Gunship 2000

Game review

Flight simulators from the 90's are still very popular even today, so is the game Gunship 2000, which is a simulator of combat helicopters from company MicroProse. In the game you can flight several helicopters: Apache, the new Longbow Apache, The Blackhawk, Comanche Scout, Comanche Gunship, or the MD-500 Defender. You gain access to the helicopters gradually as you progress and gain more ranks, you can use even more helicopters per mission. Your team proceed with you and gradually is getting stronger and gaining more experience. The game has a great diversity of missions and does not become as quickly bored, also night missions are done very nicely. Helicopters are equipped with various weapons such as Hellfire missiles, anti-radar missiles and rotary machine guns on the sides.

When playing the campaign, the player is dynamically promoted and rewarded with medals according to his performance, efficiency, heroism and the number of injuries in battles. In each mission in the campaign, in addition to the primary one, you must also complete the secondary objective of the mission. In addition to the destruction of various types of ground, air and helicopter equipment of the enemy, the goal of the mission may also be to pick up a downed pilot, drop cargo, or explore a specific part of the landscape. Accordingly, the player can choose the type of armament and the amount of fuel. As for fuel, there is a system of friendly supply bases, from which it is possible, in case of emergency, to refuel and replenish ammunition.

Player has a profile, can choose their combat theatre, and play in single missions or a campaign. The primary similarity was the randomly generated 'primary-secondary' mission types where the player was given a primary mission (destroy a target / pickup or drop off troops or cargo / recon an objective) and a less valuable secondary objective that included the same kind of tasks as a primary. Initially the player flies a lone helicopter to complete missions, choosing between AH-1 Cobra, AH-64 Apache, OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, MD 530MG and UH-60 Blackhawk. As the player's rank increased, the RAH-66 Comanche and the AH-64B Apache Longbow were unlocked (the 'B' designation is due to the game being designed before the Longbow Apache was in service as the 'D' model). Using less powerful helicopters resulted in a higher mission score, though this had to be balanced with the likelihood of having enough fuel/weapons to complete the mission. 

The terrain modelling is much more advanced than in the original Gunship, with desert wadis and twisting ridgelines being well represented (this is very important for simulating helicopter combat, as cover using terrain is one of the primary tactics). The game has two primary theatres: the Middle East and Europe. Micropose was unable to made a serie out Gunship, the sequel release in 2000 was not good. The fans turned to Jane's Longbow as it was close in spirit to the original Gunship games.