WHAT'S
HOT
The same people that brought us GTS Racing Challenge
have developed Hellfire: Apache vs. Hind. The game has 16 missions,
real time 3D graphics, and dynamic sound effects. You have a choice
between two superpowers and four levels of difficulty. That translates
into a lot of game play. The levels become increasingly harder
as you progress because in each level you encounter more and more enemies.
Can you handle the pressure?
SETUP
There is no need to go into specifics since the
setup was pretty simple. Once the game is installed, you have
the option to enter an unlock code based on your device's user name.
If you do not have an unlock code, the game will play in demo mode,
which is basically a stripped version of the full game.
PROGRAM
FEATURES
The graphics are awesome right from the time you launch the game, until the very end. Tapping the opening screen with your stylus directs you to the game mode screen, where you can choose which type of game you want to play.
As you can see there are many options. I suggest choosing "Trial" first, so you can get a feel for how the game plays. Once you have learned the skills needed to play the game, try flying a campaign or a mission. In campaign mode, the objective is to complete a series of operations. In the missions mode you will be taken through several different areas to complete your objectives.
Once you have chosen the type of game you would like to play, you will be taken to another screen where you will be able to select your rank. Sergeant is the easiest rank, and Colonel is the hardest.
After choosing a difficulty level, you will be directed to a screen where you can select which of the two superpowers you want to be. You can choose between the USA and the USSR.
Depending on which of the two superpowers you select, you will be shown one of the screens pictured above. These screens provide you with information about your helicopter and it's weapons. Tapping "Accept" will take you to an overview of the mission.
From here you can scroll through your objectives by tapping the up or down icons on the left side of the screen. Once you know your objectives select "Play," and have some fun.
The game begins with you hovering over your base. For a brief moment, the first objective will be flashed on the screen. Read it and head out.
Once you have completed all the objectives, the game will let you know that your mission is complete.
You will then be debriefed. The debriefing let's you know how long the mission took, the amount of enemies killed, and the amount of men that were rescued.
HELP
SUPPORT
Unfortunately, if you need help, you will
have to go to the Astraware website. Once you get to the website
you will see a very limited, two topic, support
section. I found the lack of help to be a little frustrating,
especially since I had some problems early on. If there was some
sort of help support, or even a section to inform users of known problems,
I would have been able to determine the cause of the problem.
In addition, you can email Astraware's support. They promptly returned my email, and addressed the issues I had.
OPTIONS
By tapping the screen, you can pause the
game and access game options during play.
You will be given options to quit the game, change game settings, or change the controls.
If you decide to quite, you will be prompted with a screen asking you if you really want to abandon the mission. I like this because sometimes I am a little careless and accidentally select options I really didn't mean to select.
One of the great features of Hellfire is that it automatically saves your game when you quit. So the next time you launch the game, you will have the option to "continue" where you left off or "restart" and begin a fresh game.
A "Settings" selection will provide you with options to adjust volume, brightness, and game speed. The default settings worked well for me.
Selecting "Controls" will provide you with a means to reassign your hardware buttons.
SYSTEM
REQUIREMENTS
Hellfire will load on any Pocket PC 2002
or 2003 device that has an ARM processor and a color screen. It
requires approximately 1.2 MB of memory.
BUGS
AND WISHES
As I mentioned in the Help Support section,
I encountered a couple of problems early on. The first problem
was that there was an annoying clicking sound when I pushed a hardware
button. The second was that I was having problems assigning my
hardware buttons to perform some actions. I wrote the Astraware
team asking for their help.
Not too long after I emailed them, I noticed the clicking sound was occurring when I wasn't even playing the game. I realized I must have had my hardware buttons assigned to make sounds. So, needless to say, I was a bit embarrassed that I asked that question. Nevertheless, they kindly explained how I could get rid of the clicking sound by adjusting my device's sound settings.
The second problem, or shall I say the only problem I encountered with the game was assigning hardware buttons for the fire, land/take-off, and select weapon features. By default, they are set to the "action" button, but when I press the action button on my Jornada, nothing happens. The Astraware team addressed this issue in the email response stating:
"...It seems that the problem with not being able to assign controls on your Pocket PC is endemic to the Jornada 56x range, a legacy of the fact that the Jornada's use a radically different set of response codes for the buttons internally to almost all other Pocket PCs, and outside the range that Hellfire is "expecting" to work with...We don't have a Jornada 56x series of our own...but fortunately one of our beta testers does own one and is working with the developer on fixing this problem..."
To work around this problem, I reassigned the down button to perform those actions, but doing that disabled my ability to fly backwards. Hopefully the next release will have fixes for these problems. A possible solution would be to have icons to land, fire, and select weapons on the bottom of the screen. This would allow the user to use a stylus in conjunction with the directional pad.
PURCHASING
Hellfire: Apache vs. Hind can be purchased
as a download from the Astraware
website for $19.95. You will also find a trial
on the same page.
PROS
Action packed gameplay
Real-time 3D rendering of graphics
Realistic helicopter sound
Sixteen combat missions
CONS
Problems assigning hardware buttons with the Jornada 560 series
No in-game help support and limited support on the website.
OVERALL
IMPRESSION
Despite having to reassign my down button to perform
certain actions, I still really enjoyed playing the game. Hellfire:
Apache vs. Hind is an awesome. I foresee it being an award winning
game. So don't let those problems discourage you from giving Hellfire
a try. You have to remember this is Hellfire's first public release,
so I'm sure the bugs will be worked out. The game was brilliantly
designed and is a must have if you enjoy action games.
