Police Helicopter Simulator

Unfortunately, Police Helicopter Simulator is not very good. The option of “US or German settings” means that a tiny handful of models are swapped out, but with a lot untouched. This does means that the cops in the police station are now walking around dressed like US beat cops while the control room operator and your own co-pilot are still wearing Polizei jumpsuits (complete with German flag insignia and ‘POLIZEI’). All the scenery remains unchanged, as do the town names. East on your compass is even still “O” (for “Osten”). The actual translation is equally appalling and shonky, as is the dialogue and voice acting. There is no manual, and no flight lessons. The only way to figure out what the controls are is to go into a menu once you’re actually playing the game. The controls cannot be reconfigured in any way, so you are stuck with the presets. On a gamepad, the means the triggers are your collective (or as the game calls it, “thrust”). The actual flight model is appalling. Because there is no way to reconfigure the controls, the sensitivity means you are throwing the helicopter around the sky. Extremely heavy use of the pedals is needed to change heading. The game limits how far you can pitch and roll, which is just as well as the sensitivity would result in your tumbling hopelessly if it didn't restrain you. There is almost no sense of weight, so you can ascend far faster than you realize, or likewise land far more heavily than you realize. I slammed down hard several times on helipads with no ill effects, and likewise touched down gently in a field only for my patrol to immediately end because I had damaged the helicopter too much. Travelling anywhere is just sawing at the controls trying to maintain a steady attitude, heading, and altitude. The description mentions "flight dynamics for beginners and advanced players" but if this actually means you can choose a more advanced flight model, I sure as heck couldn't find the option to change it. Inside the cockpit, your co-pilot just sits there looking around expectantly. Neither you nor her actually touch any of the controls apart from the pedals. The majority of the instruments in the cockpit are not functional – many that are, are tiny, blurry, and unlit, making them impossible to read. A vertical speed indicator that you could actually use would go some way to helping you maintain straight and level flight, as opposed to accidentally flying too high (which is likewise an instant mission failure) The missions are boring. Fly around at random on patrol and hope you see something happen. Oh look, a ship leaking into the water. Automatically reported to control, nothing else happens. VIP needs a ride? Land next to them, fly to their destination, land again. Missing person? Fly around a random area hoping you spot them (the mission script might will trigger that you see them even if you, the player, haven’t). Multiple choice options to report the status, which determines how control dispatches assistance, and you hover and watch. The world itself is boring. Endless forests, towns of dense buildings abutted by more forest. No streetlights or building lights come on when night falls – only a few hangars at the otherwise lifeless airport, maybe a sign at a service station. Car headlights are tiny and hard to see. SimCopter was over 20 years ago and superior in almost every aspect. The cities were big and convincing; the missions frequent, varied and exciting. You had ten helicopter models to choose from and lots of additional equipment. You had direct control over dispatching support units on the ground. You could get out and walk around to assist. The world was lively, funny, alive. The flight model was clunky but at least it was smooth. $30 is far too expensive. You could buy GTA V just to fly around aimlessly in a helicopter and have a better time in terms of the graphics, physics, and experience. ArmA3 has superior physics and modelling, to say nothing of Bohemia’s dedicated helicopter game Take On Helicopters, which is seven years old now and better in every conceivable way, from flight model to missions to graphics.

THE GOOD: -Graphics and textures are crisp. -Helicopters are beautifully detailed. -Love the fully functional on-board nav map with zoom+/-. -option to turn on/off on-screen map & instrument display THE BAD: -Partial support for game controllers needs optimizing ASAP! (I had to use Xpadder but now doesn't work after latest update) -Needs more variety of missions as they tend to get a bit repetitive. -Helicopter vocal alerts missing. ex. "too low"or "too high" "low fuel" etc... -Needs 2 more external views: 1. Top/down view 2. A free cam that can rotate 360 degrees around the heicopter by using mouse button. -Ability to control movement of search light. -Long grass should blow violently when rotor blades reach max rpm. Overall score: 6/10

I tried playing this. I really did. I love games like this, ever since the amazing SimCopter. However, this game is player unfriendly. Don't fly too high, or you'll fail. Make sure to identify that mob correctly, or you'll fail. The controls are also TERRIBLE. I paid $6 for this and it was too much. I LOVE the idea of it, but man does this need work.

