LHX Attack Chopper: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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'''''LHX Attack Chopper''''' is a combat [[helicopter]] [[vehicle simulation game|simulation game]] published by [[Electronic Arts]] in 1990. Development was led by [[Brent Iverson]], who later designed ''[[Chuck Yeager's Air Combat]]''. The game was released for MS-DOS and ported to the [[Sega Genesis|Mega Drive/Genesis]].

==Gameplay==

In addition to the [[Light Helicopter Experimental|LHX]] prototype scout-attack helicopter, the game includes two flyable US Army helicopters,{{snd}} the [[AH-64|AH-64A Apache]] and [[UH-60 Blackhawk]],{{snd}} and another prototype (as of 1990), a prototype [[MV-22 Osprey]] (which can actually switch between helicopter and airplane control modes), any of which may be deployed against Soviet-made ground and air military equipment in the three war theaters of Libya, Vietnam and Germany. Allied units are also available, but they do not actively join the fight, nor do the opposing units usually fire upon allied equipment, apart from specific escort missions where a [[Northrop B-2 Spirit|B-2 bomber]] or a couple of [[Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk|UH-60 helicopters]] tasked with [[Combat search and rescue|CSAR]] will enter into enemy air space. All missile-equipped units (both ground and air) have a limited number of shots, often matching the number of ready-to-fire missiles available in the real system. Land units do not move, but air units do.

[[Image:LHX Attack Chopper screenshot.png|thumb|left|The game interface for the LHX aircraft.]]

The player can play any campaign or mission in any preferred order, facing five different complexity levels, which will improve the enemy's [[situation awareness]], time of reaction and sheer number and quality of the fielded forces. Every completed mission will not affect the other missions or the campaign as a whole, and the player can run the same mission again regardless of its previous result. At the end of every mission, the player receives a mission debriefing describing the consequences of the success or failure, and a point counter will change depending on whether the primary target is completed, whether the pilot landed at an allied airfield and not just in friendly territory, and to a smaller extent on the number of other enemy forces destroyed in the process of reaching and returning from the target area.

At the debriefing, given the mission outcome, the pilot may receive different medals or a promotion up to Colonelcolonel rank. In case the player's helicopter exploded mid-air or crashed, the pilot will die, and the player career will end. If landing in enemy territory, different outcomes are available, with the pilot being captured or, killed or, escaped to friendly territory, or rescued by friendly forces.

==Reception==

A 1992 ''[[Computer Gaming World]]'' survey of wargames with modern settings gave the game two and a half stars out of five, stating that it had a "highly unrealistic flight model".<ref name="brooks199206">{{cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_95 | title=The Modern Games: 1950 - 20001950–2000 | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=June 1992 | issue=95 | accessdate=2019-06-22 | last1=Brooks | first1=M. Evan | page=[https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_95/page/n122 123] | issn=0744-6667}}</ref> A 1994 survey gave it two stars, stating that "it enjoyed more popular success than I thought it deserved".<ref name="brooks199401">{{cite magazine | last=Brooks | first=M. Evan | date=January 1994 | issue=114 | title=War In Our Time / A Survey Of Wargames From 1950-20001950–2000 | url=https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_114 | magazine=Computer Gaming World | page=[https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_114/page/n202 203] | issn=0744-6667}}</ref>

In 1994, ''[[PC Gamer US]]'' named ''LHX Attack Chopper'' the 29th best computer game ever. The editors wrote that "what the game lacks in graphic polish it more than makes up for with fast action".<ref name=pcgamerustop40>{{cite magazine | author=Staff | magazine=[[PC Gamer US]] | title=''PC Gamer'' Top 40: The Best Games of All Time | date=August 1994 | volume=1 | issue=3 | pages=35 | issn=1059-2180 | url=https://archive.org/details/PCGamer199408/page/n36 | access-date=2019-06-22}}</ref>