Rebel Raiders: Operation Nighthawk

 PlayStation 2
Metascore
53

Mixed or average reviews - based on 5 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
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  1. GameZone
    63
    Simple and straightforward without being on rails. Rebel Raiders is quick, cheap, repetitive action that'll get you through in a boring weekend (and other days when the repetition wears off and you have the desire to play it again).
  2. Cheat Code Central
    58
    An arcade-simple, flight combat game that's loaded with action and is fun to play. But it also is repetitious and has "budget game" written all over it.
  3. GameSpot
    54
    An arcade flight combat game that's quickly and mindlessly consumed and then forgotten immediately.
  5. Official Playstation 2 Magazine UK
    50
    Brilliantly average; surprisingly enjoyable flying, wrapped in a no-expense-at-all package... Fun for at least 20 minutes. [Apr 2006, p.113]
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  6. IGN
    50
    The aerial action is okay, but you're really missing out on a lot of mission pacing, replay value and even challenge with this easily completed game.

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User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 1 out of 2
  1. DGDrocks7
    Feb 12, 2013
    4
    Rebel Raiders: Operation Nighthawk, though first released in 2005, was re-released in the PlayStation Store today. This could have been aRebel Raiders: Operation Nighthawk, though first released in 2005, was re-released in the PlayStation Store today. This could have been a better game than it is, but this game looks and feels unfinished. Presentation: Goodness, the story is totally unoriginal. The back of the box says "inspired by the greatest science-fiction movies". More like copied from the greatest science-fiction movies, most notably Star Wars. The story is set in the future, where you fight for the Alliance of Independent States against the corrupt and oppressive Union of World Nations. They didn't got that from Star Wars, but going through the story, the heavy similarities are there. I like them using anime characters, but their personalities are virtually non-existent. Graphics: I believe looks don't matter, but there is much improvement to be made. Explosions are not impressive. Sound: There is no sound from your aircraft when you cruise, and your machine gun...doesn't sound like a machine gun. Some music tracks are actually cool, but they are only 5 tracks. Sometimes all are played in a single mission; it get repetitive. Gameplay: This is the main problem of the game: it's kinda fun, but TOO easy and repetitive. First, when flying the YV-21 or F/A-12, your missiles NEVER miss. And when using the B-66 equipped with shotguns (who put shotguns on a plane?), you get nothing but one-hit kills. And anytime you want to reload, guess what? You just need to press the circle button, and your plane is fully stocked. When missiles are fired at you, what do you do? Pull off evasive maneuvers? No, you just do a barrel roll. That it. And no, you don't tilt the left analog stick left or right, you just press L1. How challenging. You may be hit by turbo-lasers, but they don't do much damage. Also, when you collide your plane with something, you just take minimal or no damage. Most games will do heavy damage (or crash it altogether). To repair the plane, you must destroy enemy forces. Since your destroying enemies every 5 seconds, you're pretty much invulnerable. Though missions have different objectives, the mission will fail if you, of course, die or when your all your wingmen die. Speaking of your wingmen, your can't give them orders. And the AI is a fail in this game. All planes follow a predefined path. That said, the dogfights, don't look like dogfights. When an enemy plane is chased by one of yours, he is chased by an enemy. Then that enemy is chased by an friendly and so on. It's laughable. Nobody attempts to evade or anything (don't they know they can always evade with a barrel roll?) Content: Very lacking. Many missions will reuse locations, only that it is a different time and weather. Speaking of missions, the box says 34 missions. That's an outright lie. There are 16 missions, and there are 16 challenges, which are nothing but the same missions but they require you to use a different aircraft, destroy a certain number of targets or complete under a time limit. But these are just as easy as the missions (sometimes even easier). The other two are the prologue and the training. The box also says 16 aircraft. But there are actually four aircraft, each with four variants. The variants feel the same, but with different colors and weapons. Overall: There is some fun in this game, but as I've said, it's too easy and repetitive. The content is lacking and the story is unoriginal. Once you complete the game, there's nothing else to do. As stated already, it's now on the PlayStation Store, but it costs $9.99. You're better off spending that money on something else. It's better to look for one in the bargain bin. If you're PS3 can play PS2 games, and you want an awesome flight game, get Ace Combat 04, Ace Combat 5, or Ace Combat Zero. They have a little sci-fi elements too.… Full Review »
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