Petr Šourek I hadn't had the privilege of encountering a real-life flight simulator on the iPhone until I got my hands on Apache Sim 3D. I was full of expectations that this Czech game was able to fulfill.
I already played flight simulators on the old ZX Specter, when I was captivated by the game Tomahawk. At the time, it abounded in great vector graphics that won't amaze anyone today. But she captivated me so much that I spent hours and hours of game time with her. It tried to be a realistic simulation of combat in an AH-64 Apache helicopter, and I think it succeeded. Later I played fighter jet simulators on an old PC, I randomly remember TFX, F29 Retaliator and others. From the helicopter ones, I played Comanche Maximum Overkill, which I also enjoyed a lot. Since then I have not fallen for any game of this type, although there have certainly been countless (in terms of number) released. They always occupied me for only a few hours or I didn't even want to try them. Everything changed with the game that I want to present to you today.
This game reminded me of the old Tomahawk when I first started it, and I shed a tear of nostalgia. It was nice to see that someone made a simulator based on the AH-64 Apache helicopter for our iDarlings as well, but mostly I liked the "believability". No arcade, but a precise simulation of the behavior of this helicopter in battle. I did find a few flaws that bothered me a bit while playing, but more on that later. But overall, I think the game turned out well.
The gameplay is a chapter in itself as it really is a realistic helicopter gunship simulator. The physics model and the effects on your helicopter are really elaborate. Anyway, take this as a layman's opinion, because I have never flown this helicopter in real life. The author directly warns that this is not an arcade and therefore that one must first become familiar with the controls. I played the game for the first time while on vacation, without internet access, but I got the hang of the controls very quickly. I took off and landed for the first time. Anyway, if you're having trouble with it, there's nothing easier than running a simple game control guide in the mission menu.
With the controls, I had more trouble aiming and shooting down the target, but with a bit of practice you get the hang of it. The realistic elaboration helps to feel good about the game. Ammo and gas are running low and can be refilled at the airport. Unfortunately, I have to complain about one such small thing, and that is the missions. They aren't exactly difficult, but the game lacks a map or any highlighting of places to fly to. If you start, you can see a diamond in the distance, indicating that the finish line will be there. Practically, however, I did not know what to look for on the spot, and even with the infrared sight I was not very successful in finding targets. Now, after the update, the cockpit of our fighter is also redesigned, but the radar is still only painted there. Anyway, as the hours in the cockpit of this machine increase, I find that it's all about practice and being able to look around the landscape. In a real battle, you will also not have the exact GPS coordinates of individual targets, but it will be the area where you have to hit and you will have to find the targets yourself.
I would criticize one more thing. Even though it's a simulation, I didn't experience anyone shooting at me in sharp missions. I admit that I am somewhere in Afghanistan, but although I can hear the gunfire in the city, I do not see the fire from the anti-aircraft guns. It didn't happen to me that someone shot me down, rather I crashed into some building with my clumsiness.
However, the game does not only have a simulation mode, but the mission can also be started in the arcade mode. The difference compared to the simulation is not so much the behavior of the helicopter, but rather the control. The helicopter already turns when tilting left and right, while in the simulation there are 2 pedals for this at the bottom of the screen. If we tilt the iDevice to the left or right in the simulation, the helicopter does not turn, but only tilts and flies in that direction. Speaking of controls, I also liked the ability to calibrate your iPhone on the fly, so you launch a mission and you can use the button at the bottom center of the screen to recalibrate your iPhone to how you're tilting the device as a baseline for accelerometer control .
Graphically, the game looks great. You have three views to choose from. One is on the back of the helicopter, the other is from the cockpit of your fighter, and the third is an infrared targeting system, which is mainly useful at night. The first two look great (even with the absence of a radar in the cockpit, although the compass on the top of the cockpit didn't move for me), but the third one has bigger flies. I don't know if the iPhone 4 isn't that strong, but if you can see the city in the distance in the first and second, then with the infrared view, the city only starts to show when you get even closer, i.e. it is rendered slowly. Unfortunately, in this view, texture collisions happened to me, when the houses flickered, so to speak. Interestingly, this happens mainly in the first 5-6 missions, when you actually get to know your new machine and its controls. During the first missions in Afghanistan, the cities already look as they do from all points of view and nothing blinks.
Night missions become a real treat. Although you can't see much of the surroundings, the cockpit with night vision and infrared vision for target searching really enhances the enjoyment of the game and reality.
There is nothing to complain about the sound. The realistic rendering of the AH-64 Apache flight cannot be denied. With the headphones connected, I got carried away and really imagined myself sitting in said machine. Not to mention the missions in the desert cities where, for example, you have to help your unit with the terrorists (I don't know why that mission reminded me more of Mogadishu and the plot of the movie Black Hawk Down), when you really hear gunfire in the streets. This really enhances the enjoyment, but due to what I wrote above, they are not shooting at you, so it is only a backdrop.
Overall the game is very good and if you like flight simulators then I can highly recommend buying it. For 2,39 euros you get a game that will keep you entertained for hours. If you are not a fan of flight simulators, think about whether my recommendation is for you. The game will require a little more time to master the controls. After the update was released, the cockpit changed, I did not notice the simplification of landing. The radar has not changed, nor has the map been added, but even without these elements the game is not bad. I firmly believe that in the future these aerial aids will appear.
Work is underway on update 1.2, which now includes a radar function, fixed "surveillance" in the FLIR view and other changes. It should be released at the end of May.