Take On Helicopters

About

Take On Helicopters is a single player and multiplayer open world simulation game. It was developed by Bohemia Interactive and was released on October 27, 2011. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and neutral reviews from players.

The player takes on the role of a civilian helicopter pilot. Harry Larkin’s aviation business has fallen on tough times. Built up over decades, it’s now only days away from closure. His sons face an uncertain future, struggling to save the company their father spent his whole life building. Together, they must take on contracts and competitors; together, they take on helicopters. Take your first …

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53%

Audience ScoreBased on 427 reviews

story28 positive mentions

optimization10 negative mentions

The game offers a unique experience of flying helicopters in a detailed Seattle environment, which is enjoyable for aviation enthusiasts.
The flight model is challenging and provides a sense of realism, especially when using a joystick or HOTAS setup.
The campaign features interesting missions and a storyline that adds depth to the gameplay.

The user interface is clunky and the controls can be confusing, making it difficult for new players to get accustomed to the game.
The graphics are outdated and do not meet modern standards, leading to a less immersive experience.
Performance issues are prevalent, with many players experiencing low frame rates and crashes on modern systems.

story
127 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
73%
5%
The story in "Take On Helicopters" is generally viewed as underwhelming, with many players finding it lacking depth and coherence. While some appreciate the variety of missions and the immersive environments, others criticize the dialogue, voice acting, and overall execution of the narrative, describing it as tedious and poorly designed. Despite these shortcomings, a few players enjoyed the premise of the career mode and the unique challenges it presents, though many felt the missions were often frustrating and repetitive.
- “The career mode will teach you to fly a helicopter as you take on missions in the Seattle area and attempt to save your father's failing aviation business.”
- “The missions and story are decent.”
- “With an added storyline to follow to spice things up, Take On Helicopters is a refreshing addition to a stagnant flight sim market and one that I highly recommend!”
- “Honestly, I was expecting to feel like a daring helicopter pilot on a high-stakes mission, but instead, I spent more time trying to figure out how to land without plummeting into a mountain.”
- “The dialogue in the story is so cringeworthy, the voice acting is horrible and I can't understand how anyone decided it was good enough.”
- “The story has no interest.”
graphics
65 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
56%
22%
The graphics of the game have received largely negative feedback, with many users describing them as outdated, blurry, and poorly optimized, even for its 2011 release. While some players acknowledge decent visuals in certain aspects, the overall consensus is that the graphical fidelity falls short of expectations, making it difficult to recommend for those seeking a visually impressive experience. Despite the fun gameplay, the graphics are often seen as a significant drawback, detracting from the overall enjoyment of the game.
- “Beautiful graphics and terrain, essential for good low down helo ops, with good sound, back-story and atmosphere make this sim very immersive.”
- “The graphics are sharp and smooth, which makes the gameplay smooth and fun to play. It's a very relaxing game to play, and the challenges are also a great touch.”
- “Very good, excellent graphics and flight model.”
- “The graphical fidelity is garbage, with instruments being blurry and hard to read even with absolutely cranked texture quality and VRAM limit.”
- “Absolutely horrible looking graphics, even in 2011 this was atrocious.”
- “The graphics look terrible even on high settings, and the framerate drops constantly.”
music
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
58%
21%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising its nostalgic elements and enjoyable tracks, particularly those reminiscent of classic titles like Operation Flashpoint. However, issues such as audio bugs, volume inconsistencies, and a soundtrack that some find underwhelming or mismatched with gameplay detract from the overall experience. While certain players appreciate the inclusion of hardstyle music and the variety offered in DLC, others express frustration with the execution and quality of the in-game audio.
- “Nice campaign, challenging levels, great music.”
- “Also, the in-game music is very familiar to those who have played many of Bohemia Interactive's titles, for example, Operation Flashpoint or what we call today, Arma Cold War Assault.”
- “Sit back, take off, fly civilians around, take pictures of whales and listen to your favorite songs while enjoying a glass of whisky - that is what this game is about - and it does just that, pretty darn good.”
- “The worst one is the songs that sometimes suddenly stop.”
- “Music is out of sync with the game, is louder than intended and bleeds out other sounds.”
- “Oh and the music is appalling.”
gameplay
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
56%
22%
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing the controls, lag, and crashes, leading to a frustrating experience. While some appreciate the detailed flight mechanics and realism, others find the gameplay boring and unrefined, particularly for those seeking more action-oriented experiences. Overall, the game seems to cater more to helicopter enthusiasts than to casual gamers.
- “Really fun game with nice graphics and gameplay.”
- “The flight mechanics are reasonably good.”
- “Cool game with realistic controls and mechanics.”
