Helicopter Air Fighting – Simple Shooting Game

Blast enemy helicopters out of the sky!

Simplicity is highly underrated, and at times can prove to be the most challenging of games. If you are the type of gamer who needs a break from the barrage of input that most shooting games dump on players, forcing them to maniacally engage in gameplay so as to not get obliterated while trying to take out as many targets as possible, then Helicopter Air Fighting offers just the thing.

Your first reaction might be – helicopters? Yes, helicopters. You command one of three helicopters, and you get to choose. Your mission is to blast enemy helicopters out of the sky as they approach your fight zone. The game whispers traces of Mortal Kombat style of game play, but on a playing field that is far different. Once you download open the game, it offers the option of Game Center connectivity, so you can publish your stats and keep track of how other players are doing. As is the case with Game Center, it’s a great way to see your improvement the more you play.

After moving past that step, you may get one or two in-app ads – remember, nothing is for free. Once you slide past those interruptions, you move on the game’s main screen, which basically shows you three different helicopters, one yellow, one green and one blue. For each helicopter, the “health” and “damage” assessment is shown in the top left corner as colored bars, so you can see what shape each copter is in before you choose to send it into battle. Once you select your modus operandi, the app moves you into the battle screen. Here you will find a compass-like icon in the bottom left corner. This is actually your virtual joystick. Use this to move your copter up, down, left or right. Move to the bottom right corner and you will find two circles filled with images. The leftmost image is yellow, and is some type of firing missile, although I took it to be a crayon. Why, I do not know, because why would someone want to draw anything in a shooter game?

Back to the missiles; it seems you only have so many missiles, so you must be vigilant on when to shoot. Shoot when the slowly approaching enemy helicopter is out of range, and you will waste precious ammo. You must take heed to ensure that the oncoming helicopter is close enough to be taken down, but not too close where your missile fails and you are blown to bits.

Helicopter Air Fighting is fairly easy to catch on to, but frustrating at first, because there is no help menu, no instructions and no explanation of what the game is all about and what you need to accomplish. As soon as you are taken to the gaming screen, helicopters start to appear from the right side of the screen, ready to attack, and you must quickly figure out what the compass is, how to use it and how to fire back. It took a few downed helicopters on my end to see the light, and then I knew what to do. Somehow, I think a three-year old would have figured it out instantly, so maybe my complaints are just moot.