A short and clear Review for everyone who is interested in buying this game and wants to know what they will get for 20 Euros or wherever they come from... Missions: The Missions are boring and not detailed you basically hover around the mission area till a few Vehicles from Police, Fire Station or Ambulance come around. After that the mission is over nothing happens in between nothing happens while your backup comes and nobody on the roads stop for the people who had crashes or major accidents I cant write much about other missions because after I quit the game the other day and wanted to play it again the next one I never got into the game again (never got over the loading screen). Besides one other mission which was a state visit where I hovered around the mission area for about 30 minutes and nothing happens other missions never showed up for me or didnt spawn (the cars for the mission never popped up I just couldnt find them even with hovering over the marker dedicated for it). Helicopter Controls: The Helicopter Controls are easy to learn but not remappable (very bad in my opinion because I didnt like how you could control the helicopter) I am an Arma Player and wanted to try this out just to see what other games could do in another setting like here a Police Helicopter not Army or other classes. The Controls are okay but nothing Special the ones who look for a complex flying model or crispy clean controls are wrong here (but thats not the group of People that the developer is going for here I think). For others the controls will be pretty easy to learn and not hard at all. Graphics: The Graphics are not good but I didnt expect it from such a game anyway although it surprised me that the Helicopter was nicely modeled and very detailed. Otherwise you are not looking at much here, Trees are not moving when you hover over them neither is Grass which would be a nice feature. Having said that the Performance is horrible I am way over the recommended list with an overclocked 8700k intel processor at 5ghz and a gtx1080ti the game ran smooth and good but not in the fps I expected it to, which means for people who dont have that good of a machine will definietly have problems... All in All it is an alright game for people who dont expect much of a flying model and amazing to good graphics. People who dont care about missions in which nothing happens besides the arriving of Backup Vehicles that do nothing besides standing around till the mission is over. So why do I not recommend it then ? The Answer is simple The Price doesnt make sense 20 Euros are way too much for a game that is basically a mediocre flying Simulator. For 20 Euros I expected something more for example Police or Fireman that really do something at the Places where you at. Also I expected to see at least some basic graphics not graphics that I saw on games from 2014 in which people had animations. Would I recommend it for less ? Thats hard to say I would never pay for a game like this and I like to just fly around and do nothing but even for me this was boring so no I wont recommend it even for less than 20 euros not even for 10... Thanks for reading this review and I hope I could help you...