- “Awful controls, awful gameplay with lags, crashes, and just general unhelpfulness.”
- “The flying mechanics are nothing like any helicopter flight simulator - and not in a good way.”
- “For the average player, this would almost certainly lead to frustration... not a good recipe for entertainment.”
optimization
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
17%
59%
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with users reporting severe performance issues even on high-end PCs, often struggling to achieve 30fps. Many describe the game as "terribly optimized," with choppy performance, low frame rates, and poor graphics quality, leading to a frustrating experience. Overall, players recommend avoiding the game due to its significant optimization shortcomings.
- “Performance was choppy, but that could be overcome with newer hardware.”
- “The Arma 2 game engine just was never that well optimized for this kind of simulation, and the overall graphics close to the ground can really get ugly. I wish the engine had been optimized because the modeling and collision detection is good.”
- “It's straight but it's from the Bohemia Interactive team, so I hate it... super unoptimized. Fun if you know what you're doing; pretty much it's a helicopter simulation.”
- “This game is extremely badly optimized, and runs very poorly with 30fps or less on a high-end gaming PC (Ryzen 1600 w/ 3.8GHz overclock, 16GB RAM, GTX 1070 Ti, SATA SSD).”
- “The engine is so poorly optimized, it just lags constantly.”
- “You will need an above-average computer to even run this game, since the engine is... well... poorly optimized.”
stability
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is frequently criticized, with users reporting numerous glitches and jerky helicopter controls. While some acknowledge that glitches are common in simulators, many feel that this game is particularly buggy and not worth its current price, suggesting alternatives like Arma 2 or 3 for a more stable experience.
- “After half an hour or so of glitches and no options for key binds or flight stick, I refunded.”
- “Overall, this is a fair game, but the helicopters tend to be a little jerky at times, and there are occasional glitches.”
- “This game is only 2/3 euros currently, and I'd say it should be free for anyone that wishes to play a buggy helicopter simulator.”
grinding
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and often frustrating, with many describing the experience as slow and boring. While some appreciate the realism, the clunky controls and repetitive missions contribute to a sense of annoyance rather than enjoyment. Overall, the grinding elements detract from the fun and engagement of the gameplay.
- “If I wanted to experience a slow, tedious ride through the skies, I'd just look out the window of a real helicopter.”
- “It's a bit of fun, but after a while, it does get a bit boring and tedious.”
- “I've read that it's fairly realistic, which is cool, but it gets to the point where trying to fly gets too tedious to be fun.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
Users express a strong emotional connection to the experience of flying helicopters, particularly highlighting the intense feelings of loss and adrenaline when facing in-game challenges, such as being shot down. However, this emotional engagement is often undermined by criticisms of the game's lackluster story, outdated graphics, and poor controls, which detract from the overall experience.
- “I had a very similar emotional sensation after my glorious hind was hit by a surface-to-air missile and I plummeted towards the ground.”
- “Flying helicopters is fun, but wrapping it in a boring story and some last-gen graphics pretty much ruins it.”
- “Too short, boring story, bad controls...”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's replayability is questioned, with some users suggesting that the experience may become tedious and unengaging, potentially leading to a lack of motivation to replay the story.
- “Replayable: I doubt you could finish the story without dying of boredom.”
- “The lack of meaningful choices makes replaying the game feel pointless.”
- “Once you've seen the story, there's little incentive to go back for more.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its beautiful graphics and immersive sound design, which enhance the overall experience, particularly during low-altitude helicopter operations. Players find the combination of visual and auditory elements, along with a compelling backstory, to create a captivating and engaging environment.
- “Beautiful graphics and terrain, essential for good low-down helicopter operations, with good sound, backstory, and atmosphere make this sim very immersive.”
- “The atmosphere of the game is great, and it just feels amazing.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users express strong discontent regarding the monetization practices, labeling them as dishonest and immoral, particularly in relation to advertising strategies.
- “Such dishonest advertising is immoral.”

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77%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews

Take On Helicopters review
Exhilarating flying over fine scenery, but the story needed to be stronger and longer. Buy ToH for the thrills. Not the dialogue.
Pcgamer.com
77%

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Frequently Asked Questions

Take On Helicopters is a open world simulation game.

Take On Helicopters is available on PC, Windows and Linux.

Take On Helicopters was released on October 27, 2011.

Take On Helicopters was developed by Bohemia Interactive.

Take On Helicopters has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its graphics.

Take On Helicopters is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include Construction Simulator, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Arma, Train Simulator Classic, Bus Simulator 18 and others.

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