Article Type: Review
Article Date: December 06, 2001
The Forgotten Service
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| Options screen |
So, you're feeling a bit Patriotic, but you've flown all the US Air Force jets you can handle, the Navy oil-burners are also old hat, and the Marines fly nothing that has not been simulated for the Navy for quite some time. The Army's rotary wing craft look appealing, but the Apache has just been overdone? What about that neglected US Service? Huh, what, there's another Service? Why, yes, the US Coast Guard! Search and Rescue Masters Extraordinaire! The combat is against time and the elements. The simulation is of the rotary wing variety. So, if you've had a desire for a different sort of combat simulation, read on.
Search and Rescue 3 (SAR 3) comes in a colorful retail box featuring a rendered shot of an SH-3 Sea King helicopter on the front. I shook out the contents and not only did I find a CD for the game but an actual printed manual too—a true rarity these days. The manual is laid out nicely with the keyboard command chart thoughtfully placed dead center so you can keep the book open without the pages flipping shut. The manual's instructions explain the menus, the rules for rescue, the three types of helos airframes, basic helicopter flight and dynamics, even emergency situations like auto rotations.
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Three airframe choices  |
While the rather large 444 MB install progresses, you'll have plenty of time to leaf through some of these sections in the manual.
Once the install is complete, double-click upon the newly created shortcut and you'll be greeted with a menu of choices that includes the license agreement, installation, registration, graphics settings and play game. First thing I did was crank up the resolution to 1024 X 768, then hit the play game button.
The loading screen is a graphic of the sim's three helo airframes and a progress bar. The next screen displays choices for a single mission, campaign, options, or exit. Clicking on the options choice reveals settings for sound, graphics, and controls. Under the controls section you can setup the cyclic and collective settings via presets for a variety of joystick and throttles. I discovered later on (after bass-ackwarding the collective a few too many times) that any of the settings for the X, Y, and Z controller axes can be inverted. This is very handy for us fixed-wing pilots used to pushing forward on the throttle for more power (in a helo sim, the default setting is that pushing forward on the throttle reduces collective and you drop like a stone).
Airframes
In looking around in the single missions listing the first ten on the list are free-flights, just the ticket for prowling around and seeing the sights and getting used to driving these whirlybirds. I briefly visited each of the ten to check out the environments, and the different handling characteristics of the three airframes.
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| BK-117 |
The BK-117 is the lightest airframe, and has fixed skids, no landing gear here.
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| HH-65A Dolphin |
The French Dolphin is a mid-sized sports car in comparison.
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| SH-3 Sea King |
The last airframe is the heavyweight of the trio, the ubiquitous H-3. Not exactly a Chinook in the heavy-lift department, but still capable of larger capacities. The US Army used to call these Jolly Green Giants, as opposed to the H-53, Super Jolly Green, which the US Air Force made much use of and I actually got a few rides in while with USAFE. Both of these Helos have been all but replaced by the various incarnations of the H-60 in the US Armed Services.
When it comes to outright usability, the layout of the Dolphin was my chopper of choice. The cockpit layout at 1024*768 is the most readable in 3D, as the 2D popup just obscures the lower edge.
Graphics
Overall graphics vary greatly in this simulation. Where the mountainous terrains look almost photo realistic, most other areas look like the standard fare before 3D acceleration came about some years ago. Great stretches of mundane scenery occasionally yield up pockets of minute detail that are not terribly well polished.
You'll see some dynamic events unfolding in this world, most notably vehicles traversing the roadways, but there are occasions where they get to the end of the line, chuck a "U", and head back the way they came. Road vehicles also don't seem to be really traveling "on" the roadways; see a car or truck disappear or become submerged in a hill is not an unusual sight. Obviously the roads are just suggested paths rather than physical realities.
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| Subterranean SUV |
Missions
But we're here to do some rescues not sightsee, so let's try a few missions. All missions are accessible via the single mission menu. There are over a hundred of them, so you can browse through the descriptions and pick one that suits your fancy. I tried a couple starts at campaigns, and it seems that they just randomly draw missions from the single mission listings and tote up the results for achieving rank, etc. Most missions have a particular event that has transpired where a hapless individual is in some sort of jeopardy. The terrain in which the victim needs rescuing dictates the type of rescue to be attempted. The briefing gives you an idea of which of the available recovery apparatus to utilize, but usually uses vague terms.
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| Semi-cryptic briefings |
For instance, the briefing may mention that a hoist removal is in order because there are trees in the area. There are, however, four different rigs that can be lowered to accomplish the pickup. These are a basket, a sling, a litter and even a crewman. If you deploy the incorrect item a message will show in the console that it is not possible. The sim will let you can barge through the rescue with the improper rig, but you will get a penalty at the end for sending out the wrong item.
Precision is Key
Precision is a necessity just to fly these birds, but you must also be very precise in where you station your helo during the mission. For instance, your rescue diver might be injured if you let him jump out the door while more than 15 feet above the water. If you get too close to the victim, the diver can hit the victim and injure them both. A victim in the water can be further injured by rotor downwash.
There are a few delivery missions where an item must be lowered and placed on a tiny flashing light in order to count. Getting all these minute placement variables correct can make for some very sweaty palms on the controllers; and if that weren't enough to make you tense, there's often a time limit. There are no flares for missile evasion or return fire here, but all these other factors make this a real rotary wing challenge.
Conclusion
The aircraft seem to be where most of the work for this new release has gone. The airframes do look very good, but when they are placed in front of some of the neon colored backdrops the suspension of disbelief is stretched to the breaking point.
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| Clash of colors |
SAR 3's 100 missions are a challenge, which is good, but getting the sim to start in my chosen screen resolution was also a challenge at times too. The developers should be applauded for delving into this neglected aspect of flight simulation because the tension levels are certainly there. There is also a good variety and abundance of missions, but the gameplay rating is lowered because there's little or no continuity between these many missions. If the graphics engine were updated to a level of something resembling Longbow 2, and not Enemy Engaged, Comanche versus Hokum, it would go a long way toward enhancing the immersion for the user.