[h1] Preliminary Observation[/h1] Compared to Helicopter Simulator 2014: Search and Rescue, this is harder to fly straight and level because the chopper can't keep the throttle constant or as is called here thrust. Hence the thrust is constantly reduced as soon as you lift your finger. Perhaps a joystick with throttle lever can keep the thrust constant. However this gradual slowdown of thrust is quite useful during landing. This constant reduction of thrust incur needless busywork as you have to keep an eye on the altimeter at all times to keep the helicopter within the game artificial height limit for all missions. In contrast, HSSAR has no arbitrary ceiling restriction, it merely reminds you that you're not supposed to fly too high. This game is very punishing; too high causes instant fail and you have to restart the mission. Additionally this height restriction is too limiting; at least give another 2000 feet of headroom so as to minimize accidental failures. More review later. So far the store description looks promising despite the fact that i couldn't find a YouTube video that verifies the scope of missions. Will update this review later when i've delved deeper into this game. Till then only [b]5/10.[/b] This game should actually be titled Police Helicopter Pilot Simulator as it's more about a pilot's daily routine and career than the helicopter. [b]Update 1 - June 4th 2019; 2250 hrs[/b] [i]Amendments and Additions[/i] [list] [*]My mistake; thrust does remain constant at midpoint which can cause the helicopter to hover over a spot if it's not tilted forwards, backwards or sideways. [*] You have to reduce thrust in order to fully descend and touchdown even if you're inches off the ground. [*]Sometimes you're just asked to patrol and look for trouble. [*]Instant fail if you answer wrong. For example i was asked to describe the situation. I chose the answer "It's calm", immediate fail - RTB and wait for the next order. [*]Your work day ends at 2230 hrs. Thank you for not making me fly in the dark too much. [*]You can only save the game when the day is over. [*]Graphics is pretty good. [*]Changing scenery in the options only changes the helicopter livery so that's a misnomer. [*]There is a variable vertical indicator to tell you the optimum or allowable height so it's quite easy to know when you're about to be knocked in the head. [*]Refuelling is sometimes needed in the middle of the day. [*]Fuel level is persistent between one day to the next so make sure the bird is not thirsty. [*]In the tutorial the commander said i should be well rested and replenished between missions so that i could do my job well but so far in 2 days there is no time in between missions; Luckily i took some drinks before mission starts, not in real life of course. Wonder what will happen if i didn't. [*]Loading time from the main menu is too long IMO. [*]Key binds can't be changed but that's ok; there aren't many to remember and they work just fine. [*]Music is way better than Helicopter Simulator Search and Rescue 2014 but its level is inconsistent; during active missions it's loud and during patrol or downtime it's soft. The difference is quite a few decibels. [/list] Game is pretty good; i enjoy landing at different places. Score revised to [b]7/10[/b]. I know it's contrary to many other reviews but i enjoyed it and i think there would be more interesting missions at higher ranks. Tutorial - Station orientation and flight instructions. Hit the ceiling because i didn't notice the height limit indicator on the left. Also there was a little glitch in the options when i tried to change the graphics details but it happened only once. https://youtu.be/6UXvLzkYoE8 Day 1 - fail 1 out of 3 missions because of wrong answer. Exceeded 2230 hrs to finish up and return to base but the on screen prompt said that it's 2230 hrs. I guess no overtime pay :p https://youtu.be/k3Q9NoEn5yM Day 2 - Just patrol and look for trouble which is fine because i get to visit POI (point of interest) and get some achievements. The achievements don't popup on screen until after you exit the game. I think Steam servers were a little slow at that time; all the achievements popped-up one after another right after i exited the game. Not shown here because i already stopped the recorder. There is no career score if you can't spot any anomalies. https://youtu.be/QsAz2FO6h5U [b]Update 2 - June 5th, 2018 1309 hrs[/b] [i]Addendum[/i] [list] [*]There's another shift that ends at 1630 hrs [*]You can't land anywhere else except on helicopter landing pads even at airports or any other level ground; no matter how gently you land, your chopper will be destroyed. That's just BS. Score reduced to [b]6/10[/b] [/list] [Update 3 - June 6th 2019 1257 hrs [h1]Master Caution[/h1] [list] [*]The game monitors your activity without your consent! I found this file here: [*][i]C:\Users\*your name*\AppData\LocalLow\VIS-Games\PolizeihubschrauberSimulator\Unity\local.a81820d502cc4434eaa97cee372ab3be\Analytics[/i] [*]The file is called 'config' with no extension. What's written in it is this: [*]{"prefs":{},"analytics":{"enabled":true},"connect":{"limit_user_tracking":false,"player_opted_out":false,"enabled":true},"performance":{"enabled":true}} [*]Guess what this means; your guess is as good as mine. What's crucial though is they never asked for my consent!! [*]What's worse is this, if you amend the file to read "analytics":{"enabled":[i]false[/i]} [*]"limit_user_tracking":[i]true[/i], "player_opted_out":[i]true[/i],"enabled":[i]false[/i] [*]Guess what happens. When you play the game again and then check the contents of the config file. The values are changed back! [*]And if you rename or delete the file, a new one is created. Meaning they force the monitoring on you whether you like it or not! [*]So if you don't like the idea of some dude somewhere monitoring your PC or what you do, don't play this game, not even if you pirate it. So much spying going on already without our consent; this one you have to pay for it! Remember " NO LIMIT TO USER TRACKING' in case you didn't notice the import. [*][b][i]Score reduced to 2/10[/i][/b] Not worth your time or money or download or security or privacy or confidential data risk. [/list] [h1]You have been warned.[/h1] I'm gonna try to work around it though since i already bought it.

First things first: This is NOT a simulation. In fact, it couldn't be farther from being a sim, it's pure arcade. The flight behavior in this game has nothing to do with how an actual helicopter moves. In my opinion, the developers have put their focus on the wrong things. You get a huge police station with all kinds of details (working coffee machine etc.) where you can move around FPS-style, but the core gameplay - you know, the flying part - is pretty dull, feels wrong and is just plain unrealistic.

Probably the worst helicopter game I have ever played. No proper flight stick suppport even for the sticks it lists in its menu, physics are abysmal, controls are even worse. Basically an asset flip.

This game is way to plain. No interaction nothing you get in your heli and fly around. The game is a bit wierd when you come to a demonstarion it ask if it is a calm, agressive or if it ended well you cant realy see if it is calm or agressive wich is bad. You fail your mission if you fly to high which it never warns you about.

das ist ja gestern net so gut gelaufen

Dieses Spiel ist auch sehr spannend und interessant aber leider kann man das Spiel nur mit Tastatur spielen leider nicht mit Joystick das ist ja schade