➤ Comanche, the review of a simulator that doesn't take itself too seriously 🎮

Combat helicopter simulators aren't really a very popular genre, especially lately. Comanche tries somehow, after a rather long gestation period in Early Access, to renew the genre without taking into account some characteristics that a game must necessarily have. The first of these is, of course, fun. Unfortunately, the cumbersome controls, the physics applied to the models that are not exactly infallible and the auto lock of the weapons practically absent, make this first, fundamental point, almost canceled.

Unfortunately, even approaching this production with all good intentions and with the eyes of those who, as a child, played many titles with helicopters as protagonists, read G-Police, Apache e Desert Strike, we have not been able to grasp the videogame value. This does not want to be an attack on the developers nor a total rejection of the project, but in the two (two!) Hours of campaign, if you can call it that, boredom and repetitiveness have dominated.

Let's go in order and see the (few) good things and the (too many) things wrong with ours Comanche review.

Story and gameplay

Comanche, the review of a simulator that doesn't take itself too seriously — a glimpse of Comanche

First, the pain points: the Comanche remake is not the long-awaited rebirth of this series. Which is probably something that could have been expected, given that the game changed development teams midway through the project. In addition to the alternation of developers, Comanche has gone from being an exclusively multiplayer title to one with a campaign consisting of twenty-four mini-parts plus eleven independent missions. But, as we said before, know that it is too repetitive and lacks the kind of refinement found in other air combat games. Besides being very short.

The fundamental part to begin to understand something of the complex piloting system is an extensive tutorial. Although not a simulation, learning to control theattack helicopter RAH-66 it will probably take a good twenty minutes. Most of the fundamentals of flight should be instinctive for flight game veterans: the triggers are used to adjust elevation while the nose tilt of the Comanche propels the aircraft forward. The camera rotates with the helicopter, but it takes a couple of seconds before a 180 degree turn can be achieved.

There is also the option to activate the simulation mode, but we couldn't even make the first corner. Unmanageable. Even with the assisted mode don't always expect to control everything like an expert pilot. When Comanche sends you into the bowels of top-secret mountain bunkers, you will have a hard time keeping the walls and ceilings from touching, with camera management that makes safe driving nearly impossible. But the game has some interesting features such as flying through the narrow canyon filled with dense misty pockets, a very impressive moment.

Comanche

As the game's title suggests, it's no surprise that the RAH-66 is the star of the show and the only warbird you can fly. But Comanche gives the possibility to command five different models, from a preliminary prototype, the tank Rhino and the stealthy Ghost. Each helicopter has its own unique ability, from Eve's repair nano-bot missile to Rhino's ability to charge opponents. Comanche tries to make sense of its futuristic setting with lines of dialogue as realistic as possible, but all of this is far from the likelihood of one of Tom Clancy's titles. Expect to hear exasperating sadness (at least if you chew English) lines like being called Casper when piloting the Ghost Comanche or Frogman when coordinating with a water demolition expert.

Of course, there is fun in hooking up enemy turrets, frigates and helicopters and indulging in explosions and destruction. But Comanche's fights seem a little too automated. Most of the time they will probably engage air and ground targets without too much fear with the multi-barreled Gatling given its unlimited ammo. With the prototype docking system, you won't have to worry about aiming, just not overheating the gun and taking countermeasures while moving mostly in place.

From technical point of view we are on a decent level with regard to the setting and the model of our aircraft, but unfortunately there are textures not exactly up to a video game of some importance and the explosions, the lighting as well as the particles do not make the miracle.

Drones and combat techniques

The missiles are homing, so as soon as you are high enough and with a target locked, you can launch them to decimate multiple targets at the same time. The problem is that they are really scarce. Rockets are downright unintelligent and aligning them along their trajectory requires a light touch, often leaving you prone to enemy attacks.

Comanche strives to mix large-scale warfare with parties where it will take control of a little drone inside enemy installations, borrowing it from the tradition of spy films. You will thus realize that a broken fan is always an indicator of the path to follow: every base seems to have a malfunctioning ventilation system, so much so that they are all the same. Occasionally, you will be assigned the task of taking down enemy drones and soldiers, but it's not like it's all this huge activity having them a 'not quite advanced artificial intelligence. The positive thing is that in all this mess, the funniest thing is to drive these little ones, who among other things give back a much more defined driving feeling and specific weight than their older brothers.

Did anyone say multiplayer?

The flagship of the production should have been the multiplayer compartment, but, we tell you right away, it's anything but fun. Unfortunately, on paper it wants to show something, but in practice just can't "take off" said with a rather apt term. There are two game modes, infiltration e black box. In the first you will have to place EMP charges and defend them until detonation, in the second you will have to be able to keep enemies at bay while defending a bomb. Everything works worse than in single player, almost never being able to find enemies and once engaged, practically impossible to take down. Frustrating to say the least. The worst thing, however, is that matchmaking struggles a lot to find connected people, perhaps due to the fact that the game has not been out for long, or perhaps for other reasons unknown to us. The fact is that what should have been the strong point has become yet another Achilles' heel of production. Yes, yes, you can customize your aircraft and show it off during matches, but what do I do with a super helicopter if you can't play?

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Comanche, unfortunately, fails in its main purpose: to entertain. Technical sector not exactly in step with the times, piloting system at the limit of the manageable, not to mention the simulation mode. Too bad also for the multiplayer component seasoned with a painful matchmaking. The only point in favor is the drone piloting system but even here, at least in the single player mode, we are not there from a videogame point of view, all too much the same. Wasted opportunity.