Search and Rescue 2

The Good
Good topic, non-violent, varied weather, lots of challenges, good "space-warp" that cuts down on actual flight time, graphics are decent and objects are not enlarged for your benefit, thus proper scale is used.

The Bad
Flight model too sensitive, keyboard interface inadequate for collective adjustments (need big step AND small step keys), almost always overtorquing the rotors, missions not explained properly (for example, "inspection" means you have to fly LOW over the boats. Just how low is "low" was never explained).

The Bottom Line
Search and Rescue 2 is an interesting civilian helicopter sim, where you play a US Coast Guard helicopter pilot peforming various type of missions, from inspections (fly low over the ships) to rescues (including use of baskets and winches) in various terrains, in various types of weather.

The flight model is quite sensitive. I was used to the relatively "smooth" model of older titles like Gunship 2000 (designed for keyboard) and it was a rude shock that the chopper was virtually uncontrollable from the keyboard. The collective ramps up so slowly the engine will overtorque almost immediately if it's at full throttle. It's almost impossible to level the craft out as the artificial horizon was NOT one of the main instruments (huh?). Add a bit of wind, and you'll be drifting ALL OVER THE PLACE. It takes me like 3 minutes just trying to LAND the chopper inside the landing circle, due to the wind and my (failed) attempts to compensate.

All the objects look quite good. The ships look like ships, sailboats look like sailboats, and so on. You even see power lines and those hi-voltage towers stretching across the landscape. The rotors even 'spin up' to power when you start your engines. There's also a TON of different viewpoints both inside and outside your chopper. You can also see your rescue in full 3D as you drop winch with basket and fishes the guy out of the water with virtual cameras. However, I don't see a replay facility or a recorder any where.

The missions can be configured in various time of day, weather, wind, and so on. Their variety is quite challenging, as most require some precision flying and landing.

All in all, this relative to SimCopter has quite a bit of polish, and makes you appreciate what CG does. However, the narrow focus also means that if you're not interesting in non-violent pursuits, like precision landing (like land on highway to pickup accident victims), this game is not for you.