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- Apache Havoc
Apache Havoc
- November 24, 2000 14:47 PM PST
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Although it doesn't boast the vibrant graphics of Jane's Longbow 2, Apache Havoc does offer an immersive environment that will challenge the most hardened flight-sim veteran.
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The biggest strength of Empire Interactive's chopper sim lies in its rich, flexible campaign structure. As in LB2, the campaigns--here set in the Georgian Republic, Thailand and Cuba--are fluid and no two missions are alike. The option to fly for either side in the U.S. Army's Apache Longbow combat chopper or the Russian Mi-28N Havoc B adds to the variety, and the squadron-based tasking model generates combat sorties on the fly as it adapts to changing war conditions. Individual missions may not have the same sort of Top Gun flair that you see in scripted campaigns, but they feel realistic. The flight modeling and avionics are equally well done and on a par with LB2 for realism and authenticity.
Unfortunately the same can't be said for the game's wingman AI. You can radio only a handful of commands to these cowboys and the likelihood that they'll following any of them is about the same as getting your cat to catch Frisbees. Even more annoying is the fact that the same actor was used to voice all the radio messages, so half the time you don't know if you're talking to your wingie or an air-traffic controller. However, the game boasts some excellent head-to-head and cooperative multiplayer options so that you can always trade your AI wingman in for a live human over a serial, modem, LAN or Internet connection.
The game's D3D-fueled graphics are something of a mixed bag. Although a bang-up job has been done with the individual aircraft and object modeling--the detail on the chain gun hanging off of the chopper's nose is amazing-Apache has none of the lighting effects from weapons fire that helped to make LB2 such a stand-out. Same story with the game's 3D terrain. An enormous area has been mapped out, but it has a distinct "polygonal" feel that give little sense of speed in low-level flight. The photorealistic scenery found in LB2 and many of the current crop of jet sims really puts these visuals to shame.
If Empire Interactive plans to knock Longbow 2 out of its position as the market's premier chopper combat sim, it has some work ahead of it. On the other hand, if Empire just wants to produce a first-rate helicopter simulation with hours of authentic and immersive gameplay, then it's hard to find fault with Apache Havoc.
