Take on Helicopters

Exhilarating flying over fine scenery, but the story needed to be stronger and longer. Buy ToH for the thrills. Not the dialogue.

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"Take On Helicopters" is a civil helicopter simulation game that immerses players in a rich, authentic flight model and challenging gameplay. As the son of a struggling helicopter business owner, you must take on contracts and competitors to save the company. The game features two large environments based on real-world North American and South American locations, and includes a powerful mission editor for creating custom flights.

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Play Modes

Reviews

53%

Audience ScoreBased on 421 reviews

story30 positive mentions

optimization9 negative mentions

The game offers a realistic flight model that can be enjoyable for those who appreciate helicopter simulations.
The Seattle environments are well-detailed, providing a visually appealing backdrop for flying missions.
The career mode includes a variety of missions that can be engaging for players looking for a structured experience.

The game suffers from poor optimization, leading to low frame rates and graphical issues even on high-end systems.
Controls are overly complicated and can be frustrating, especially for players unfamiliar with flight simulators.
Many players report bugs and glitches that hinder gameplay, including mission failures without clear reasons.

story
131 mentions
23 % positive mentions
73 % neutral mentions
5 % negative mentions
The story in "Take On Helicopters" is generally viewed as a mixed bag; while some players appreciate the immersive environments and the variety of missions that include civilian and transport tasks, others criticize the narrative for being shallow and poorly executed. The game features a career mode that aims to engage players with a storyline about saving a failing aviation business, but many find the dialogue and voice acting lacking, and the missions can be frustratingly difficult or tedious. Overall, while the story has its moments, it often feels underdeveloped and overshadowed by gameplay challenges.
- “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.”
- “Beautiful graphics and terrain, essential for good low down helo ops, with good sound, back-story and atmosphere make this sim very immersive.”
- “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!”
- “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.”
- “Great game idea, but poor story and graphics.”
- “The story has no interest.”
graphics
68 mentions
24 % positive mentions
57 % neutral mentions
19 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many players describing them as outdated and subpar, even for its 2011 release. Despite some users noting decent performance on high settings, the overall consensus is that the visuals are blurry, poorly optimized, and fail to meet modern standards, detracting from the overall experience. While a few players appreciated the graphics in the context of flight simulation, most agree that significant improvements are needed.
- “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 graphics look terrible even on high settings, and the framerate drops constantly.”
- “Absolutely horrible looking graphics, even in 2011 this was atrocious.”
- “The graphics are just outdated and ehhh.”
music
18 mentions
22 % positive mentions
56 % neutral mentions
22 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising its nostalgic elements and enjoyable tracks, particularly those reminiscent of the Operation Flashpoint OST. However, issues such as audio bugs, volume imbalances, and a lack of synchronization detract from the overall experience for others. While some find the soundtrack enhances gameplay, others criticize it as inadequate or distracting.
- “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
17 mentions
24 % positive mentions
59 % neutral mentions
18 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the detailed flight mechanics and realism, particularly for helicopter enthusiasts, while others criticize it for being tedious and lacking engaging content. Many users find the controls frustrating and reminiscent of outdated mechanics from previous titles, leading to a less enjoyable experience for those seeking action-oriented gameplay. Overall, the game seems to cater more to a niche audience rather than providing broad appeal.
- “Really fun game with nice graphics and gameplay.”
- “I honestly believe that 'Take on Helicopters' is a great game for helicopter enthusiasts because of its unique focus on handling and a fantastic level of mechanical detail.”
- “Cool game with realistic controls and mechanics.”
- “The flying mechanics are nothing like any helicopter flight simulator - and not in a good way.”
- “After blindly managing to choose in the menu options, I was greeted with some incredibly boring gameplay.”
- “For the average game player, this would almost certainly lead to frustration... not a good recipe for entertainment.”
optimization
16 mentions
25 % positive mentions
19 % neutral mentions
56 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with many users reporting significant performance issues, including low frame rates (often below 30fps) even on high-end PCs. The underlying engine is described as poorly optimized, leading to lag and choppy gameplay, and the graphics quality is considered subpar, further detracting from the overall experience. Overall, players recommend avoiding the game due to its severe optimization problems.
- “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).”
- “Horrible, clunky, and nasty; terrible optimization and I have a decent PC.”
- “The engine is so poorly optimized, it just lags constantly.”
stability
6 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is criticized for being quite poor, with users reporting frequent glitches and jerky helicopter controls. While some acknowledge that glitches are common in simulators, they suggest that this game is particularly buggy and recommend alternatives like Arma 2 or 3 for a more stable experience. Overall, the game is seen as underwhelming in terms of stability, especially given its low price.
- “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. Most of the company's games are overloaded, and they cannot finish them all.”
- “Extremely buggy.”
grinding
5 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
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 detract from the overall enjoyment, making the gameplay feel more like a chore than fun.
- “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
33 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
67 % negative mentions
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...”
atmosphere
2 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
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 helo ops, 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
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that the monetization practices in the game are viewed as dishonest and unethical, leading to a negative perception among users.
- “Such dishonest advertising is immoral.”
replayability
1 mentions
0 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
300 % negative mentions
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 through it again.”