Please login to submit a screenshot

"Uh looks extremely dull to me," commented Stuart as he paused to watch the game before slinking off to one of his numerous dental appointments, and he was in a certain sense, completely right. Gunship 2000 can look dull, especially compared to cutesie platform games, tedious shoot-em-ups and other so-called ‘entertainment’. That is because the writers have taken their time to build in playability and realism rather than working on amusing sprites that tap their toes and wave at you. Also vector graphics always look dull when static, because they are made to be seen in motion.
What does not look at all dull in this CD32 version of the Amiga game (AP28, 85%) is the incredible intro sequence, featuring a team of three attack helicopters and skip-loads of flashy rendered graphics, and displayed in a small portion of its glory here. However, a flashy intro does not make a jot of difference to a game (look at Microcosm), so I will say a quick thanks to MicroProse while at the same time adding nothing to the end mark.

We are in familiar flight sim territory here, even down to the tried and tested method of giving you a primary and secondary mission to complete. Randomly placing the attack sites on the terrain makes full use of the gorgeously crafted landscapes and also stops you getting bored of endlessly flying the same missions. Unlike many flight sims, the ground goes down into valleys as well as up into hills, which lets you contour fly your way to a target and thus avoid ground fire.

It all runs incredibly fast, so much so that the option to reduce detail levels seems a tad superfluous. Ground details and exterior views of your chopper are brilliant, and once the missiles and cannon fire start flying, it all looks rather fab and groovy. There is a campaign structure to the game, with your pilot details being stored on the none-volatile internal memory, and if you compare this to flight sims on other consoles, you can see straight off that it completely stuffs the opposition.

Compare it to the standard Amiga version though, and it has got both plus and minus points. The main reason I marked the original down was that tedious disk swapping really hacked into my enjoyment of the game, but obviously that is not a problem any more, so hoorah for that. The sound has noticeably beefed up, with only mildly annoying music and a co-pilot voice that warns you of all incoming fire and nearby targets. This version also runs faster, and even when you use the ‘accelerate time’ option to get into action, the effect’s more of flowing rather than jumping ahead. Finally, the controller is used to maximum effect, but after a couple of hours I found mself wishing someone would bring out a bigger, comfortable one soon. The top buttons cycle through the cockpit displays and change way-points whereas the other buttons give you weapon choice, target choice, auto-hover and a fire button at your fingertips. At last – a CD32 game that makes use of all those buttons!

The down side is that there still are not enough keys for all the options. Accessing the map screen is simple enough – you just press pause twice, but the menu options reduce the usability of the exterior views to nil. In the Amiga version, it took only a single key stroke to get a external view or hitch a ride on an outgoing missile. In this version, you have got to fire a missile, then pause the game, go down a menu to ‘view’, select ‘missile’ then exit to return to the game, which is so faffy and intrusive it sort of spoils the effect. Shame, that.
CAM WINSTANLEY

Amiga Power, Issue 38, June 1994, p.66

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Contour fly your way to a target"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPPERS Options for everything from theatres of conflict to weapon loads and helicopters. It is fast, it is smooth, and the graphics are awesome. Great sound, loads and loads of missions and game life judged in years rather than months.
DOWNERS You effectively lose the external views, which is sad but not worth crying about.

THE BOTTOM LINE
After Knights Of The Sky, this is my second fave flight sim. You can admire the views in hover mode and the action is densely packed and close quarters, so you usually see what you are shooting at. A fairly essential buy for your CD32, I would say.
91

P E R C E N T

Title Gunship 2000 (CD32)
Game Type Flight Sim
Players 1
Compatibility CD32
Company Microprose
Submission Courtesy of Sean Caszatt

Review
I don't want to sound like a broken record, but these straight ports from
the Amiga versions of games to the CD³² really have got to stop. Here,
with GUNSHIP 2000, we have an excellent Amiga game ported to the CD³² with
some nice packaging and a fancy 3D rendered intro. This has been pretty
much the extent of software development for the CD³².

Yes, GUNSHIP 2000 is a good, solid playable game. The CD³² is up to its
ears in platform games, and a flight simulator with a lot of shooting and
destruction is more than overdue. Is this all that the CD³² is capable
of? No. Until TFX arrives, this looks like all we're gonna get though.

For those unfamiliar with the game, GUNSHIP 2000 allows you to strap into
one of several helicopters to carry out missions against an unnamed enemy.
You can choose missions in the Persian Gulf or in Europe. As you move up
in ranks by completing missions, you are able to fly stronger and more
agile helicopters.

GUNSHIP 2000 was fairly speedy on an unaccelerated Amiga 500. On the
CD³², it moves a long at a good, comfortable pace. It never seems too
slow. The graphics, the intro animation not included, are nothing
fantastic and don't seem to use the AGA chipset at all. They serve their
purpose and everything's laid out well on the cockpit screen.

I was really expecting more from the CD³² version of the game, but I guess
that's going to have to stop. The companies making CD³² games just don't
seem to want to put anything else into the games after they make the intro
animations. It's a real let down to see these brilliant animations and
then be offered the same game I played on my Amiga 500 last summer. I
want more than that.

I can't count anything against the actual game. It's good. The controls
are slightly confusing, but never awkward. The graphics aren't pretty but
they're acceptable. GUNSHIP 2000 is a game that fills a niche in the CD³²
line-up, but will be overshadowed if something more glamorous and fun arrives.