 |
|
 |
Publisher:  Genre: Flight Sim
|
|
Mac OS X: 10.2 Mac OS Classic: Not Supported
CPU: G3 @ 600 MHz RAM: 256 MB Hard Disk: 350 MB 4x CD-ROM Graphics: 16 MB VRAM |
|
|
|
Enemy Engaged: Comanche vs. Hokum
January 20, 2005 | Tim Morgan |
|
The number of combat flight simulators for Mac OS X increased dramatically with the recent release of F/A-18 Hornet and Enemy Engaged: Comanche vs. Hokum, both moderately realistic combat sims aimed at beginning to semi-advanced players. In this review, we take a look at the latter, a game that simulates cutting-edge helicopter warfare in the future against a well-armed, well-funded opponent. Enemy Engaged revitalizes hope in a Macintosh gaming market that is finally beginning to grow again.
Enemy Engaged is a seemingly simple but deceptively intricate helicopter sim, offering players a taste of helicopter warfare, with its unique juxtaposition of fast-paced action and deliberate strategy. With an open-ended game, Enemy Engaged sets the stage for a variety of adventures and possibilities.
Drawing up the battle plan
Enemy Engaged simulates your choice of three fictional future operations: an oil dispute between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, a war of independence between Taiwan and China, or an outbreak of conflict following an American operation in Syria. In all three cases, one army is either the United States or being supplied US vehicles, and the other is using Russian/ROTW vehicles.
The player can choose to fight on either side of these three conflicts, flying in either Boeing-Sikorsky’s RAH-66 Comanche, or Kamov’s Ka-52 Hokum. Both helicopters state-of-the-art fighting machines, and the player will be flying in an environment with other cutting-edge vehicles and equipment.
Enemy Engaged offers three types of game play, yielding three kinds of involvement: Free Flight, Skirmish, and Campaign. The simplest of these, Free Flight, allows the player to specify a time and a place, and hop into a helicopter quickly and easily. The player can opt to fly the friendly skies or add some enemy forces to the mix. While Free Flight mode allows eager players to quickly strap in and lift off, there are no discrete goals or missions. The player must locate enemy troops on his/her own, as waypoints are designated seemingly arbitrarily.
A step up from free flight is the Skirmish mode, which puts the player in a battle zone with other troops fighting to meet a goal. There are four skirmishes for each of the three theaters (Lebanon, Taiwan, and Yemen). Each skirmish starts with friendly and enemy forces poised for war, and terminates upon success and failure of a single campaign goal (for example, “take this airbase.”) Both friendly and enemy troops mobilize to complete their side’s objective and prevent the successful completion of the other’s. The situations available in Skirmish mode are varied and interesting: for example, a full naval landing on Taiwan, or a borderline buildup in Yemen. And while the included 12 scenarios provide hours of interesting gaming, there is no way to create custom skirmishes to play. Nor is there any way to tell how difficult each skirmish is, and the difficulty can vary depending on the scenario.
| |
