Apache: Air Assault

SimHQ review:
Apache: Air Assault
by Chuck "Magnum" Ankenbauer



Introduction

Apache: Air Assault is not a simulation, it is not the next JCS Longbow 2 or a high-end, detailed simulation like DCS: Black Shark. What Apache: Air Assault is is a very well made and fun action game where you get to pilot and gun three different types of Apache gunships and a Mi-24. If you get that fact through your head from the beginning, then you will see the glory of this game, and will have plenty of fun.

Apache: Air Assault is developed by Gaijin and produced by Activision. Apache: Air Assault was released for PC, Xbox 360, and the PS3 platforms, and all versions play almost the same. Gaijin is also the developer who made the successful Birds of Prey and the PC version, Wings of Prey. You can tell their work because the layout, format, and design decisions are all pretty much the same approach. That's good, because it works well.

Campaign Mode

Apache: Air Assault comes with a non-dynamic 17 mission campaign. The campaign takes place in three different theaters of operation, all fictional for political correctness sake. You will take on insurgents in a mountainous region, pirates in the African waters, and drug cartels in Central America. Now with the Xbox 360 version and the PS3 version (but not the PC version) you can play this campaign in single player or local co-op, meaning two players on the same console. One as the pilot and one as the gunner, but you share the same view.

The campaign is fun and varies. You could be escorting friendly forces to the front, or attacking an enemy held town, or protecting another downed helicopter, or hunting pirates in the open waters. This is a game so there are many many enemies, waves of them that you'll have to take out with either Hellfire missiles, rockets, sidewinders, or the chain gun. You'll run out of ammo but in the training and realistic levels they will reload in time. In veteran mode you will run out and have to land at a near-by friendly LZ (landing zone) and rearm and repair/refuel. You have to play the campaign in the lower levels to unlock veteran mode, which I personally prefer it to be an option from the get go.



The campaign graphics and sounds are very well done, the game play is fast and furious compared to a simulation where your flight would be task with one or two objectives and you would have other support. You'll kill a hundred enemies only to get new orders to fly somewhere else and kill a hundred more. It can get a little ridiculous, especially when you have 15 enemy tanks, other vehicles, infantry, and pesky AA units. You'll take a lot of damage, and eventually crash. On the lower levels you have quite a few number of re-spawns, but on veteran mode you only have one. I think you shouldn't have any.

Overall the campaign is fun, fast and furious. It's a little over the top, but that’s to be expected with this action genre.

Squad Operations Mode

Apache: Air Assault also contains 13 squad operation missions. These missions are separate from the campaign and really built for 2 to 4 players in cooperative mode. Each player flying and controlling their own gunship. It's also my favorite and most played mode. The missions are very similar to the campaign missions where you have to kill an insane amount of enemies, but with friends it is a lot of fun and very intense at times, especially when you’re the last man alive. As long as one man is alive and fighting, your friends will respawn back in in 10 seconds time. Sure not very sim like, but fun. If everyone dies, the mission ends in failure. You can play these missions also in single player mode giving you even more single player action. You can play them on any of the levels, we (the SimHQ clan) started the first couple of missions on training but then quickly moved to "realistic" mode, which gives you the better flight model, but same amount of insane ammo and ammo reloads. We are still working on unlocking veteran mode.



Free Flight Mode

Free flight mode is for single player only, which is unfortunate because if it worked in cooperative mode too, it would add to the longevity of this game. In free flight mode you pick all the options, kind of like a quick mission builder. You can change the type of aircraft, ammo load out, enemies, friendly forces, and difficulty. It's a well done tool that will add life to the single player mode.

Replays and Leader Boards

After every mission you can go directly into watching the replay of the mission you just did, or you can save it for viewing later. Once you load and watch a replay you'll have the regular in game views and the action camera view. I do wish they would have added more camera views and features so we could have seen more of the battlefield and action. Apache: Air Assault keeps a leader board, like most games now a days. You can see how you stack up to your friends and all other players. The number of missions done, kills, air kills, deaths... etc etc.

What is cool about the leader board is that you can share one replay with everyone else. There will be a little film icon next to your name and others can download the replay and watch it. Great for that "oh I can’t believe that happened" story. Note. As of yet I keep getting an error message when checking out the leader board on PC, but it's working fine for the Xbox 360.

Manual Gun Views

One of the cool features of this game is the TADS view. You see in a regular mission you fly and fire the rockets and Hellfire’s while an AI gunner fires the gun (and he seems to really suck at it by the way). You can bring your bird into a hover (or not, you can do it flying but risky), then go into TADS view which gives you two forms of manual gun fire. DVO which is direct view optics and FLIR view which is forward looking infared. You can then zoom in and out and engage with guns manually. You can also fire Hellfire missiles from this view and guide them in with your sight using a laser. Maybe not the most realistic way it's done, but it is fun.







The Hanger

And just like in Birds of Prey, you have the hanger which contains things you unlock by completing missions. It contains the rules of the game, all the helicopters and what is new and cool is the ability to pick skins for your helicopters and apply up to four decals/emblems on them, like a lightning bolt, tiger teeth, or a red star.

Conclusion

The key word to this game and in this review is FUN. I haven't had so much fun playing with 3 friends in cooperative mode in a long time. Apache: Air Assault is not a simulation and if you know that when you buy it and know that you’re getting an action game you won't be disappointed.

Quite a few number of single player missions and a quick mission maker make this a great fun game for the loner. It's even a better game in cooperative mode with friends. The number of missions in this mode is weak. It sure would have been nice to have that quick mission maker for co-op games but as of now all we get is 13. After they're played a few times, it can get boring.



Graphics and sounds are great, especially on a PC with the higher settings and larger screen resolutions. But still damn pretty on a 50 inch high-definition TV screen. The game has built-in support for the well known Xbox 360 controls like the AV8R-02 and the FLY9, but oddly, don't work with the AV8R-01 or other lesser known sticks. The PC version has settings for your own stick but I don't know if they work or not since I don't have a big HOTAS system anymore.

Technically, the PC version does a nice job of supporting AMD Eyefinity and NaturalPoint TrackIR™ technologies.

On the PC, there are better flight sims, and maybe a better one coming soon so if you want more of a simulation then I would look elsewhere. But if you want an easy and fun game then this is the one to get.

On the Xbox 360 (and the PS3), frankly... Apache: Air Assault is a very unique and different game and if you can find it for a good price and you like combat helo action then get it. Reward a company for making a fun and different game for the console, maybe they will make more or support it with more missions/helicopters or whatever.

I applaud and support a company like Gaijin who makes something outside of the norm for the console market. Apache: Air Assault is different, very well made, fun, and intense and highly recommended. No bugs or issues noted, just got to know what you’re getting when you buy it. A game, not a simulation.



Reviewer's System Specs

PC
•Dell XPS 720
•Intel Core2 processor Q6600
•4GB DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz
•NVIDIA GeForce 280 GTX
•SATA HDD
•16X DVD+R/RW CD-RW Combination Drive
•X-Fi PCI Sound Card
•Microsoft Windows 7

Console
•Xbox 360
•50 inch HD TV
•5.1 Surround Sound