Artic Thunder Review

[AMEDooley]

I finally finished the campaign, I know I’m super late to the party! I like to leave a review for anyone wishing to get multiple points of view. Full disclosure, I am one of BD’s voice actors (Jupiter for one mission and Sparky in Reflected’s campaign) but I try and remove my bias as much as possible.

Overall I enjoyed the campaign a lot. The missions are varied so I never felt like I was doing the same thing over and over. The briefings are clear with what feels like what actual intel pictures would look like. Having the kneeboards separate was very nice. While I often use my iPad as a kneeboarding, you can use the in game kneeboard on the pilots leg and still be able to read it well in VR. It’s not perfect, but that’s hardly in BD’s control.

I never found the missions to be too difficult, but there are some situations that will challenge you. M6 was the only one that I had to fly multiple times before I finally completed it. It was the only mission that I had a hard time passing, but I did refly a couple of missions just because I didn’t think I did well enough for my tastes. This campaign will not hold your hand at all with weapon employment, so study up and come prepared. However, the campaign is flown as a wingman almost exclusively so you will be told when to perform all the admin sections of the flight. I never found myself on the wrong frequency because of this set up, which I really appreciated.

The voice acting is top notch. I particularly enjoyed Chainsaw’s actor through out the campaign. I liked the moments that the Finnish pilots use their native tongue far more than I thought I would. But unless you speak Finnish, keep the subtitles on through out the campaign. I must admit it is still strange to hear myself though.

My only complaint, and it’s a small one, is load-outs with regards to drop tanks and TGP. This is a personal preference having work on the Hornet for the Navy, but I dislike a drop tank on station 3 with a TGP on the cheek. There was one mission that was double ugly which I throughly enjoyed, but too many time I’m triple bubbled when double ugly should be used, in my opinion. I understand why BD uses the load-outs he does (no refueling and less complications with trim) but he makes these campaigns quite realistic so it feels just off. Again it’s a small person preference, and some people probably appreciate that he does this. And it is very possible that other Nations configure these missions very differently than the US Navy.

If you are on the fence about buying this campaign, I would highly recommend it. The two campaigns being intertwined with each other was really nicely done, and the two creators should be applauded for the accomplishment. Keep them coming!