As my feature a few months back alluded to, chopper sims and I share a love-love relationship. Perhaps it’s the pictorial badassery of a myriad of missiles emerging from the bowels of rotor-powered aircraft that gets me gaga. It’s not to say, however, I lack a sweet spot for F-18, high altitude, air-to-air console combat. Still, if one is to take on hordes of baddies in remote places, my vote is for a set of keys to an Apache Longbow. And have it detailed before it leaves the lot, my good man.

Thankfully the task of bringing proper chopper simulation to next-gen consoles fell into the laps of Russia’s Gaijin Entertainment, a well-seasoned lot of flight sim folks behind the very good IL-2 Sturmovik, WW2 title of 2009. Gaijin borrowed heavily from Il-2’s engine for Apache Air Assault (AAA), a decision with a bit of mixed results. This game needs a patch…a simple albeit sorely needed one comprised of ten key fixes.

Let me explain.

Overview

First things first: Apache Air Assault sports 6 playable choppers, each with different cockpit, weapon and physics nuances. In an odd instance of decision-making, Gaijin opted for 4 of the 6 playable only in Free Flight (versus Campaign) mode. Patch Step One: Let players unlock, play all six helicopters in incremental, campaign mode steps.

The game also packs a multiplayer option – one as pilot, the other gunner – a feature bogged down by an unfortunately sparse online community. A sad state of affairs for Aussie gamers, as AAA – while new here - is already a disc veteran in North America via an earlier Nov 2010 release. Perhaps syncing up release dates a bit better could’ve provided a greater multiplayer window. No patch for questionable release dates, unfortunately. Except maybe Marty McFly.

Goldilocks and the Progress, Control Bears

Campaign mode is short and sweet, with 16 multistage missions across a variety of terrain and enemy types. Unfortunately, these missions do not feature mid-level save points, frustrating as all hell when 20-25 minutes of gaming progress disappears near-instantly via an unlucky RPG hit. Patch Step Two: manual mid-level save points.

Equally as irritating is the failure to reward completing hard stages by the skin of your chopper blade teeth. Realistically, helicopter damage does not self-repair across level stages, meaning a blown engine and/or body damage will exponentially grow in problem upon further damage. Now I respect flight simulations honoring mission integrity, but…only to a point. Unrealistic – in this reviewer’s humble opinion- is an enemy knowing what the hell you’re going to, every damn time. Let alone the immediate demise of fun factor inherent in replaying far too long, multi stage levels. Patch Step Three: exponential damage recovery based on level time in theatre.

Salt in wounds is the Goldilocks and Three Bears approach to both control schemes and difficulty levels. Having partaken in the greatness of Thrustmaster Hotas-X controls for Gaijin’s IL-2 Sturmovik, I expected similar party favors for its helicopter younger brother. Au contraire, with flightstick compatibility limited to a lone stick…inevitably not the one I own. Moreover, default Dualshock analog controls are confoundingly more responsive (albeit convoluted and lacking strafe ability) than my emulated Hotas-X. Even with a robust tutorial level, expect to fumble across AAA’s control schemes a lot. A LOT. A LOOOT. Patch Step Four:  insert more pre-loaded, flightstick control schemes, balance out different control options.

Related, the supposedly routine act of engaging enemies on the ground via: a) autohover select; b) switching to gunner view; c) engaging infrared mode to spot camouflaged units; d) establishing a decent scope of attack range…is a button mashing exercise to nowhere. Picture this: once you’ve finally gotten a handle on the non-customizable, seemingly random control scheme, enemy fire begins to reign down, forcing to un-engage autohover while praying a usable cockpit view responds in turn. Last, hope that a wayward enemy missile didn’t nibble on your engine while performing said tasks, or back to the drawing board we go. Patch Step Five: on-screen button control cues plus parity across control schemes to execute as intended.

Being Difficult...is Oh-So-Difficult

On to difficulty levels. AAA features three physics-based, difficulty gradients: Tutorial, Regular and Veteran. The third…fuhgetaboutit…unless, of course, you’re currently flying diggers in/out of Afghanistan via actual Apaches. Tutorial is welcome for the sole reason of added defence mechanisms and damage allotment. It is simultaneously, however, akin to flying a very non-responsive, rotored refrigerator.

Simplified physics produce an inability to turn said chopper on a reasonable (more than 5-8 percent) angle, rendering the flightstick almost useless (in lieu of rudder adjustments, ones inaccessible from a standard Dualshock). This, in turn, makes lining up cockpit or ¾ view missile strikes near-impossibilities. Ditto executing actual flight dynamics, where increased rudder speed plus nose dips should – but doesn’t – provide noticeable speed increases. Patch Step Six: increase turning radius via flightstick on Tutorial levels. Increase physics engine sensitivity for speed differentials.

Moreover - and if I’m flying a chopper in any view but targeting - my auto co-gunner needs to get his/her head out of respective arse. (Aim, you buggers, and shoot the bad guys.) These gunners sure do talk a lot for people for people doing a whole lotta’ nothin’. Ditto for partner aircraft who couldn’t hit the world’s largest crop circles let alone miniscule soldiers yielding RPGs. Am I lining up shots for my gunner…or do I have to do everything myself (including uncomfortably and dangerously bopping back and forth between autohover and actual flight modes)? Patch Step Six: increase gunner and partner AI. Reward proper flight paths and tactics via better enemy targeting. Smarten up autohover mechanisms when in manual gun mode.

Speaking of RPGs: No enemy force anywhere sports that many anti-aircraft units and/or vehicles. It’s like the circus came to town, handed any/everyone a means to take down helicopters. Patch Step Seven: variable enemy units based on attack strategy.

Upping said difficulty to ‘Realistic’ does yield some very tangible benefits. For starters and most noticeably, the main HUD becomes realistic. Why anyone would want to fly…well, anything…sans horizon meter is incredulous. Let alone the world’s most kickass line of helicopters. Why would simplified controls warrant diminished visual cues? Patch Step Eight: unified visualization.

Unfortunately, however, realistic turns aforementioned fridge into instant drunk magpie. The damn chopper turns every which if you even think (happy thoughts, happy thoughts…) of executing a dramatic bank. Still, over-sensitivity is a fair respite from flying food storage. Patch Step Nine: bridge the divide in control sensitivity between Tutorial and Realistic difficulty levels.

...And Now the Good Stuff

With all the above criticisms, one might think the game unplayable. Au contraire, mon frere. Apache Air Assault has the makings of a fantastic game, one clearly well thought out. Gaijin does a fantastic job in differentiating helicopter versus plane feel for a simulator, the results occasionally truly inspiring. For instance – and while the controls are questionable – the excitement of throttling Apache rudder and corresponding rotors is magnificent. This thrill is very indicative of experiences from early Microsoft Flight Simulator games, ones where takeoffs and/or flybys over major cities never got old.

Second, cockpits and audio – based on being fully licensed Boeing product – are spot-on; AAA looks and feels like the real deal. The same, however, can’t be said of in-game environments, a tad too uninspired and generic for a title with a premium on taking out targets often under cover. Zooming in doesn’t improve matters much, obfuscating versus helping pick off individual enemies. Music…imagine dramatic – albeit robust – classical flair. Patch Step Ten: tweak zoom capabilities to provide realistically tighter visuals on targets versus masking via cover.

Final Sentiments

All and all and in sum: Apache Air Assault has the makings of a great game, one where ten simple patches can produce brilliance. Gaijin developers – via their message boards – place requested patch release in the hands of developer Activision, likely a kiss of death for such a niche title. A travesty for one of the truly valiant attempts at a helicopter flight simulation…let alone for a console.