads. In the first mission, the weapon is located near the targets. At the next meeting, you will have to carry it for a while: if you change weapons, the heroine will throw out the nuke.
You will have to fight your way to the target through hordes of bugs that attack in groups of 5–10 individuals. The basis of the Arachnid army consists of the bugs shown in the film. But there are also exceptions, such as fighters controlled by parasites. Warrior bugs and armored centurions are the most dangerous, while flying pests are more annoying. You can simply poke napalm-spewing tankers with a knife.
To destroy the vermin, there is a whole arsenal of assault rifles, shotguns, machine guns, sniper rifles, and exotic weapons. Assault rifles, machine guns, flamethrowers, and burst-firing sniper rifles perform best – the rest of the weapons lack balance adjustments. If you throw a grenade accurately, you can instantly destroy a bug nest. Weapons and ammunition on the ground merge with the environment, and sometimes you have to wait for the corpses to disappear in order to see them.
Destroying bugs opens up the dropping of capsules with ammunition, armor, and weapons. If you're lucky, you can find super weapons: a giant laser, a bombardment, an electric bug zapper, or an allied mech. Some mechs can be controlled, destroying bugs with machine gun bursts or a chainsaw. After a few minutes, the mech runs out of fuel and self-destructs – fuel is consumed even if you get out of it.
Other fighters can be taken into a squad and directed to targets for attack. The support from them is more moral. The oaks following the heroine ignore opponents until they take a convenient position. The bugs prioritize attacking Samantha, calmly sweeping away the meaty obstacles in their path.
On normal difficulty, there is always enough ammo. Completing missions becomes an easy walk, and you have to try to die. On "Citizen" difficulty, the situation changes: warrior bugs kill with a couple of hits, enemies take more damage, and ammo is always scarce. Any desire to play the game on high difficulty is discouraged by allies who do not know how to properly cover and support – often they also shoot in the back.
There are secrets in the missions that affect the gameplay. In one of the caves, I found a reference to the film, the activation of which increases the level of bloodshed.
Campaign for Bugs
The simulation allows you to think like a bug in order to learn how to destroy them better. In five missions, you need to control an Assassin Bug, playing as which gives a lot of fun!
The Assassin is capable of mutating into three forms:
- The winged form allows you to soar into the air to inspect enemy positions;
- The warrior form allows you to tear the enemy apart in close combat;
- The tank form allows you to shower enemies with napalm, but the weapon will have to be reloaded in battle.
Missions quickly turn into the fun destruction of all living things. From the air, you dive at the enemy to methodically destroy his bases. You need to break gates and turrets, paving the way for comrades. In battle, you get support from a horde of warrior bugs and all the special bugs encountered in the human campaign, including other Assassin Bugs.
It's funny that it is in the bug campaign that people become competent: if you are not careful, they will quickly cope with the assassin. This forces you to think tactically and retreat to nests that restore health and armor.
Diagnosis
It is clear that the developers have put a lot of effort into making Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War! a special game. High-quality videos, large-scale battles, and super weapons available for use make what is happening on the screen epic and patriotic.
It is a pity that in the human campaign, the game mechanics make you wonder: "Why are you doing this to me?". When playing, you encounter the stupidity of allies and enemies and many unpleasant little things. Either weapons and ammunition are difficult to notice, or you stumble upon closed passages to a key position – you have to look for a detour. And who came up with the idea of adding a self-destruction function to the mech when there is not enough fuel?!?
But the bug campaign is so good that the game is worth launching just for it. Finally, the Starship Troopers universe project allowed you to play as Arachnids! Moreover, you control not an ordinary bug, but a cunning and powerful assassin who leaves the humans no chance.