It's been a long time coming but finally a really sensational helicopter simulation has arrived - well almost, it should be released about now. In the past, many a programmer has tried to master what is perhaps the trickiest form of flight, usually with mixed results.

In the case of Thunderhawk, Core Design have produced what many a flight sim fanatic has been waiting for: a playable, and more importantly a believable, chopper simulation. Probably the best comparison to Thunderhawk is the Electronic Arts classic Intercepter which never claimed to be the ultimate in realism but is one of the most enthralling action sims on the market.

The comparison between Thunderhawk and Intercepter is mainly inspired by their similar approach to gameplay. As a result Thunderhawk isn't for the aeronautical purists, but if you want action, excitement and a real feeling of being in the cockpit, it's breathtaking.

The key to the program's success is its excellent mouse driven controls. In the past, control of the chopper has been the element which let down some otherwise excellent programs. In Thunderhawk the three essential elements which make up the control of any whirly bird are condensed, along with other commands, to a series of simple click-and-drag combinations.

For example, the first element of chopper control is the collective, which basically refers to the angle of attack adopted by the rotors; the steeper the blade angle, the greater the lift.

Within the sim it's controlled by clicking the right button and dragging the mouse up and down. The part of the equation is the cyclic which acts just like the joystick on a normal sim. This particular bit of manoeuvring doesn't require any buttons, just a steady hand and some gentle adjustment.

The final part is the anti-torque rotor controls which on a real chopper are at your feet but in the sim are adjusted by holding down the RMB, while the mouse is pushed either left or right to spin the machine on its axis.

So, when all of the above are combined a take off would mean holding down the right button and push forward to get some vertical lift. Next, a second click and a drag to the right would spin the machine a full 360 degrees so you could spot any possible bandits. Lastly, a gentle push forwards dips the nose and you're on your way to the next objective.

Once on the move you can double click to flick through the weapons and select your targets, all without a single keypress. If you happen to be a keyboard person the option to fly without your furless friend will be incorporated into the finished version.

0K, I know it sounds complicated but it really isn't that bad, and when the subtle controls are combined with perhaps the smoothest graphics on any sim, the effect is excellent.

So what's it all about? Well, to say the Gulf War influence is strong would be a bit of an understatemt. The Apache's part in that conflict has not gone unnoticed, although your ship is supposed to be the next generation machine.

The game revolves around six campaigns each of which takes place in seperate theatres of operation, such as the Middle East, Asia, Russia and so on. The campaigns consist of a series of missions and your success in each of these is important. Once a campaign is secured you receive orders and it's off to the next war-torn part of the planet to deal out a bit more death and destruction.

The various missions and campaigns combine to make up a total of about 60 different scenarios. As you progress the tactical element grows, and to complete a campaign a little brain-power will need to be added to the awesome fire-power of your ship.

Each mission has a predefined set of objectives which can be tackled in any order, but if you re to proceed all mission objectives must be met. The usual familiar flight sim elements are used such as head up display, electronic counter measures, multi-display radar, and just about every aeronautical acronym you can think of, most of which require the odd click on the keyboard to activate or adjust.

Unlike Intercepter, Thunderhawk is awash with little extras which add to the involvement and atmosphere. For example, you have your very own Stormin' Norman who, for reasons of security, is known as jack. At the beginning of each mission good old Jack gives you the low down on the next objective as well as a reasonable helping of some rather dated cold war rhetoric, such as: "Those dirty pinko Russkis are at it again Bub. You've gotta get up there and kick their ass".

After old Stormin', it's off to the briefing room where you get the complete picture of the next mission. This is my favourite silly bit, complete with a Star Wars style attack briefing which is piped up on the main screen and occasionally punctuated with essential bits of info from the boss.

Once all the necessary mission selections are complete there's an armament scene where you can experiment with your own flair for ordnance. After a couple more scene setting animation sequences you finally take to the skies.

As soon as you become one with your machine and its radically different controls it's time to find the enemy. Unlike most sims Thunderhawk doesn't insist on the usual 10 minute flight before you see your first opponent.

Things usually happen pretty fast. With flax and tracer flying up from the ground and enemy gunships closing in for the kill, you have to duck the radar, avoid the bullets and still destroy your objective - whether that be a convoy, an airbase, a radar installation or any one of the many possible targets in the campaign.

'Sir, Thunderhawk has been undergoing test flights and the findings are outlined below. The opinion of all test pilots is unanimous, this bird was born to fly. There's one thing all Amiga-based airforces will want to know before procurement takes place though: does it clip the wings of MicoProse's Apache Gunship?

