Review: Air Missions: Hind
Air Missions: HIND is an action combat flight simulator based on the Russian Mi-24 Hind assault helicopter, also known as the ‘Flying Tank’, and covers fifteen missions based on fictional conflicts across four different environments: Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Arctic Ocean and Southeast Asia.
Taking advantage of the tutorial section (a must for anyone playing the game) I soon became aware of how demanding this game is on doing everything ‘right’, to the point that it took me quite a while to even land a helicopter without crashing and burning!
However, the tutorial is a great starting point to get the hang of the basic flying and firing controls which have a wealth of weapons at your disposal. It also looks far better than I was expecting too, with a palpable sense of “being there” as you whip across various landscapes dealing death and destruction to all that get in your way.
The graphic fidelity lowers as you get closer to the ground, but seeing as much of your combat has you concentrating on other moving objects, it is something that isn’t really a problem (I play exclusively in handheld mode on my Switch).
There are three control modes for casual and experienced players and I have to admit that I stuck to casual throughout, with even that difficulty giving me some problems at times. Probably due to my ageing reflexes and eyesight, but be aware that this isn’t a game that can be easily completed unless you take the time to acquire the relevant in-game flying skills.
Gameplay options include single player and multiplayer modes, including campaign missions, deathmatch, instant action, and online co-operative missions, all of which are easily accessible through the menu system.
Your helicopters can be customised with different skins and weapon sets depending on the mission parameters and goals, while you can also can switch between a simulation style first person cockpit view, gunners seat view or external third person view, each giving their own particular adrenaline rush while in combat.
Air Missions: Hind is a great alternative to the multitude of other air combat games available and certainly rewards the time you put in it to become adapt at piloting your helicopter.
Review by Dave.
