Really hyped up about this. Normally I would say I prefer super realistic simulation take on this topic, but DCS is still hot and Combat Helo is coming out very soon thus making the sim part of heli games covered. So it will be nice to fly something more arcade-like alongside those two.
It must have just arrived at some locations early I guess.
I'm in Wisconsin and they had the game ready on the 12th. I even got an official phone call saying my pre-order would arrive on the 12th.
Apparently the sound glitch I posted about in my impressions is a widespread issue across both the PS3 and Xbox 360 version, just FYI to everyone. Not sure about PC status on this.
I'm not too familiar with Gaijin, but I hope they're good about supporting their games. This is a total win in my book, but the sound glitch really bothers me since it feels like you can't do anything wrong in a mission...if you do mess up and have to restart, you might as well just quit out and start up the game again since it's no fun playing without engine sounds lol.
It must have just arrived at some locations early I guess.
I'm in Wisconsin and they had the game ready on the 12th. I even got an official phone call saying my pre-order would arrive on the 12th.
Apparently the sound glitch I posted about in my impressions is a widespread issue across both the PS3 and Xbox 360 version, just FYI to everyone. Not sure about PC status on this.
I'm not too familiar with Gaijin, but I hope they're good about supporting their games. This is a total win in my book, but the sound glitch really bothers me since it feels like you can't do anything wrong in a mission...if you do mess up and have to restart, you might as well just quit out and start up the game again since it's no fun playing without engine sounds lol.
They were actually good on fixing a lot f the issues on PS3 for BoP but publisher support for 360 and other patches vanished so they couldn't patch the 360 version.
Finally got in a A2A bout with some Hinds and during that is where you get the sense of a real departure from standard air combat. Dogfighting in choppers is..interesting to say the least trying to keep you front toward the enemy but when my Stingers ran out I managed to hit a Hind with the 30mm cannon and shoot off his tail. Watching him spin and smoke all the day was great. The enemy choppers will react to where they get shot, so you hit their rotor and they will fall out of the sky like dead weight or like I mentioned hit the tail and they start the death spin to the ground.
Also AA vehicles will tear you apart with only a little exposure. One mission I lost my radar, right engine, rotor, and tail on one pass.:lol
don't forget to try the HIND in free flight, it has a glorious cockpit.
What version did you buy, Dubbedinenglish? Have you noticed this sound glitch I'm talking about? To test if it happens, start a mission, and then pause and select restart. See if you still have engine sounds after restarting.
What version did you buy, Dubbedinenglish? Have you noticed this sound glitch I'm talking about? To test if it happens, start a mission, and then pause and select restart. See if you still have engine sounds after restarting.
I have it on PS3. I just tried it on Free Flight with the Hind and AH-64X and both times I got engine sound back, albeit it was quieter and took longer for the sound to return. 1st try it was on when the rotors were warming up on the ground but after restart it was very quiet when the rotors started and then I only got the full sound after about 15 secs in the air.
I have it on PS3. I just tried it on Free Flight with the Hind and AH-64X and both times I got engine sound back, albeit it was quieter and took longer for the sound to return. 1st try it was on when the rotors were warming up on the ground but after restart it was very quiet when the rotors started and then I only got the full sound after about 15 secs in the air.
Havent been following this game much, but im a BIG fan of Janes' Longbow series, is this game realistic mode close to that? And stealth with the terrain, pick enemies with radar, pop up from terrain, fire missiles, hide again, that type of gameplay which is much like real life AH-64 or longbow games, is it also in this?
I'm having trouble controlling this with the gamepad (PS3)... there's a lack of customization that's messing with me. They let you swap the stick controls, but I only want to change one function, not everything.
I guess I need a flight stick. But there's no way I'd buy an expensive peripheral for a heli sim that doesn't support head tracking. Kinda wish the sim devs would start doing that for the PS3, the camera and tools are there.
I'm having trouble controlling this with the gamepad (PS3)... there's a lack of customization that's messing with me. They let you swap the stick controls, but I only want to change one function, not everything.
I guess I need a flight stick. But there's no way I'd buy an expensive peripheral for a heli sim that doesn't support head tracking. Kinda wish the sim devs would start doing that for the PS3, the camera and tools are there.
