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Publisher:  Genre: Flight Sim
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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 |
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Enemy Engaged: Comanche vs. Hokum
January 20, 2005 | Tim Morgan |
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At the pilot’s disposal are a number of cockpit systems, all controlled from the keyboard. The avionics have been simplified, but still require a bit of study time in the manual. Pilots can acquire targets through air and ground radar, various camera systems including forward-looking infrared (FLIR) and daytime TV, and through pilot tracking systems such as the helmet-mounted sight and the Hokum’s devious little periscope. Hokum pilots get a bit of a break, too: in real life, only the Comanche has total integration of its fire control systems, but in the game the Hokum is given this feature too. This means that players on both sides can combine information acquired from the radar, FLIR, or other sensing devices to form a complete battlefield picture.
Truly tricky pilots will learn to master their aircraft. The included strategy lists a number of interesting little tricks, such as narrowing the radar scan width to keep target priorities in line (as your wingman will automatically select targets for you if you wish) and some especially cool (and risky) tactics for dealing with those nasty fighter jets.
Should you happen to encounter a threat, it will likely fire on you. Your wingman keeps you informed, with the help of your RWR, which lets you know which vehicles are tracking you, and even gives you their threat circles and plots the flight of missiles launched at you. Players have radar and IR jammers at their disposal (say goodbye to stealth if you use them, though) and can launch chaff and flare to spoof incoming missiles. If this is too much to think about at once, the copilot can handle the countermeasures instead.
“Three down and locked”
Enemy Engaged is a very well designed application. It supports multi-tasking, allowing you to switch out to other programs mid-flight (thus giving it a leg up over many, many Mac games), and it will even pause and unpause iTunes for you as you hop between it and other programs. The user interface is clean and simple, but a lack of quick-help text makes some of the button actions obscure.
Enemy Engaged’s primary problem is its sluggishness. Low in-game FPS and annoyingly slow UI response times can sometimes make operating the game a chore. However, its modern and slick design makes up for this when not in the cockpit. In the cockpit, mostly-decent graphics and moderately realistic avionics make for an interesting and challenging experience.
The Campaign mode offers the majority of replayability for the game, and the first few dozen hours of game time will primarily be spent learning how not to get shot down every mission. But following the learning curve, Enemy Engaged offers a wonderful new type of game, a mix of action and tactics, of forethought and trigger fingers. Flight simmers looking for a whole different ball game, and action gamers looking to throw some strategy into the mix, will want to check out the deceptively challenging Enemy Engaged: Comanche vs. Hokum.
Pros
• Intriguing, fun game play
• Great cockpit graphics
• Not-too-easy, not-too-difficult avionics simulation
• Persistent campaign mode
• Significant handling differences between the two choppers
Cons
• No strategic aspect
• Overly chatty radio
• Most realistic options still simplified
• Unintelligent AI
• No significant avionics differences between the two choppers
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