Rotary club
Once you take a look at the spec, it becomes obvious this is not a real aircraft, but has been built by the programmer (Mac Avery) as a combination of both current design and projected military technology. It's a fictional helicopter that must fly realistic missions in a bid to hold together a fragile peace.

Flying 10 themed missions in six scenarios, the Thunderhawk has to live up to its billing as a multi-talented attack chopper. Its roles encompass that of bomber, rescue craft, flying missile platform and submarine killer. Each campaign starts out as a single mission which opens a 10-flight story: a tale you have to see right through to the end.

As each mission unfolds the pressure is slowly upped. Raids go deeper into enemy territory, new information alters your objectives and retributive strikes turn simple missions into a hardware hell.

Collective responsibility
The control system of a chopper defies accurate simulation: the cyclic joystick and collective are two totally separate systems which traditional methods just can't mimic effectively. This is where Thunderhawk's triumph card is played. It uses a custom system that pushes chopper sims further than ever before, by uniting all the disparate elements of helicopter control into a single mouse system which adds to the accuracy and playability.

With a crafty combination of button clicks and holds, the helicopter can be flown almost entirely via the mouse. The keyboard commands that remain are for chaff, flares and the 'toggleable' systems, such as night sights. The main guidance comes from the mouse so there's always a free hand available to stab at the necessary keys when the missiles start to rip. Effective control is never lost as hands transfer from joystick to keypad. Panic, when under fire remains the only problem.

The weapon systems need practice before they can be used effectively, and many Thunderhawks will tumble before it's mastered. Competence comes quickly and then the game changes from a futuristic helicopter simulation to a deadly battle for survival.

Thunderhawk is all about action: a non-stop shooting war where there are only the quick and the dead. Missile batteries have to be blasted or avoided, radars ducked or destroyed, while fighter planes and hunter-killer helicopters of the opposition prowl.

Using the mouse, the Thunderhawk soars smoothly with a reassuringly realistic lag between command and response - a factor good Thunderhawk pilots will quickly assimilate and build into their flying technique. Flexible and fast, the mouse system allows a thorough exploration of the helicopter flight experience, which is just as well because the 60 missions test the Thunderhawk well outside its performance enveloppe.

Slick stuff
Any flight simulation has a limited appeal if the world it inhabits presents no threat or challenge. Thunderhawk doesn't suffer here, if anything it overdoses on action. You've hardly time to orientate yourself on the first flight before unpleasant things start hitting the fan. Unpleasant things like anti-aircraft fire and missiles, the fan being your rotor blades.

Slick polygon work and graphic effects ensure that the feel of flight is dramatically retold. Rolling smoothly with every command the world can quickly become a swirling mass of HUD lines and hills if concentration and control is lost. Yet even when the deadly yellow triple-A fire pierces the night sky, and you're using the night-sight, everything remains clear. The HUD and computer-control screens relay flight information calmly, readable at a glance, just the way they should.

The polygons used to create the actual world over which Thunderhawk hovers are solidly constructed and move well. Mountains and vehicles are nothing new, but the effects are. Explosions are a swirling sphere of stippled red and yellow spots, that fade to grey when the fire burns out. A small effect but it adds vastly to the realisation of the situation.

The atmosphere is usually supplied by the craft it copies, but Thunderhawk, being an object of fantasy, has to build and maintain its own mystique. The clever animated briefings and reports that fall between each mission help to establish a mythos. There's even a cartoon intro sequence explaining the unit's inception, a dressing that only arcades or adventures have had to date.
This package is a complete one, establishing Thunderhawk as the hybrid it really is.

Really?
The biggest problem is that it plays for keeps and it plays fast. There's no flying to-and-from missions, you're delivered within striking distance at the start. So, good pilots will find themselves progressing rapidly through the 60 missions simply because each sortie tends to be a short, swift exercise; a factor which limits lesser pilots' progress.

Reality fans may claim Thunderhawk lacks 'serious military credibility'. This is a mistake: sure, everything isn't accurate down to the last rivet, but in terms of playability and speed it's leagues ahead. Gunship now looks its age and can't hope to match state-of-the-art 1991 3D work. If there is one thing that hasn't been simulated, though, it's any flaws. Even the best modern technology has at least one foible - a 'flight characteristic' - that has to be worked around, but Thunderhawk has none.

