Take On Helicopters

Take On Helicopters
Cover of Take On Helicopters
Developer(s)	Bohemia Interactive
Series	Take On
Engine	Real Virtuality 3
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)	October 27, 2011[1]
Genre(s)	Flight game
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Take On Helicopters (TKOH) is a 2011 video game developed by Bohemia Interactive. It was released October 27, 2011 for Microsoft Windows, with its first official DLC, Take On Helicopters: Hinds being released March 15, 2012. The DLC features three different versions of the Mi-24 Hind (Mil Mi-24 V, Mi-24 P and SuperHind Mk.III).^[2] It is the first game in the Take On video game series, followed by Take on Mars.

The campaign takes place primarily in the then-future of 2013, on a 3,800 square kilometer terrain based around the city of Seattle, Washington, and its surrounding metropolitan area.^[3] In the campaign mode, the player takes on the role of a civilian helicopter pilot, Tom Larkin, whose civil aviation business is struggling through hard times. The campaign involves different types of contracts which the player earns money, which can be used to buy, repair, and upgrade helicopters. The campaign also features flashback missions, where the player takes on the role of Larkin's older brother, Joe Larkin, during his military service as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot during a 2012 war in Takistan, the fictional country that was the setting of Bohemia Interactive's 2010 video game, ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead.^[4]

Plot

In the summer of 2013, former U.S. Army helicopter pilot and war veteran, Joe Larkin, and his younger brother, Tom Larkin, take over their Seattle-based family business, civil aviation provider, Larkin Aviation, after the death of their father, who was also the owner. Only mere weeks away from closure, the Larkin brothers face an uncertain future in a struggling economy. Trying to save what their father has built, they decide to take on contracts, and competitors.

Gameplay

Take On Helicopters is primarily a civil aviation video game focused on rotary-wing aircraft, featuring three different classes of helicopters: light, medium and heavy.^[5] In addition to the career, the game includes challenges, time trials, training, mission editor, free flight and multiplayer modes.^[6]

Take On Helicopters is set in two large open world terrains (North American and South Asian) based upon real-world terrain-data. The former features 60 km x 60 km terrain of detailed Seattle city, suburban, industrial, water and woodland bodies while the latter - South Asia - includes 120 km x 120 km of deserts, rivers and simple villages.^[4] The game also features a powerful mission editor and supports modding. Sample missions and sample helicopter models have been released to support mission editors and mod-makers.^[7] The flight model in Take On Helicopters is based on helicopter dynamics middleware by RTDynamics.

Career

Take On Helicopters' career mode consists of a series of scenarios which take place within an overarching plot. The story is centred around the Seattle-based family business Larkin Aviation, which is struggling through hard times after the passing of Harry Larkin. The player takes the role of a civilian helicopter pilot named Tom Larkin, who together with his brother Joe is trying to save the business their father has built. Missions range from filming whales in Puget Sound, to flying in formation above Bremerton, Washington in a veteran's air show and assisting SWAT officers in fast-roping operations on the roof of the Columbia Tower. The campaign also features military flashback missions in South Asia.

Heliport

The career mode includes the ‘Heliport’. Here players can pick different types of contracts which earn them money. Money can be used to buy, repair and improve helicopters. Contracts can be also be replayed to earn more money.

Free flight

Free flight mode lets players fly around any of the available helicopters in the game.

Challenges

Challenges in Take On Helicopters are procedural. This means that they are a little different each time they are played. Challenges include ‘Search and Rescue’, ‘Pursuit’, ‘Dropping’, ‘Fly to Landmark’, ‘Sling-loading’ and ‘Formation Flight’.

Time-trials

Time-trials challenge players to complete an aerial course within a set amount of time.

Training

Take On Helicopters includes a number of tutorials to explain the basics behind flying helicopters. They are presented in order from the easiest to the most advanced. As such, players can familiarize themselves with the cockpit and instruments, start-up and shutdown procedures, basic manoeuvers, lift-off, landing, sling loads and emergency procedures. Furthermore, the game has three different difficulty settings: beginner, trainee and expert. These difficulty settings can be tweaked to create custom presets.^[8]

Helicopters

Take On Helicopters includes three distinct classes of helicopter: light (MD500 based), medium (Bell 412 based) and heavy (AW101 Merlin based). Each has a flight model suited to the characteristics of its class and within each class there are multiple variants. Equipment such as winches, sling-lines, fast rope hooks and external cameras generate a wide range of things to do across a number of different helicopters.

Environments

Take On Helicopters features two terrains for the player to utilize: Seattle (60x60km) and South Asia (120x120km).

Seattle

The Seattle terrain offers a variety of urban and natural points of interest. The commercial downtown district of Seattle, Washington – with its numerous tall buildings and landmarks – gives way into more industrial and residential areas along Puget Sound. Several bridges span across this complex body of coastal water and its system of interconnected natural and man-made marine waterways and basins. Dense vegetation is found outside of the more populated urban areas with numerous air, rail and marine transport hubs providing state, national, and international communication links.

South Asia

The South Asia terrain creates a mix of wild, open spaces cut with deep valleys, tall mountain ranges and dense green zones. Numerous urban settlements – of varying degrees of size and development – are dotted around the landscape.

Mission editor

The 2D visual mission editor featured in Take On Helicopters enables players to create and import their own missions, time-trials, challenges, scenarios and campaigns. The technology is based on the editors found in Bohemia Interactive's ARMA and Operation Flashpoint series of video games.

Development

On June 24, 2011 a community preview version of Take On Helicopters was released to the public. This version was available to anyone who owned ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead.^[9] October 4, 2011 a beta version of the game was released for those who had pre-ordered the game.^[1] Bohemia Interactive regularly releases public beta patches for their games before they are officially released.^[10]

Downloadable content

Take On Helicopters: Hinds

Take On Helicopters: Hinds^[11] is the first official DLC. Shifting focus to a more combat-oriented experience, Take On Helicopters: Hinds puts players in the seat of the iconic Russian gunship: the Hind.

Reception

Take On Helicopters received mostly positive reviews, being praised for its gameplay and scenery, but receiving criticism for its storyline.^[12][13][14]

References

External links

• Official website
• Official forums
• Community FAQ