Hind

It's been a long time since I was able to play this so the details are a bit off. It's a flight simulator, similar to Apache Longbow, only this time you fight with USSR equipment. The whole flight mechanic feels different, more fluid perhaps and while lower tech than the Apache games (I would say it is as complicated, controls wise, as Gunship 2000 was), it never feels like it is lacking. Your missions are usually of the close air support variety, though you get missions where you have to carry infantry to and/or from battle. Ah yes, you see the Hind, in case you didn't know, is capable of carrying a platoon of troops. Basically it was (still is) the BMP-1 of the helo world. :) Reliable, good enough armor, ton of weapons and such an ugly face, you got to love it. In the game you get to change position between the pilot and the gunner. Nothing too complicated, but a Cobra this aint. If you like other flight sims made in the 90's, you will have no problem with the audio/visual department either. The terrain remains good enough to be acceptable even today, and the rest of the graphics are passable, they retain a certain visual quality that some classic games do. A joystick is highly advised and if you have no experience with helicopter flight sims, you will need to read the manual to understand a few basic things regarding how helicopters actually fly. After a few tries, flying the missions will not be a problem, though winning them will since you will have to use your brain to beat them. Always remember, flying low makes you more difficult to detect, but you will become a target for regular infantry and small arms fire. Great game.

Hind is, I think, the pinnacle of Digital Integration's awesome series of flight simulations. The only sim of its kind -- that I know of -- to allow to you to fly these iconic beasts, this game was one of the first games of its type to also feature interactive infantry that you could fly into and out of the conflict. The campaigns were engaging and dynamic, the flight model felt great and could be adjusted to a wide array of players, and the world you flew in felt pretty alive. I played this more than any other helicopter sim except maybe for Jane's Longbow 2. Overall, if you have any kind of fondness for helicopter combat and want to try something different, pick this bad boy up.

Other reviews (excepting that one El Bizarro reviewer who says not to get this one, but to get Comanche vs. Hokum instead - that series doesn't let you fly a Hind, so exactly how is it 'better'?!) have hit the nail on the head as to how fun this sim is, I'll just fill in some of the gaps. If you're hesitant about buying a sim about ugly-looking Russian hardware: Don't. The Hind is like the ugly Russian A-10 gunship of the East. The sucker flies up to 300kts, getting as close as 50' to the ground - a scary thing in real life that is just exhilarating in this sim. Couple this with a nasty turreted cannon, streams of rockets slamming into targets ahead of it, and capable anti-tank missiles (and air-to-air combat), and this sucker is a nasty battlefield presence. It flies, at times, contrary to what US gunships would. For instance, you can hide behind hills, taking out AAA and SAMs at an airfield, and then go straight towards the field at 250kts and blast everything down to ruins with the gun and rockets - something an Apache just wasn't really designed to do. It's a very unique experience. Couple this with the fact that the Hind has a large bay in the midsection that can offload troops, or take on wounded from the field, and the sim delivers a very diverse, challenging, and unique set of missions. You can even taxi to a runway and do a semi-normal rolling takeoff! It features a very functional and extensive mission planner (for anybody who remembers, it is basically the same thing from the old DI Tornado sim). Has a full suite of training missions, single missions, and then campaigns. For the cost of this game you are more than getting your money's worth! And the graphics are very clean, crisp, and highly detailed! The airfields are alive with other helos flying, jets landing and taking off, troops walking around, etc. You can also play it with, or without a joystick - just a matter of tuning the flight model to your method of flying. An exceptional purchase.

HIND or Mi-24.... This simulator was the first (if I know it well) what used a russian military helicopter and you got russian missions against the the "west", rebels or afgan warriors. It is feeling to be a "bad russian"m but its a great simulator. Its old, the graphic was not so good and now its really bad, but... It so good. I really liked it to play, for fun and for nostalgic feelings (I played a lot when I was a kid). I recommend this game for simulator fans to get the old school simulator view. By the way: I downloaded the soundtrack and I surprisingly find the Panzer General 1 soundtrack too. A good extra gift. Finaly: I really hope that like other games, this will get a better rework, a remastered HD edition, and if this would happen: best simulator game ever!