Thunderhawk creates a thrilling 3D environment, filled to the brim with bullets, blasting and battles. Its unique control system promotes fast learning and allows the game itself to start at a sprint. Trick flying and quick firing are the only routes to survival from the word go. Segmented well with animated briefings, each campaign is a story that you create with brave deeds and hot flying.

Dawn breaks over the Bolivian rainforests, and a truck makes its way along the dusty track that passes for a road in these parts. The driver whistles a cheerful tune, but stops as his co-driver taps him on the shoulder. He thought he heard something, but shrugs and returns to his newspaper.

Suddenly, with a deafening roar and a blast of wind, a helicopter gunship appears from below the horizon directly in front of the truck. The driver swerves as a volley of 30mm shells pound into the ground around him. The windscreen shatters, the tyres are shredded, the radiator bursts. Then, inexplicably, just as all seems lost, the helicopter wobbles about a bit and crashes into the ground.

If you thought planes were a tricky proposition, you ought to try flying a helicopter. Blimey it's hard. Far too hard for you and me to manage certainly - and that's before you throw us into a combat-type situation. Happily, that's just the problem Core Design have tried to address in Thunderhawk, which is being billed as 'more of an arcade game than a boring flight sim'.

This means no long flights with nothing happening for ages, no constantly worrying about running out of weapons and fuel and, most importantly, no horrible keys to wrestle with when you ought to be concentrating on flying.

THE HELICOPTER SIM THAT ISN'T
Instead. Thunderhawk has been pared down to the vary minimum necessary to get a flight sim off the ground (as it were), with the emphasis placed on fast, slick graphics and plenty of action. And boy, are those graphics fast and slick. In fact, they're probably the fastest, slickest 3D graphics ever to hit the Amiga (although I wouldn't stake my reputation on it).

There's no cheating either, so you won't see landmasses suddenly appearing out of nowhere (sorry, F29 Retaliator), or mountains that look more like chunks of Toblerone (eh, F-15 Strike Eagle II?).

You won't catch Thunderhawk skimping on 'views' either. As well as the standard cockpit view, you can also do an external view from all possible angles (including underneath, which is a bit scary), a view from the current target looking up at your helicopter, and - best of all - a view from your weapons as they speed to their target. This last one really is a corker - much better than F-15 II's half-hearted effort

Travelling in a helicopter is one thing; travelling on the front of a guided air-to-ground missile as it leaves the launch pod, streaks down to ground level and hugs the terrain while homing in on its target is something else altogether. Following a machine gun shell to its target is better still.

Thinking of targets, that's one thing Thunderhawk provides plenty of. As soon as you arrive on the battlefield the screen fills up with missile locks, so all you have got to do is pick a weapon (there's one for all occasions, from bombs to air-to-air missiles) and fire away.

Once hit, the enemy erupts into a shower of sparks and catches fire, with a column of smoke rising to mark its final resting place. All this is accompanied by some throaty explosions and things - once again some of the best on the Amiga.

So it looks like the mission objective of a flight sim without the 'sim' has been achieved. Thunderhawk is, it has to be said, hugely enjoyable to play.

Just because it's fun though, doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be easy. Most of the normal flight sim elements have been sneaked in somehow, such as head up displays, radar jammers and chaff dispensers (for distracting enemy missiles), but not so that they intrude.

The inescapable link sequences are all there too. As well as the animated intro, which comes on a whole disk on its own, there are scenario and mission briefing which go on for ages and contain some convincing film clips to explain your mission objective. They're great the first couple of times, but, well, ahem.

COMING BACK DOWN TO EARTH
And now, after heaping all that praise on the game, I hope you'll bear with me while I have a bit of a go at it. Don't get me wrong - I think it's an absolutely brilliant game and everything - but there's just one aspect I'm not entirely happy with.
It's the control system.

Much has been made of the way all Thunderhawk's controls have all been crammed onto the mouse, keeping the keyboard out of the arena for most of the time to maintain the game's 'arcade feel'. All very well, but I reckon they've gone a little too far.

Putting the cyclic under the mouse control is fair enough, as is using the left button to fire off weapons. But to alter the collective (check out the 'Helicopters' box if you're not sure what I'm on about) you've got to hold down the right button and move the mouse up and down.

It just doesn't work, believe me, especially when you consider that the right button is also your weapons select control, and the program never seems quite sure which function you're after. And then, on top of all that, there's the 'rotation' control, which only comes in to play at low speeds, and again when you press the right button, I reckon they'd have done a lot better to have forsaken their 'arcade feel' in this instance and put the collective controls at the very least on the keyboard, and maybe the rotation control as well.

