The Let's Play Archive

Strike Fighters 2

by SelenicMartian

Part 10: S01E10: 1956.11.02 (The End)

S01E10: 1956.11.02 (The End)
Before I show the "grand" finale of this campaign, here's a bonus (commented) video.

Non canon clip, didn't happen!


I wish, every minute and a half went like that... well, not exactly like that... in fact, I'd rather see the exact opposite.

Things you can do to improve survival rates, short of dropping the sim difficulty.
- Refly option on the debrief screen. Let's you replay the exact same mission, again, with the benefit of hindsight. I'm not using this because it takes away the sense of wonder and whattheChristaMiGisdivin...
- "Reroll" a mission. If you return to the main menu before the game saves the progress (it saves only if you hit Continue in the debrief screen), and then reload the save, the game will generate a different mission. It will have a different type or area of operation or weather, the ground forces may attack different targets. The same happens if you restart a campaign. Although, sometimes the game is quite insistent on sending you into specific areas. I'm using this a lot, otherwise many missions would be us bombing a latrine in the middle of enemy fighter training grounds. That is a job for F-105D.
- Skip mission by quitting. See Episode 9.
- One other option, which I don't use, but explain in the main mission video.

And now...



CAS in Suez? But there weren't any enemy tanks left! Well, just for this one time, the campaign spawned a massive T-34 unit in Cairo. And it's already rolling into Suez, where 11 Shermans are holding ground. We are still short on rockets, but a donkey cart delivered another 10 overnight, so we have 13 total. This is almost epic.

The mission video


In which we try to say goodbyes, while the game goes a bit odd



We succeeded, even though the enemy tanks wiped out every single defender.

Here's the final squadron roster.



If the game actually modelled the difficulties of leaving a plane with no wing or tail, the KIA count would be way higher.

And now, what we've all been waiting for, for 17 missions.



...
Some historically relevant text over a shot of an F-4 above a city having an orgasm. Due to budget, the games often use the one-size-fits-all approach: one victory and one defeat artwork for all campaigns on a specific map; one loading screen per game. I just love loading into a P-51D mission staring at an F-14.
Also, what the hell, according to the text there's a major air offensive incoming, and the player is not invited?!

While I'm at it, let's look at the credits. The screen is available at any moment, but now's a good time to bring it up.



Of course, in the decade of the series' existence there were more people involved in the production. There were even beta testers at some point. But lately that's really the entire crew. They say, that free-to-play tablet SF games are bringing most of the money now.

Next up - Egyptian Meteor F.8.