Whirlwind of Vietnam

[SFRT - Frenchy]

From 1C, any fun? (I don't like arcade flying much).

youtube game footage

[GtoRA2]

Looks interesting, I wonder if it is realistic.

[GtoRA2]

this review says it sucks.

[SFRT - Frenchy]

Seems like a lame review, this guy knowledge about combat sims probably extend to Ace Combat for Xbox.

Too difficult to fly, too hard to aim because no tracers and bullets kick dust, take a WHOLE 1min to reach the objective in x8 . I dig the flying part, mostly the navigation, I guess like in IL2 FB, part of the fun is navigating with terrain features to find the objectif.

What worries me is that there seems to be only 10 missions.

[GtoRA2]

Originally posted by SFRT - Frenchy
Seems like a lame review, this guy knowledge about combat sims probably extend to Ace Combat for Xbox.

Too difficult to fly, too hard to aim because no tracers and bullets kick dust, take a WHOLE 1min to reach the objective in x8 . I dig the flying part, mostly the navigation, I guess like in IL2 FB, part of the fun is navigating with terrain features to find the objectif.

What worries me is that there seems to be only 10 missions.

Yeah that was a big one for me, still I may try it if I can find it cheap, I have been wanting to try a decent heli sim.


P.S. Hows your car?

[McFarland]

Of course, you need a lot more guidance than this to feel comfortable at the helm of a helicopter. While the few hundred words dedicated to basic flying are enough to get you off the ground, this game is crying for an interactive tutorial of some sort. Even if you switch off a lot of the more treacherous chopper physics effects like air cushion and that dreaded vortex ring, you still need to go through loads of trial and error before figuring out how to keep your bird in the air and positioned correctly to fire rockets and riddle Charlie with bullets. Also, the keyboard controls are awkward, so you need a flight-sim joystick with a hat to have a good shot at becoming a Huey pro.

You can skip this piloting rigmarole and switch on an autopilot feature, but it has a couple of serious problems. For starters, sometimes it doesn't function properly. Switch it on and you might twirl in a circle, or you'll meander along your patrol route so oddly that you're moving sideways as much as you are forward. Second, switching on the autopilot removes the flight sim characteristics entirely and turns Whirlwind into a rail shooter. Missions mostly feature simplistic search-and-destroy patrols or hold-a-location objectives to protect ground troops. So with the autopilot on, all you do is gun down Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army regulars on the ground with your Huey's two side miniguns and watch air support light up the jungle with napalm.

Even this isn't as entertaining as it could be. Missions are long, drawn-out affairs where you spend much of your time flying from one location to another, so if you're not sitting in the pilot's or copilot's seat, you generally don't have a whole lot to do. Fast-forwarding is available, and it does help some, although even at 8x it can take a minute or more to get from one point of interest to another. And just like with the autopilot, sometimes it doesn't seem to work. Crank the FF up all the way and you do nothing but crawl along the patrol route on some occasions, a problem that can't be fixed without reloading the mission. Also, shooting the minicannon is tough because bullets leave no tracers for your eye to follow. As you're generally some distance away from your targets, it can be really hard to aim; moreover, your bullets always seem to kick up sand or water when they hit terra firma.

Performance problems also make the game tougher than a tour of duty in Ia Drang. Sometimes, the game just doesn't want to load. It will appear to start fine, but then the splash screen disappears and you're left on the Windows desktop and forced to shut down the WV.com process manually before making a second try. On other occasions, it boots perfectly. Loading times are spectacularly long. Missions take two to three minutes to load, and the progress bar typically doesn't move from its starting point for the first 30 seconds or so, leading you to believe that the game has crashed. The look of levels isn't worth the wait, either. Choppers are impressive in flight but jaggy, the Vietnamese jungle terrain is a mostly uniform blurry green, yet despite this you've got to dial down a lot of the visual settings on a midrange machine to get acceptable frame rates. Only nifty napalm flame effects and smoke give the game a Nam look, although both of these effects murder the frame rate. Well-acted and varied radio commentary from pilots brings the game's audio effects to life, at least, although the constant braap-braap of chopper guns is thin and annoying.

By Brett Impatient Todd

Sounds like a much faster paced Aces High in Vietnam with only helicopters. This guy hasn't played a real air combat sim, he's probably never heard of Aces High.

[Russian]

http://www.simhq.com/_air10/air_292a.html

Here's a proper review.

[VOR]

I passed on it at bargain bin prices after reading some reviews. Looks like it had potential but didn't make it.

[Fulmar]

Here's the conclusion from that 2nd linked review

"Conclusions

Wow on WOV. I have never said this about any simulation, until now: If it were me, I would be ashamed to have this product out there for sale and actually collect people's money for it. It is unfinished beyond words. A typical demo is better than this. Does it have it's good points? Sure. The potential is there, and maybe not all that far away from being realized. But for whatever reason, the decision was made to kick it out the door and call it done. It ain't done, ain't baked, don't try to stick a fork in it. Will it get better with several major patches? I don't know, after this, I can't see the team devoting any resources to it. We shall see.

And now you know the relevance of my On the Waterfront quote. It could have been something. It could have been a simulation contender, maybe even alongside LB2 or EECH. Instead, it's a bum.

Save your money boys and girls. I hear On the Waterfront DVD's are on sale and Marlon delivers those lines like no one else."

[GtoRA2]

Conclusions

  Wow on WOV. I have never said this about any simulation, until now: If it were me, I would be ashamed to have this product out there for sale and actually collect people's money for it. It is unfinished beyond words. A typical demo is better than this. Does it have it's good points? Sure. The potential is there, and maybe not all that far away from being realized. But for whatever reason, the decision was made to kick it out the door and call it done. It ain't done, ain't baked, don't try to stick a fork in it. Will it get better with several major patches? I don't know, after this, I can't see the team devoting any resources to it. We shall see.

And now you know the relevance of my On the Waterfront quote. It could have been something. It could have been a simulation contender, maybe even alongside LB2 or EECH. Instead, it's a bum.

Save your money boys and girls. I hear On the Waterfront DVD's are on sale and Marlon delivers those lines like no one else.

Well that says it all doesnt it.

[Bluedog]

I have a copy.

As far as a game goes, it sux. It is dull, boring and repetitive.

However, it IS a good UH-1 sim in my opinion.
There wasnt really a whole lot that Hueys did except fly from A to B and back again, mebbe with a quick firing run over B if you are lucky.
It handles pretty much how you would expect a Huey to handle.....like a slightly underpowered brick.

If you see it for $5 in a bargain bin, it is probably worth getting if you are really into Hueys, but for everyone else,  leave it at the store, it really doesnt have much going for it.

A bit sad really, as I had high expectations when i first learned of this game, and I am one of those thats gets enjoyment just from flying about randomly in a Huey, but the "finished" game really doesnt live up to what it could have been.

[Rino]

Not sure about the game, but the vox in the video makes me want to
puke.  Inane useless chatter anyone?

[SFRT - Frenchy]

Thx for the link, I'll pass. Although most of us wait for a good vietnam flight sim, it seems to be one of the hardest to produce, especially an helicopter one.