There's another thing too, while I'm at it. Again, presumably as part of Core's drive towards an arcade game, you can only tip your helicopter up to about 15 degrees in any direction. This is fine for everyday flying around, and means you won't find yourself going into any fatal powerdrives or sideslips, but it's pretty annoying to have your chopper hovering just in front of a big, juicy target but being unable to take it out because it's just below where the program says you're allowed to aim your guns.

But enough of this fuming and ranting - I'd hate you to get the wrong idea. Thunderhawk really is a jolly impressive game, and one that continues to be fun to play even once you've explored all its possibilities over and over again. I'd hesitate to call it the best flight sim ever, simply because it isn't really one, but if it was it definitely would be.

Um, hang on, I'll try that again. If you took F-15 II's, erm, 'simulation-ness' and sellotaped it onto Thunderhawk's everything else, then you'd have the best flight sim ever. What we've got instead is the best not-quite-a-flight-sim ever, and a cracking way to spend 30 quid. Got it?

If you're a person who thinks that yokes belong with eggs and a turbo-prop is an old biddies go-faster walking stick, chances are you've never played a flight sim. Most people are put off computer flight games after taking a look at the hugely complicated controls and incomprehensible manual jargon. Thunderhawk from Derby-based Core Design attempts to break this mould with a mix of slick graphics and a simple control method.

Thunderhawk is based around a crack American helicopter team of the future who are kitted out with all the latest ass-kicking hardware. Their job is to right wrongs, kick dictators where it hurts and battle for truth, justice, glory and mom's homemade apple pie.

On loading you receive an excellent animated intro with the President of the USA informing his chief advisor that the forces of evil are at work, and that it's got to be sorted. So it comes down to you and your Thunderhawk colleagues to rid the world of moustachioed despots through a series of into foreign countries.

The missions are divided into six groups of ten. Each of the six campaigns have an overall objective such as rescuing a Russian double or attacking drug barons in Latin America. The sub missions all contribute to the success of the campaign. In the rescue mission communication centres have to be knocked out, raids have to be executed against enemy strong-points to confuse them as to your overall objective, and a Chinook helicopter has to be escorted to the battlefield to make a dummy pick-up, confusing the Russians even further.

Each mission starts with a briefing from your commander-in-chief, who tells you what needs to be done and why. Then it's on to the planning room where you get a run through of the mission in true home movie style, complete with flickering projector.

After sussing out the mission, its onto the arming screen. Tooling up with really hard weapons is simple. Select the weapon you want, then click on the pylon where you want to install it. Most of the time a mixed payload is acceptable, but some weapons, such as bombs, have to be carried in pairs as a 1,000 pound bomb strapped to just one wing doesn't do the helicopter much good.

Because Thunderhawk is set in the future, its programmers have been able to take slight liberties with the weapons. The AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles which are currently used by the USAF have been upgraded to AIM l0B and AIM-11F models, which are lighter and more powerful. Up to 188 unguided FFARs (Folding Fin Aerial Rockets) can be carried at one time or 46 Firestorm laser guided missiles. Other weapons include depth charges, fire and forget air-to-ground missiles, 500 and 1000 pound bombs, MWAR unguided missiles which spilt into four small warheads before hitting their targets, SMARM radar seeking missiles, anti-runway weapon, Penguin air-to-ship missiles and a 30mm cannon.

Most of the weapons are based on actual equipment used by airforces today, although those in Thunderhawk have been redesigned to be smaller so more can be carried.

The control system is very simple. The mouse is used to fly the 'copter, select and fire its weapons, alter the engines' power and designate targets. The left button is used to fire weapons while the right one is used to select them. Holding the right but ton down, then moving the mouse forward or back, increases and decreases the power while pressing both buttons together changes targets. The keyboard is used only to launch flares, chaff and switch jammers on and off. Initially it seems a lot crammed on to the mouse, but once you can remember what's what this turns out to be one of the most simple, but effective control systems on any Amiga flight sim.

Attention to detail is incredible. As enemy jets come in slow to pick you off with their cannons and turn to fly away, their engines glow as the reheats are switched on. Drop a depth charge into the ocean and there's a splash as it hits the water and a further, larger, splash as it goes off.

Enemy bullets can be seen as they streak towards you, a rare occurrence in any flight sim. Most of the extras aren't noticeable at first, but help give the game far more depth.

