Heavy Weapon is an horizontally side-scrolling shoot 'em up video game developed by PopCap Games and released in February 24, 2005. It is available on Windows, Mac OS, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and Zeebo.
Plot[]
In 1984, Red Star (a parody of the Soviet Union with touches of the Russian Empire) has launched an massive-scaled, global invasion. The Allied forces fight bravely, but they are hopelessly outnumbered by the Red Army. The Allied Nations had no choice but to negotiate an surrender, hopefully ending the war and the genocide. Fortunately, they have one last line of defense, the Atomic Tank. The commander of the Atomic tank (in which the player takes control of) is sent to repel the Red Star's invasion and push them back to where they came from.
After completing Mission 9, the capital city of Red Star has been destroyed by the Atomic Tank, meaning that the invasion has finally stopped as the commander of the Atomic Tank begins to celebrate. However, his HQ contacts him to tell him the bad news; it just a diversion, meaning that Red Star has built a bigger, stronger and advanced army waiting in reserve. The Atomic Tank must go back to the beginning to repel against this new Red Star army with different fighting patterns, leaving no choice but having the brewskis to wait.
Finally, After the "Secret" Weapon and the new army has been destroyed, the Dictator of Red Star has been defeated by the Atomic Tank, leaving his base to ruins, and forcing him to surrender. The Atomic Tank promptly proceeds to shoot the Red Star Dictator, and then the entire world has finally been saved, thanks to the Atomic Tank!
Gameplay[]
In Heavy Weapon, you as the player are the commander of the Atomic Tank, an experimental tank that can shoot nuclear bullets that is used to shoot down certain enemies such as bombers, jet fighters, helicopters, war vehicles, and other enemies. The tank can only move left and right, since it's an side-scrolling game.
Missions[]
The game has a total of 19 levels. In Mission mode, you must blast through countless enemies throughout the level and at the end, defeat a boss. There are ten worlds for each level.
- Frigistan M1/10- A snowy tundra place theme where the ground and the mountains are covered in snow and ice.
- Blastyna M2/11- A beautiful, atmospheric, coastline with remilitarized towers, a peeking submarine, some beachgoers, and the Loch Ness Monster seen in the background.
- Petrovakia M3/12- An petroleum industry area you see rich oil fields and pumpjacks in the background that is likely used for the enemy's craft. It's also home to thousand species of birds according to the game.
- Dictastroika M4/13- A nuclear power plant area with nuclear reactors. It's also the place where the enemy can produce nuclear weapons against you like the enemy atomic bombs.
- Zamblamia M5/14- A rainforest that somehow has dinosaurs alive in the background.
- Tankyvania M6/15- A spooky-Halloween themed area with pumpkins, ghosts, a haunted house, a castle, and a full moon the the background.
- Vodkavania M7/16- A war-torn country with rocky hills and devastated small buildings.
- Antagonistan M8/17- A desert with pyramids and oasis.
- Killingrad M9/18- The capital city of the Red Star forces. The city's buildings and design resembles Moscow.
- Red Star HQ M19- The enemy's military airport zone where all the enemies are seen in the background.
After going through the first nine levels and bosses, you'll have to go all the way back to the start and go through the same nine missions, except the enemies are replaced with tougher ones. As for bosses, bosses 10-18 are just the same nine bosses but with more health and faster speed, with some having new mechanics. The final level (Red Star HQ) where you fight the final boss and you beat the game.
Bosses[]
Here are a list of bosses you will encounter in every end of each level.
- Twinblade (Mission 1 and 10)
- Battleship (Mission 2 and 11)
- War Blimp (Mission 3 and 12)
- War Wrecker (Mission 4 and 13)
- Kommie Kong/Gorillazilla (Mission 5 and 14)
- Eyebot (Mission 6 and 15)
- Bustczar/Head Zeppelin (Mission 7 and 16)
- Mechworm (Mission 8 and 17)
- H-Bot (X-Bot) (Mission 9 and 18)
- Secret Weapon (final boss)
Power ups[]
There are also new mechanics where a white chopper will appear as you progress through, they won't attack the player as they are the your allies, which will help you by giving special power ups that will upgrade your tank. These power ups/upgrades include:
- Rapid Fire - Increases the firing rate of your gun.
- Gun Power - Increases the tank's gun power.
- Spread Shot - Increases the number of bullets being spread all over the screen.
- Speed - Increases the tank's speed.
- Shields - Gives the tank's protection from incoming projectiles when hit. Shields can be leveled up to 3 levels.
- Nukes - Destroys everything on the screen. You can collect up to 3 of them.
- Megalaser - This one is different. You can obtain all four parts by destroying several enemies on the screen. It comes with a wave-motion laser that is powerful enough to kill enemies in one hit and their projectiles, along with the guy screaming "MEGALASER!".
Fun fact: Unlike most shmups which takes away your power ups but restocks your smart bombs when you die, Heavy Weapon instead takes away all your nukes on death, as well as your Megalaser parts. This makes some on the levels or boss fights harder to deal with, especially the last level and the final boss. Otherwise, power ups you've collected remain.
- This includes your single-use shields as well, where if you had a full shield and then got destroyed by a one-hit kill, you'll have to collect those back too.
Armory[]
Each time you completed a level, you are rewarded one point per level and visit the Armory. These points are used to select any special weapons you want to use for the next level. You'll have six weapons on the armory and each of the can max up to 3 levels. These weapons include:
- Defense Orbs - Blocks/Destroys any enemy projectiles from hitting your tank, excluding laser weapons. Next level adds another orb.
- Homing Missile - Targets any aircraft on the air only and deal a good amount of damage. Next level increases the firing rate.
- Laser - Instantly hits anything including enemies, bosses, and projectiles. Next level increases the power of the laser.
- Rockets - Similar to homing missiles but without a targeting system. Next level adds another rocket.
- Flak Cannon - Pulverizes any aircraft and arsenal. Next level increases radius and duration.
- Thunderstrike - Auto-aiming lightning bolts that jumps from one enemy to another. Next level increases power.
Survival[]
In Survival mode, you'll have to survive through a never-ending waves of enemies, until you have been eliminated. In time, the waves become more crowded with enemies, adding more difficulty to it. There is not much difference between the PC version and the Xbox/PlayStation ports. In the PC version, you'll play Survival by yourself. In the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 ports, you can either play by yourself, or join a War Party survival game where up to 4 players can join, except more enemies will appear more often. In War Party survival, your team has infinite lives, meaning you and your team can respawn all you want. However, the more often you die, the more it adds time for you and your team to respawn. The game ends when there's no players left on the screen.
Boss Blitz (Xbox and PlayStation only)[]
Boss Blitz mode in the Xbox and PlayStation ports is where you fight all 19 bosses and time yourself on how quick you can do it without dying, since you only get one life.
Ports[]
The PC version of the game is available on Steam for a fee for $4.99. On January 17, 2007, an Xbox 360 or Xbox live version was released and features a four-player co-op mode for survival and a Boss Blitz mode. In 2009, it was then released for the PlayStation 3 on the PlayStation Network and PlayStation 2 (via the PopCap Hits! Vol 2 compilation). The PS2 and PS3 versions features an arranged soundtrack, which can be viewed here.