Helicopter Bores or Buzzard Benders?

The Ballad of Gay Tony: good storyline and single player game, lousy multiplayer experience.

One problem is that the weapons are not balanced as they were in GTA 4 or TLATD. Some weapons are too powerful, others are not powerful enough.

The biggest problem is the helicopters. They're too powerful, and they allow nasty little cretins to fly around blowing the shit out of people on the ground. It's hard, very hard, to defend against the helicopter bores.

Should we call them Buzzard Benders? Chopper cretins? Whirlybird wankers? Do you have any better suggestions?

For Buzzard Benders, Liberty City is Francis International Airport. They like people on the ground to have ineffectual weapons so they can fly around, blowing them up. This is all they do. Put them in a deathmatch with weapons and they'd crap their Y-fronts. Sit them in a two-seater rocket-equipped flying machine and they're as happy as a pervert in a rubber factory.

What's the solution? There are certain places that even these souped-up choppers can't reach. Example: the stairway to the train station at the airport. They'll try and try but they won't get through those amazing bulletproof glass walls. In their desperation they may get too close and make a mistake, and you can empty a magazine into their faces while they try to regain control.

An alternative is the airport multistorey car park. You need a sniper rifle. The only way they can shoot in is to fly at the level you're at, and then they're vulnerable. Your safety level here depends on the skill of the pilot. Good flyers can still shoot you, so be careful. If they fly away run to the next level up or down (but not the top, obviously). The other day a guy tried to get me by flying under the ground but, predicting this, I'd run up to level 2 while he was glitching.

If you're in Algonquin there are many high buildings with alleys that helicopters will struggle to reach. You can score the odd potshot as they come into view. Hit them enough and they'll burn like the scum they are.

So TBOGT multiplayer ... it's good for sharpening up your defence skills against helicopters. I do not like the cramped indoor deathmatches. There seems to be no skill involved, just the luck of where you respawn. Still, I'm finding it oddly addictive as I work out strategies against the Buzzard Benders.