The enemy come in all shapes and sizes. Surface-to-air missile batteries are a constant hazard, but they show up on radar and can be circumnavigated. Optically guided flak guns, however, don't show up on any of your instruments. The first you know about them is when they open up with their 57mm cannons. Missiles can be jammed, or decoyed with flares or chaff, but this isn't guaranteed to stop them as the operators have visual guidance systems for backup. Your helicopter can only sustain limited damage, and, as the hits build up, bits start going. The radar jammers are usually the first thing to go wrong, followed by the avionics and the machine gun. If the wings get blown off you lose all the weapons that were stored on them, and too many head-on impacts results in bullet holes in the canopy and knackered instruments.

Throughout its development, Thunderhawk has been geared towards action, and it shows. There's plenty to kill and avoid, the missions are varied and it's very easy to play. This is without a doubt the best helicopter simulation to hit Amiga, you'd be mad to miss it.

So the American army needs another ace supremo, hot dog commander, top gun, ninja pilot (um... you, in fact) to pilot their ace supremo (etc) helicopter on a variety of campaigns over enemy terrain. The enemies and their terrain present a good cross-section of world culture: Eastern Europe (Russkies), Alaska (more Russkies), Middle East (Arabs), Latin America (Cubans), South East Asia (Russkies?) and Northern Europe (marauding bands of backpacking Swedish tourists)..

Each campaign is split into ten missions, each one contributing to the overall success of the campaign. So if you get a gold star for nine out of ten missions but a 'quack quack oops' for the remaining one, the entire operation may well be scuppered.

You get a quick cine-film briefing, followed-by a brief stop-over at the ammo hanger to stock up on phallic symbols for your chopper, and then - whoosh! - out into the battlezone.
Well... actually, it's more like 'hmm... out into the battlezone, as your helicopter takes off about as sedately as is humanly possible bar actually falling asleep. But that's just the lull before the storm. Witness: MiG, SAMs, gunships, subs, Apaches, Chinooks, mountains, bridges, etc etc etc.

Macca: There are flight sims and there are flight sims. Some will have you know that the maximum firing range of an SA-14 shoulder-launched SAM is 16 kilometres or that a MiG-29 has two Tumansky R-33D Turbofans providing 36,000 lbs thrust.

Whereas the others will just present you with a fire button, some missiles and a few enemies with 'Kill Us - We're Polygons' written on them. Thunderhawk is one of the latter. It does away with all the difficult knobs, dials and buttons and leaves you with just a weapons sight, HUD and a radar (which is all you need, frankly).

Thunderhawk's greatest feature - this simplicity - is also its first stumbling block. Everything is controlled, rather smugly, with the mouse. Mouse movements control thrust and direction, while the buttons operate the weapons and radar. And of course, since no one understands the logistics of helicopters (because they're so silly) you will try to fly the chopper like a Fokker (i.e. a plane).

Many collisions with that old faithful - the friendly hangar - will follow, then you'll progress to fatal crashes into that old chestnut, the ground. Where would flight sims be without these two stalwarts, eh?

Soon enough, you realise that the tail rotor is very important for getting about - and also for swiveling on the spot. Hovering is a good tactic if you want to realise the enormity of your situation. A quick panorama of the landscape usually reveals about six MiGs, two SAMs, and a couple of A-10s - all converging on you at an alarming pace.

And it's that alarming, exciting, perturbing - call it what you want as long as it means a bit nippy - pace which makes Thunderhawk stand out. As we all know, a sim without speed is like a toilet without ceramics - a pile of old jobs, PC flight sims usually lose speed in transit to the Amiga, but luckily Thunderhawk, being penned on the Amiga has got speed.

The vector landscape chops and turns at a fair old pace, as do the ground objects, and there's an impressive range (81,000 possible) of external views.

Of course, for such a breakneck pace and a fast war some detail has to be sacrificed. Landmarks are kept to your base targets and the odd mountain. Aerial objects are all recognizable, if a little dull, although the Chinook looks exactly like a flying fish shop counter.

So what has Thunderhawk got that the other sims haven't got? Well, it's in a helicopter - and that's a new 'experience' for a start. There's no laborious flights between targets - everything is condensed into a small war theatre. So there is basically no respite from the actions. And because the game's so fast, you have to be especially on your toes. The missions are also more imaginative than most - acting as a deccy for a defecting Russian scientist or protecting a Gulf oil field from submarine and gunship attack.

But Thunderhawk's big asset is that it plays like a dream. Fast, Addictive, Uncomplicated.
Oh, and F-14D Tomcat has two Pratt & Whitney TF30-412A turbo-fans for 41,800 lbs thrust, by the way.