Oh my god I just typed like a 7 paragraph follow-up on my impressions and then I pressed some combination of keys and it all got deleted...then the undo button doesn't do anything. ARRRRGHHHHHH
Anyways, to be brief..lol
Only negative aspects I can think of:
-The sound glitch
-Possibly a campaign on the short side as far as overall hours to completion goes (although co-op which I've yet to test could easily add many many hours of play)
-Landscape and ground vehicle graphics aren't quite up to par with this gen IMO. Not like it matters that much though. When I'm going 170mph and doing a strike on a moving target I'm not exactly expecting to count leaves on trees lol.
So really it's just those 3 things, 2 of which aren't even really a big deal... the glitch is the only thing that actually "bothers" me, but I still love everything else. Basically, if you liked the demo, you're going to love the full game.
As for the controls, I can see where some people may not like them, but I say spend some time with it. I'm getting really good at it now and it just becomes even more enjoyable the better you get.
I can see the issue there, especially when you've roared over a combat area and need to twist back for another salvo. I suppose it really does convey the difference gunship piloting is to fixed wing aircraft...that goddamn roll just isn't there without the work!
After playing the demo like a madman, I think I'm going to be screwed if I play another flight game any time soon, with the rather unique use of the sticks.
Just for the hell of it, I took this screenshot with the XMB screenshot feature. Excuse the French, but this game is a fucking triumph:
Havent been following this game much, but im a BIG fan of Janes' Longbow series, is this game realistic mode close to that? And stealth with the terrain, pick enemies with radar, pop up from terrain, fire missiles, hide again, that type of gameplay which is much like real life AH-64 or longbow games, is it also in this?
The later missions with heavy AAA do require to mask yourself with the terrain or be torn apart by their missile/ guns. While not a 'nuts and bolts' sim like Jane's the flight model on realistic is pretty faithful to the Apache. You need to gain angles and control your speed on passes you you will spend your time sideways in the mountain side.
The switching of the sticks I agree with coming BC2, that being only other flyable Apache of recent memory, they have a great setup of the sticks that makes it easy. Just stick with it and do training just practicing smooth turns at approx 60-70 mph. That was the best way for me (and to turn down the roll 4 notches) to get proficient with chopper controls. Once you get it down it becomes second nature and you pull off some crazy maneuvers with the right amount of finesse. Landing though in 1st person i a bitch specially with the way Helipads are provided :lol
The switching of the sticks I agree with coming BC2, that being only other flyable Apache of recent memory, they have a great setup of the sticks that makes it easy. Just stick with it and do training just practicing smooth turns at approx 60-70 mph. That was the best way for me (and to turn down the roll 4 notches) to get proficient with chopper controls. Once you get it down it becomes second nature and you pull off some crazy maneuvers with the right amount of finesse. Landing though in 1st person i a bitch specially with the way Helipads are provided :lol
I've had a lot of fun pulling down on the stick to drop in altitude, trying to judge the fall and weight of the bird, before hauling up the throttle to compensate for the altitude drop. It's ended in tears a few times!
Oh, and here's something awesome...I just tried out the Motion Control for Camera option in the PS3 demo. MAN, does it make things easier when landing in 1st Person. Really great use of the sixaxis, a fluid alternative to head tracking - perhaps slightly more intuitive in some regard.
Also, the "unofficial" prefix to the Cyborg F.L.Y. 9 stick support for PS3 is now "official", it seems - judging by it being supported in the control scheme selection menu. Nice to know it isn't some sort of jury-rigged option.
painful fart said:
Does anyone know how the game support trustmaster flight sticks on the PS3?
Really tempted buying this game based on your comments guys, as a long time fan of the longbow series.
Just had another run through the demo, hadn't played a heli game in over a decade, before this I didn't even realize I missed it, but I did, so much fun.
Remember how I was a bit concerned the missions may be too quick/easy? Well, I just got my ass kicked 6 times...yes it took 6 tries to complete this mission for me since I couldn't keep the damn pirates away from these rescue ships well enough. :lol
Let me tell you guys a story using the awesome XMB screenshot feature and the replay feature. (watching this game in replays in the cinematic camera really makes it look almost real. Very cool camera views.) Also, the water in this game is beautiful.
This story is brought to you by Picasa Web Albums, and the Photo Gallery feature on the XMB. This made it so nice and easy to quick upload my pics to my web album, and then simply hop on my PC and copy/paste them into the message. No more stupid USB stick transfers required! /advertisement
So, I finally was relieved that I made it past the second objective on this mission. However, I got minor damage and needed to repair myself at a landing zone on an oil rig in order to make sure I could make it further in the mission.
However...the landing pad was NOT built for Apache helicopters, I just BARELY fit on it, and one of my attempts caused bigger problems...
I was landing in Cockpit view, and I thought I was completely on the pad, so I started to hold down on the right stick to power down my engines. Little did I know my tail was hanging way off the pad, and I slipped, tearing my entire right wing off!!
Meanwhile, the enemy convoy is closing in on me and starts firing at me!! This is a tense moment. I HAVE to land on the pad now, or else I'll never finish this mission with only one wing and no pylon control. I make the attempt...one wing, R engine failure, heavy enemy fire....
I did it!! Look at all the tracers flying by in the background. They're coming in fast and I'm worried I won't be able to get outta here in time.
Takeoff!! I made it! Now it's time for some revenge! There's two speedboats with AA missile launchers on them. I'm not messing around anymore. I sent 2 hellfire missiles at these bastards.
My revenge is complete as my 2 hellfires hit their targets and send the pirates to a watery grave with a huge splash.
Pirates eliminated, oil rig saved, mission accomplished. Smile for the camera Apache, job well done.
Good news too, in my 6 attempts for this mission, I obviously had to use the restart feature...and there was no sound glitch! Pleasant surprise...it must happen only sometimes, not 100% of the time as I previously thought. Still needs a fix though.
Indeed there is, a fully customisable free flight mode. Add enemies, change weather, locale...UFRA and Dubbed can sort you out on the details. My copy is yet to arrive!
In most of the missions, there are LZ's throughout the map that you can stop at which will resupply you and repair you. In Veteran mode, this is critical since you ONLY get what you start with (i.e. 38 Hydras, 8 Hellfires, and anywhere from 500-1000 or so cannon shots). So if you run out, you have to get to a base to resupply just like in real life. The LZ's are marked as a blue H on the map.
In Realistic and Training mode, you get an infinite amount of ammo, only it takes time to reload (Hydras about 6 seconds, and Hellfires over 2 minutes).
Neuromancer said:
Is there any kind of skirmish or bot mode where you can play against the computer, outside of the campaign?
Yup, pretty much 100% customizable Free Flight mode for practice.
Many different landscapes to choose, quantity of ground units, quantity of air units, what type of air units, friendly units on or off, friendly unit skill level, enemy unit skill level, time of day and weather, chopper of your choice for yourself, etc.
I haven't messed with Free Flight much yet, but I used it to perfect some basic flying skills. I turned off all enemies and allies, and it was just me out in the baron lands to practice flight without being disturbed. That in itself was quite a nice treat.
By the way, there's a lot of really cool things you don't learn in the tutorial that the in-game tips explain during load screens (which by the way are just as long as the demo... like 10 seconds for the entire mission to load!)
Some stuff I learned which I never knew, and is not in the tutorial/manual (using PS3 buttons for simplification in explanations):
-Press and hold X (target select button) to select multiple targets (up to 8). Then, press R1 to fire a hellfire missile ripple strike. This essentially launches hellfire missiles at all targets you have selected all at once. Pretty cool, and also a trophy if you do 8 at once.
-Fire a hellfire missile at a target and do not release the R1 button - you will switch to a first-person missile cam of the hellfire as it travels to its target!
-Hellfire missiles are programmed to attack targets even when you have no target locked on. You can fire random hellfire missiles at a large group of targets with NONE selected, and the missile will pick out a target and eliminate it all on its own. I don't use this though since I save hellfires for armored vehicles or structures.
-While in the FLIR cam of the turret, you can launch hellfire missiles and guide them yourself based on where the crosshairs are aiming! This view also looks incredibly realistic when a hellfire missile blows something up. (this tip is in the manual)
-Use the satellite view to confirm hellfire missile kills from far away. After launching a hellfire, load up the satellite view to see the target that you selected for the missile. Watch as it gets destroyed.
Lots of fun to be had with hellfires lol Try this stuff out in the demo while you wait for your copy.
is there any subtlety? eg sneaking around using hills as cover and popping up? Or is it quite exaggerated hollywood style?
anyone played Team Apache on PC? I remember that fondly as a nice sim/action hybrid that worked well with HOTAS.
Also, with missing headtracking - do flightstick setups support using a hat for looking around? and do they have twisting sticks to control the rudder?
Reckless, if you're playing this on PS3, I do advise using the control scheme that toggles the sixaxis for camera control. It works like a charm, feeling very natural.
Reckless, if you're playing this on PS3, I do advise using the control scheme that toggles the sixaxis for camera control. It works like a charm, feeling very natural.
Man I hate when these games come out because I want to take the plunge but only if I can get my Ace Combat(360) stick to work with it. I never could get it to work 100% with ka-50.
Really?! Hmm. I went through the options ingame to test things out. The motion control for roll was kinda not my thing...a little unresponsive, but perhaps I didn't tune it correctly. When I tried the sixaxis camera control, it all became very intuitive. Not sure why it's not responding for you! Roll that controller, roll it good! :lol
Really?! Hmm. I went through the options ingame to test things out. The motion control for roll was kinda not my thing...a little unresponsive, but perhaps I didn't tune it correctly. When I tried the sixaxis camera control, it all became very intuitive. Not sure why it's not responding for you! Roll that controller, roll it good! :lol
Toda... I'm still on the fence with this one. Co-op and free flight sound really cool, but I won't bite unless I can get comfortable with the controls.
Toda... I'm still on the fence with this one. Co-op and free flight sound really cool, but I won't bite unless I can get comfortable with the controls.
yeah, i gotta try the demo. very anxious to check it out.
broke down and got black ops BTW, i'm having a lot of fun with it, aside from some of the spawn issues.
Oh lawd:lol My music on 0. Though the Top Gun-esque mullet inducing menu music is catchy.... at times:lol
Oh man that Helipad on the oil rig caused me much rage trying to land in first person. So far the best way I found is to use auto-hover as your descend though I'm using less of that now. The major point is to NOT back up if you overshoot the pad, just spin around and try another take at it )part of the reason the oil rig was such a bitch. Got my ass handed to me on one of the later levels with a large air engagement tried that about 12 times before getting past. Goddam Hinds:lol
is there any subtlety? eg sneaking around using hills as cover and popping up? Or is it quite exaggerated hollywood style?
anyone played Team Apache on PC? I remember that fondly as a nice sim/action hybrid that worked well with HOTAS.
Also, with missing headtracking - do flightstick setups support using a hat for looking around? and do they have twisting sticks to control the rudder?
There is some subtlety, however it's entirely up to you. You can approach missions with super-aggression and just fly around and blast everything, although you will get shot up.
There are some missions, especially as you progress, where you pretty much have to use sneaking techniques or else enemy AA fire will tear you to pieces.
One recent mission I completed consisted of me frequently hiding behind hills, locking on to primary objective targets, and launching hellfires at them while the enemy couldn't touch me. :lol
I had the same problem until i got used to the controls, and is the right way. What worked for me is controlling the helicopter like a plane at 'high' speed and like a fps at slow seed sound weird but worked .
It does take a little while for the control scheme to click, but once you get the gist of it, you'll be roaring over enemy convoys nose-down, near vertical, slamming those hydras along the trucks like it's nobody's business. She's a bird worth taming, this Apache.
First couple of reviews are in, not sure where the big sites are on this one though. The Game Fanatics review is pretty good, though I'm hesitant to take the XXL Gaming's word as credible when Sturmovik was labelled as "Gaijin's fighter jet sim". Little more "prop" wouldn't have gone astray, but that's being nitpicky.
The reviewer sounded like he had fun with Apache, so gifthorses and mouths and all that.
This is gonna be my training wheels before I finally tear the shrink wrap off of DCS Black Shark. :lol
Thank God for Gaijin Entertainment. I hope more developers follow this path of flight sims that are fun to play on both the arcade and realistic sides of the spectrum.
