Developer: The Code Monkeys
Publisher: Sega
Released: 1995
Surgical Strike is a Full Motion Video (FMV) game that was also released on the Sega 32X-CD in 1996.
Playing as a team of special forces your mission is to stop the evil Kabul from killing innocent civilians. The action automatically scrolls along but the C button allows you to turn at pre-determined points. You control a crosshair and the gameplay involves protecting team-mates by shooting enemies and armoured vehicles with your Gatlin Gun or Missiles. There's three missions with the first being set in a Desert Town where you need to take control of a town hall. The full screen FMV is full of cool, outlandish explosions but every time you shoot the gameplay is annoyingly interrupted while you watch a video clip. The cursor also moves too slowly meaning the FMV often outruns your crosshair and you take damage from enemies. For some reason, ammo is in extremely limited supply which is a real detriment to the gameplay as it makes you fight too cautiously and avoid unnecessary combat. Mission 2 is in the Mountains with enemy helicopters and caves that require night vision goggles. The game really starts to lose its way here as the stage features a gigantic play-area with a confusing structure; as a result, wasting firepower and losing lives is commonplace unless you memorise the entire layout. Mission 3 takes place on an Island Paradise and starts off with scantily clad women being blown to smithereens! You then have to rescue a kidnapped female team member and destroy Kabul by dropping a ceiling fan on his head. The whole mission is bizarre and features some awful looking green screen effects, such as when the boss is chopped to pieces and his feet wander away by themselves!
Surgical Strike's presentation can't be faulted but as a whole it's a classic case of style over substance. There's just not much in the way of gameplay and the little that is here is boring with tiresome action and a stingy weapon system that takes away any fun you might have.
Random trivia: The Code Monkeys also developed Tomcat Alley (1994) and Wirehead (1995) for the Mega CD.
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