I've always had some unnatural fetish for flying helicopters. Anytime I see a game that involves helicopters, I will be playing it as soon as possible. So, when I saw the title, I imagined some '90s top-down arcade adventure game, similar to Assault Heroes. And the cover didn't help at all (felt so last decade, and no epicness at all).

So, starting up the demo, I figure to be disappointed. Massively. However, starting off the tutorial, I was immensely surprised. There's quite a bit to like about it. It immediately reminded me of Ace Combat, but for helicopters.

The graphics aren't stellar, but they're great and do their job. The amount of detail put into the game is enormous, considering many recent games just don't have that much polish AND more. The difficulty is fun and varied, and the missions themselves are a cross between what Medal of Honor was trying to accomplish with realistic scenarios and the huge battles and awesomeness of Black Op's helicopter segment.

It itself is a flight simulator, so expect quite a bit of getting used to. However, this is one of those games that tacks on difficulty just right. As of now, you have Training mode and Realistic mode. Training mode simplifies the HUD and allows easier control over the helicopter. Realistic mode adds in a ton of variables for flight difficulty and adds in the complete Apache HUD. It strikes a perfect balance between the two. Either you suck (Training), or you're halfway decent and can fly the thing (Realistic). The demo mentions something about Veteran mode, which I can't even think about.

The tutorial is great and mixes in what a real combat scenario perfectly with the tutorial segment. The missions are also fun and varied. The first mission has you defend the base from a massive assault, and helicopters and tanks and cannonfire are exchanged everywhere. The second mission then shifts gear and is more of an everyday patrol mission. Although a bit slower paced (you do have to traverse long distances, sometimes upwards of five minutes in travel time), it does have plenty of action moments to keep you on your toes and wanting more.

So pacing, check. Difficulty, check. Graphics, check.

Being a simulator an' all, it needs to incorporate many real-life elements into the game. The complex Realistic HUD consists of a digital altimeter, an analogue version of the radar altimeter indicator, digital compass, radar, forward speed, direction of turret, and engine throttle, amongst others. You can switch to DVO which allows you to manually control the turret and switch to FLIR for thermal viewings and easier bearings on personnel on the ground. Don't worry, I'm just acting smart.

Realism. Check.

However, the game isn't without it's problems. While graphics are pretty [for a console], the framerate cannot keep up in the oddest circumstances. While the framerate is stutter free during intense battles between multiple ground elements, when free-looking the framerate just appears chopped and screwed. It doesn't hold up at all.

Mission objectives are also sometimes unclear, and the map doesn't do a very good job of pointing you in the right direction. During the second mission, the final objective was the land the helicopter. However, you must land within a specific LZ, which sounds reasonable. However, I had a hard time finding said LZ. The game didn't even provide some form of a waypoint or something, which is odd considering all vehicles and objectives contain waypoints besides this one. It wasn't until a half an hour of tinkering that I finally found out where to land.

Also, when free-looking within the cockpit or anywhere actually, the camera is oftentimes jerky and I cannot pinpoint where I want to shoot. This is for those that want to fire the cannon without actually switching to manual fire, because I cannot move as accurately in that mode, and I risk getting shot down.

The replay option is also very lacking. Coming from Halo, or even GRID, which allows more camera angles than what this offers. It's the standard camera angles plus some dramatic view that doesn't allow you to rotate the camera and instead wanders off on its own.

So, great game, but needs a little more polish in some more areas. Otherwise, I might consider picking this up.