RC Heli – Indoor Racing, a fun new RC Helicopter sim from Ethervision, is now available in the app store. Within the confines of a 3-story house, you now have the opportunity to put your racing skills to the test or simply practice your precision control by free-roaming.
RC Heli puts you at the virtual controls of a very realistic RC Helicopter, shaky motion and all. There are two modes of play: Free Flight and Race. Free Flight gives you the chance to hone your flying skills, allowing you to fly around the house and explore the various nooks. This is a blast, as the controls work extremely well and the nostalgia effect is in high gear. It’s a lot of fun just to fly up and down the stairs, duck into a closet, zip around the living room, and go wherever you please. Of course, there are pitfalls to avoid. Fans may blow you off-course, hitting walls and ceilings will damage your helicopter, and you’ll quickly deplete your battery. Landing on any of the helipads scattered throughout the house will recharge your battery and fix any damage that you’ve incurred. After a while, you’ll likely be looking for a bit of a challenge to keep your attention. That’s where Race mode comes in. Various coins are placed around the house. Your goal is to fly around and collect them as quickly as possible. There are 6 tracks to race. Beating one unlocks the next, and it also unlocks rooms for you to explore in Free Flight mode. There is a very nice tutorial mode that displays written instructions and also takes you through all of the different actions, requiring you to complete them in order to move on.
Graphically, the game looks very nice. There’s nothing groundbreaking, but the animation is pretty fluid and the rooms are very appealing. The helicopter sounds are fairly accurate, too. There is no background music. Controls have a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, flying the copter feels pretty natural. The left control stick controls your up and down movements, while the right control stick is responsible for pitch and rotation. Optionally, you can choose a second control scheme or use the accelerometer to control direction. There are also 3 different camera angles to choose from, including a 3rd person view that follows the helicopter, a fixed view as a real operator would use, and a cockpit view, which is self explanatory. The fixed view is somewhat difficult and the cockpit view can be fun, but we preferred the 3rd person view for ease of operation.
There are both local and global leaderboards, giving you motivation to keep playing to best your own scores or even try to top the world’s best players. You can also connect to Twitter or Facebook to brag about your accomplishments, if you wish. The enjoyment of flying an RC Heli alone is enough to keep us coming back. There is nothing else quite like this game in the app store. RC Heli is currently enjoying an extended launch sale price of $0.99 until the first update is released, which will add 4 CH control options. RC Heli flies high with a 4-Dimple score.
RC Heli -- Indoor Racing gets our AppSmile 4-Dimple rating:
