| ★ AMSTRAD CPC ★ GAMESLIST ★ GUNSHIP (c) MICROPROSE ★ |
| A100% | Amstrad Action | TILT | Amstrad Magazine |
Now, at long last, you too can sweep into the skies in an Apache AH-64 helicopter - blasting liberals, pinkoes and out-and out commies as you go. Yes. you've guessed, it's an American chopper: the latest, in fact. Packed with electronics, armed to the teeth, armoured beyond belief - and costing millions. Costly business, war. This flight simulation has been grounded on the Amstiad until now. and pretty displeased we CPC users have been about it too. Indeed, your campaigning AA was making its feelings known about it in feelings known about Amscene as long ago as AA25! But to their credit the Microprose coders kept on bashing away, and their patience has at last been rewarded. But Gunship is not just a simulator. You chart the career of a pilot in the US Army. Start off on training flights in the USA. Progress by taking some tours in "South-East Asia". Take on the Nicaraguan forces fighting in Central America. The Arabs in the Middle East are causing trouble - blow them away. Ultimately, the Warsaw Pact has invaded Western Europe. Naturally enough, you've got to kill them all Gunship: diplomacy with a vengeance. If this sort, of American behaviour (known throughout the free world) doesn't appeal to you. then you probably won't like the game Complete the missions as stated and you get promotions and medals. Your reviewer could never get demoted, for some I odd reason (which probably says more about the game than it does about me). To help you fulfil! your missions there is the usual Microprose doorstop of a manual. Flying helicopters is a notoriously tricky job, but start "by the book and you should be at least able to gel into the air without much trouble. As much practice on the American range as you can stand is highly recommended because all the flak is simulated. Even in the relative calm of home territory, however, you can still go west/go for a burton by taking on a hill. All potential targets are listed in the manual, together with many I could never find. Hard targets you have no trouble at all finding are T74 tanks, BMP and BTR infantry carriers, SAM (surface to air missiles) and ZSU (Zenitnaia Samokhodnaia Ustanovka - that's Russian anti-aircraft gun to you, pal) armoured vehicles and military bunkers. Soft targets are helibases, depots and headquarters, and of course the infantry. Coming into a special category of its own is the Hind, the Russian attack helicopter that can outrun you and is as well armoured as the Apache. It has a nasty habit of popping out from behind a hill to shoot you up an experience you may well not live to regret. To destroy all these there are four weapon systems available:
In present-day warfare, the real usefulness of aircraft lies not so much in their flying ability as their use at finding and destroying the enemy. The inain aids for this are electronics or to use the correct term, avionics. The Apache has an oxtremly impressive array of gadgets. TADS (Target Aquisition/Designation System) is the heart of the Apache, and consists of a laser, TV camera and infrared sensor. The system is located under the chin of the helicopter and does all the hard work for you, pinpointing and identifying targets. Two other useful gadgets are the radar and infra-red jammers which serve to confuse enemy search and guidance systems for cannon and missiles. The drawback is that switching them on makes you more obvious - and enemy gunners have eye balls to track you with as a backup system. Cruder methods are also available to confuse the enemy electronics. Chaff is the nickname for the anti-radar system which launches thousands of strips of aluminium, causing lots of blips on radar screens Flares are simply lumps of magnesium that, burn at a high temperature, producing multiple targets for infra-red weapons to lock-on to. Missions are easily changed The first variable is the pilot, who can be replaced by a lowly sergeant. Pilots can also be loaded and saved. The second variable is the campaign. Next comes mission difficulty - regular, volunteer and volunteer hazardous duty. And there are even more options: easy or realistic settings on flying, landing and weather.: choice of opposition -third line yokels, second line reserve and front line shock troops; and equip ment quality - such as missiles and guns - depending on troop quality. Once you have choscn your mission you are given a briefing listing your primary and secondary objectives. These are targets that must be destroyed no matter how many others you hit. Intelligence information on troop and equipment quality is available, as well as a sick call option to chicken out. After ihat. you choose your weapons. The weight limit of the Apache is limited according to the weather. Make sure you have enough for fuel! Not so long ago the graphics on Gunship would be described as brilliant., and even after the Freescape system used in Diillei and Darkside they still rate very good Not only is there a true filled in view through the cockpit window, but you car. move this view around to see what's to the side and behind you. Occasionally, however, transparent hills mar this effect.
And there are even more options: easy or realistic settings on flying, landing and weather.: choice of opposition -third line yokels, second line reserve and front line shock troops; and equip ment quality - such as missiles and guns - depending on troop quality. Once you have choscn your mission you are given a briefing listing your primary and secondary objectives. These are targets that must be destroyed no matter how many others you hit. Intelligence information on troop and equipment quality is available, as well as a sick call option to chicken out. After ihat. you choose your weapons. The weight limit of the Apache is limited according to the weather. Make sure you ^ave enough for fuel! Not so long ago the graphics on Guns/jip would be described as brilliant., and even after the Freescape system used in Diillei and Darkside they still rate very good Not only is there a true filled in view through the cockpit window, but you car. move this view around to see what's to the side and behind you. Occasionally, however, transparent hills mar this effect. The sound is average, with a rotor racket that gets right under your skin. But enemy missile and radar lock on is announced by sound - a nice touch. Above all, you know when you're hit, 'cos the explosions are great. The most important skill in flying is balance. If you can balance the cyclic 'and collective controls, making sure the Apache's nose is pointing just so. then you've mastered flying. Getting to that stage is a challenge in itself. When you're there you can start to fathom combat flying and gunnery. Gunship is the simulator: nothing else comes close. I do feel, though, that the CPC implementation is not fully complete. Do the Warsaw Pact really paint their vehicles bright blue? And how come some cant be attacked, for no good reason? Then there's the hills, which appear so solid and then fade away for a few seconds Worst of all. in the box, along with the excellent manual, there s a little card telling you what's missing on the CPC version. For £15 or £20 you expect features to be added: what you don I expect is a cut down conversion. Vietnam is not referred to anywhere in the manual's text. Could this be anything to do with recent history, I wonder? Just a thought... First Day Target: Survive in 'South East Asia' PbM , AA |
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Page créée en 211 millisecondes et consultée 9325 fois L'Amstrad CPC est une machine 8 bits à base d'un Z80 à 4MHz. Le premier de la gamme fut le CPC 464 en 1984, équipé d'un lecteur de cassettes intégré il se plaçait en concurrent du Commodore C64 beaucoup plus compliqué à utiliser et plus cher. Ce fut un réel succès et sorti cette même années le CPC 664 équipé d'un lecteur de disquettes trois pouces intégré. Sa vie fut de courte durée puisqu'en 1985 il fut remplacé par le CPC 6128 qui était plus compact, plus soigné et surtout qui avait 128Ko de RAM au lieu de 64Ko. |
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