"Missle lock achieved. TargetID: Awesome sim."

LHX attack chopper is a helicopter sim from EA. Yes they did make some good stuff contrary to popular belief! Its graphics are true 3D and pretty darn good for the time and it has some satisfying combat. This was one of my first genesis games ever and I loved it.

The graphics are vector style graphics - no textures just colours kind of like wireframe and filled in with color. They are clear and uncluttered while still looking great. It's easy to tell what everything is and the lack of textures isn't really noticeable unless you're very close to the texture. Since the game is in full 3D the lack of textures is probably to boost the frame rate, which never dips at all. The cockpit looks good and is very well designed with many instruments, seeing a threat etc from your instruments is quick and easy. There are also many viewpoints to view the action from such as chase view (behind your heli) the enemies view (close up of target), a view from your missile as it launches at your target and even the target's cockpit view! I haven't played any Genesis Flight Sim with so many views.


The sound is great. Your helicopter sounds pretty real and the instruments make nice humming and beeping sounds as you target enemies. As for weapons missiles sound good when launched, as do explosions, but guns could be better. They are just this uniform humming sound. But the major problem is hardly any enemy sounds. All they make is firing and missile launching noises, no tank engines etc. There is only music at the title screen but its a good military styled theme.


The gameplay is nice and varied. You have two helicopters to choose from the experimental hi-tech LHX or the classic AH-64 McDonnell-Douglas Apache. Both are very different.

The Apache carries far more weapons than the LHX and can generally take more punishment but has a more complicated mechanical cockpit, is slower and handles worse than the LHX as well as having a horribly vulnerable tail rotor.

The LHX is fast, has a simpler digital cockpit, handles better and has a tailfan that stops the vulnerably of the tail rotor to small arms fire. Getting hit in the tailfan stops the balancing of the main rotor torque, causing the chopper spin in circles making it basically impossible to fly. The LHX can still have its tail fan damaged but it's much rarer.

The gameplay is a basic flight Sim; you get your objectives, such as destroying a platoon of armour, rescuing POWs, dropping supplies, escorting other aircraft etc. The controls make full use of the genesis pad, and work very well, there is also the option to use a second control for more advanced commands such as moving your nose up and down to line up shots with unguided rockets. There is also a useful feature called time-warp that speeds the game up to four times the speed to make long flights shorter.

The enemies are pretty smart especially helicopters which can make you very dead very quickly. Fighter jets are dumb though they tend to just circle you and seem to have problems with achieving a target lock, firing only when they simply can't miss. They are deadly if your countermeasures for missiles are damaged however. Some enemies can predict your flight path and aim ahead of you so you fly into their line of fire, you can avoid this by zigzagging though.


LHX will last you quite a while With 30 missions and six difficulty levels this will last a long time. The very hard level is brutal and will ensure your playing this game for a looooooong time to finish it.


All up LHX is a fantastic sim, which I'd recommend it to anybody who likes this style of game.

Fin

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/28/09

Game Release: LHX Attack Chopper (EU, 1992)