Following the success of Digital Integration's Fighter Pilot
based on the Tomcat, Dave Marshall sat down and studied the specifications for
the Hughes Apache Advanced Attack Helicopter. Now, after a long wait, the
fruits of his labours are finally available with the release of
Tomahawk, the helicopter flight simulator which puts you in
control of one mean machine. Once you've got past the Lenslok the main menu is
displayed, which allows you to choose from a range of flight options and
weather conditions:
Flying Training - this helps you become familiar with the
helicopter instruments and develop ground attack skills;
Combat - which puts
you in a battlefield scenario with live hostile targets;
Day or Night - at
night there is no artificial horizon and your view is limited to the pilot's
night vision system;
Clear or Cloudy - you can choose an overcast sky for
instrument flying;
Cloudbase - selectable cloudbase, you chose the height at
which you wish the clouds to appear if any are desired;
Crosswinds and Turbulence - for the experienced pilot. Allows
for variable crosswinds and turbulence effects;
Sound - if set to ON then it mainly consists of effects
generated by the rotor blades;
Pilot Rating - effectively the skill level
option. There are four choices ranging, from the Trainee to Ace;
Controls -
joystick or keys option. Allows for two ports to be used on Interface 2 for
enhanced helicopter control.
You view the game from the cockpit. The top half of the screen is dedicated to the horizon and any features that might appear on the landscape (or the map, in map mode). The lower section of the screen takes the form of an instrument panel which displays the status of all the flight controls. These consist of bar scales for throttle position, fuel, engine torque, turbine and rotor RPM, engine temperature and collective position indicator. There are also readouts on altitude, time to target, ground position, speed in knots and vertical speed. Also featured on the instrument panel is the artificial horizon. This gives information on roll and pitch, while to the right of this is the Doppler Navigation/radar; using this it is possible to find your way to other landing pads as well as track enemy targets.
At your disposal are three types of weapons: Guns which have a range of about 2000 ft; Rockets - the Apache is equipped with 38 of these (19 each side) and they have a range of 4000 ft; Missiles are laser guided and automatically lock on to the target. You only have 8 of these. Each type of weapon is controlled by a different type of sight.
When in combat mode there are a number of possible targets such as tanks, field guns and enemy helicopters all of which are depicted in 3D vector graphics. Fighting is not easy and it is advisable to train for quite a while before going into combat mode. As well as using the tracking system, the map is in constant use in combat, so it is necessary to learn how to fly 'blind', without the graphic representation of the horizon.
The number of variables that can be set on the main, option screen allows you to almost redefine the game. If you get bored playing one way, for instance, you can make the game a lot tougher by selecting a cloudy option and adding in crosswinds and turbulence.
Producer: Digital Integration
Price: £9.95
Language: machine code
Author: Dave Marshall
