Game Review
Gunship is a combat flight simulator created by MicroProse Software and released initially for the Commodore 64 in 1986. Later it was ported to PC, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, and other platforms.
The Amiga version was released in 1989, while the Mega Drive version by US Gold arrived in 1993. The game, that initially was not supposed to be military combat simulator, allows you to pilot the famous helicopter AH-64A Apache. Missions include scenarios in Middle East, South-East Asia, Central America, and Europe.
The title was a success, both in terms of sales and in terms of magazines reviews. Many considered it the best combat flight sim available at that time. Gunship was followed by Gunship 2000 in 1991.
Review by: GN Team
Published: 30 September 2021 7:35 pm
Users Reviews
Gunship ... masterpiece of the prestigious "Microsoft". Yet another, it would be said ... as the US software house of simulators has produced an impressive quantity and practically on all computers starting from the ATARI 800 up to modern PCs passing through the whole series of Commodore computers.
The game includes a training area (very useful), you can try your hand at the use of various weapons, you can experiment with the tactics of approaching the enemy and of course the complete study of the helicopter avionics, which the simulation proposes to us. to drive!
The training phase, I highly recommend it without snubbing it too much, because when you then go face to face with the enemy, in the various areas of the world, you can be sure that only perfect training can lead you to success in your missions.
The various regions in which we will be able to fight roughly are those now known as typical cold war scenarios, such as Central Europe, then the Middle East, the Far East and finally the guerrilla warfare in Central America.
The helicopter that we will have to fly is the famous AH 64, better known as "Apache". In real life, we have seen him at work in many films of war correspondents from various hot fronts who, unfortunately, are still sadly in the limelight today. For example, we can remember its use in the first Gulf War, on the occasion of the "Desert Storm" operation.
Our helicopter was conceived as a weapon to be used mainly as an anti-tank vehicle. In fact, it has wire-guided missiles capable of destroying enemy armored vehicles from a great distance. However, the "Apache" can carry several other weapons, such as unguided rockets, anti-aircraft missiles to be used against enemy helicopters, and of course the 30mm cannon capable of annihilating everything at short range. There is also a complete set of defensive systems, able to protect the vehicle from enemy anti-aircraft attacks.
It must immediately be said that the enemy is no less, especially in the scenarios of the Middle East and even more so in the Central European sector, our adversaries will be full of anti-aircraft systems that are just waiting to shoot us down. These are both anti-aircraft artillery systems with radar targeting, anti-aircraft artillery with optical targeting and finally a whole series of highly sophisticated missiles. And this is why the training phase is important. We need to learn what our strengths are and which are the enemy's weak ones, to make the most of them.
But it will also be necessary to learn to read the map well, identifying the enemy is important, but it is equally vital to know the terrain well, which could be our precious ally. When the situation begins to get complicated, there is nothing better than getting to ground level by hiding behind a hill, then setting off again and maybe ambushing the enemy!
Generally the various missions are composed of two objectives, one main and the other secondary. Obviously, hitting other enemy forces hard can help us reach various awards, such as ... citations ... advancement of ranks and even medals ... These awards will take into account the difficulty we have chosen; the degree of realism in the flight of our helicopter and the efficiency of the enemy forces. The higher these factors are, the faster recognition can be achieved. But remember that with high realism factors, risk factors are also high ... so try to judge your abilities correctly before taking risks!
The missions also have a factor that takes into account how long it takes to reach the objectives, this time is about 20 minutes, after this time you can still fly to complete the missions, but the score will tend to decrease according to how long spend more than 20 minutes. This is because, in completing the missions, it is possible to return to your base, repair the damage, refuel and leave again.
Unfortunately, the missions are an end in themselves, in the sense that the concept of "dynamic campaign" did not exist at the time of this game's release. That is, the development of the campaign which is not fixed, but which evolves according to how you complete your missions. Unfortunately this will be a concept that will come out with another Microprose product ... namely "Falcon 4", but only in 1998!
This should be the game in general, it remains to say that several versions of "Gunship" came out, in addition to the one for the Amiga, the one for the Atari st and the Commodore 64/128 also came out.
In the Amiga version, downloaded from "Gamenostalgia", there would be only a small problem ... That is that the built-in emulator works ... too fast, a method would be needed to slow down the action, otherwise too frenetic ...
Review by: Maurizio Petta
Published: 11 July 2022 3:14 am
Review by: GN Team
Review by: Maurizio Petta
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