Comanche 4 Updated Preview
We've got updated impressions of NovaLogic's fourth game in its long-running Comanche series.
Even though we first previewed Comanche 4 two months ago, a lot of the game has since changed. Originally, Comanche 4 was supposed to be an action-oriented helicopter game reminiscent of NovaLogic's very first Comanche game--that is, heavy on fun but light on simulation. Things change, however, and when NovaLogic dropped by our offices a few days ago, the build of Comanche 4 that we saw was markedly different from the one that we played only a few weeks prior. Thankfully, in the case of Comanche 4, things changed for the better. The overwhelming attitude at NovaLogic is a simple one: "We cannot ignore our sim fans." NovaLogic is a company that has spent well over a decade dedicating itself to the creation of military simulator games, and while most of these games were never considered to be hard-core simulations, they were all grounded on realism. As such, the decision was made to make Comanche 4 appeal to NovaLogic's original audience.
The game's difficulty will now be completely scalable to accommodate as broad an audience as possible, much like that of Comanche Gold. This interface, which will most likely be accessible from the options menu, is still incomplete, but it will most likely make use of various slider bars that'll let you tailor Comanche 4's realism to your liking. At the lowest difficulty setting, you'll be able to control the Comanche using the standard WASD keys that most first-person shooters rely on; your chopper will be able to sustain an inordinate amount of damage; and you'll have the benefit of an autopilot feature that will try its hardest to keep you from smashing your Sikorsky bird into mountains and hills. At the highest setting, however, you'll be responsible for controlling the cyclic and the collective of the Comanche, and you'll have to worry about keeping damage to your helicopter to a minimum. NovaLogic is also adding an interesting twist to this difficulty level. Since the Comanche is being designed for low detectability, stealth plays an important role in a lot of the missions. But stealth aircraft like the Comanche don't magically become invisible to enemy radar. You will be responsible for keeping your radar cross signature as low as possible. That means keeping the Comanche level at all times, opening your weapons bay doors only when absolutely necessary and heavily considering whether or not the benefit of carrying enhanced fuel armament management subsystem (EFAMS, which are external mounts for carrying weapons) is worth the risk of increased detectability. When the element of surprise isn't a necessity, you'll feel better knowing that you have a full suite of weapons with which to equip your Comanche. As you probably expected, this arsenal includes Hellfire antitank missiles, Stinger antiair missiles, Hydra rockets, and your beefy 20mm cannon. You can even use your laser rangefinder to call in artillery strikes against columns of armor.
The game's realism can largely be attributed to the close relationship between NovaLogic and Sikorsky. According to NovaLogic, Sikorsky constantly supplies the game designers with updated (albeit declassified) information about the workings of the Comanche. The most recent change to the design of the chopper, the new angled tail rotor, has been implemented in Comanche 4, as is evident from the latest batch of screenshots. Likewise, the cockpit camera angle will give you an accurate 3D heads-up display of all the multifunction displays and control inputs of the Comanche.
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- GameSpot Score7.7good
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Comanche 4 1.0.1.15 patch
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- Oct 20, 2003
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