LHX: Attack Chopper

Moby ID: 615
DOS Specs
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Description official descriptions

LHX: Attack Chopper is a helicopter simulation with a strong arcade focus. You can freely choose which missions to fly first, and which helicopter to fly in a given mission. There are a total of four helicopters: Apache, Blackhawk, Osprey and LHX. With this fine selection of death machines you will engage countless enemy targets in Libya, East Germany and Vietnam throughout the game.

Spellings

  • LHX アタック・チョッパー - Japanese spelling

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Screenshots

Promos

Credits (DOS version)

24 People (22 developers, 2 thanks) · View all

Lead Design
Programmer
Additional Programming by
Producer
Graphics
Music/Sound Effects
Technical Direction
Product Management
Art Director
Package Design
  • Marc Anderson Group
Package Photography
  • Geoffrey Nelson Photography
Screenshots
Lead Tester
Support Testers
Documentation
Manual Illustrations
Maps
Quality Assurance
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 79% (based on 23 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.5 out of 5 (based on 29 ratings with 1 reviews)

A diverse helicopter experience

The Good
The best aspect of LHX was definitely the controls. Unlike most flight sims, the cyclic control "stick" locks into position based on what your input is (i.e. if you yaw left, the helicopter continues to go left until you bring the stick back to a neutral position), but what truly makes it successful is that in the middle of the HUD is an indicator of your stick position, so you know exactly how much cyclic to give. The upshot is that the game is extremely playable and responds exceptionally on the keyboard.

Another cool feature was the varied type of missions. Basically the LHX and apache are for assault missions, while the blackhawk and osprey carry out transport/pickup/equipment drop missions. Speaking of which, this is one of the few (only?) osprey sims out there! And it handles the dual mode nature of the osprey exceptionally well. Plus, you can actually fly the assault missions with the blackhawk or osprey as well.

The graphics were spectacular for its time. The ground terrain was dotted, so you can get a good sensation of ground movement as you nap-of-the-earth.

The Bad
Probably one of the few complaints I have were the design decisions about the LHX helo itself. The real LHX is, as the name implies, a light helicopter for recon and light attack, and made to supplement, not replace, the apache. But in the game, it is better armoured and faster than the apache! Plus, with its better stealth, there was almost no reason to every fly the apache, except that the apache carried more missiles and a bigger gun.

Speaking of which, the guns were extremely overpowered and super accurate (you really didn't need to take missiles with you if all you wanted to do was destroy the mission objective), to the point that when I first played Jane's Longbow, I was take aback by how difficult it was to score gun kills. I was literally able to destroy almost everything on the battlefield by myself in each mission.

The Bottom Line
An exception helicopter sim for its time. LHX had great sound, graphics, gameplay, and depicted seemingly realistic usage of the different weapon systems such as the TOW and hellfire on each of the different helicopters.

DOS · by grimbergen (433) · 2001

Trivia

Cancelled Amiga port

An Amiga version was partially developed, but according to Electronic Arts' Simon Jeffrey, they couldn't get it to run fast enough without compromising the action, so it was never completed.

Extras

The original package includes an "Eyes Only" briefing that outlines some sort of a leak of government LHX information, hackers who broke into defense contractor computers, an international arms dealer, Electronic Arts, a spy/peace activist, CIA, FBI, and assassination. Only at the very end was this disclaimer: "This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental."

The original package also came with a "brochure" map that contained the different flyable locations.

LHX Program

The entire LHX (later, RAH-66 Comanche) program was cancelled by U.S. Congress in 2004, after almost 2 decades of development. Thus, we will never know how accurate this sim actually is.

V-22 Osprey

As of the year 2000, LHX is still the ONLY flight-sim that simulates the V-22 Osprey.

Awards

  • Power Play
    • Issue 01/1991 - Best Simulation in 1990 (DOS version)

Information also contributed by Martin Smith

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Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 615
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by IJan.

Genesis added by Rebound Boy.

Additional contributors: Kasey Chang, j.raido 【雷堂嬢太朗】, Patrick Bregger.

Game added December 25, 1999. Last modified January 27, 2024.