Apache Longbow

Apache Longbow was a computer game released by Digital Integration in 1995 for DOS & Mac. It was released as Apache in the United States.

Apache is a combat flight simulator of the American AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter.

It runs in DOS and has fairly minimal requirements considering that it was published during a period when Intel Pentium microprocessor-based PC systems were first becoming common. The game comes with a printed 90 page manual.

The mac version will run on any PPC with System 9.

Menus in the simulation
On game start up a short video is played then the player is presented with different menus.

One of these is the Main Screen which has a quick start option, flight option, preferences (game preferences) option and a Pilot's Log option (The player can choose his pilot's name).

The Flight Options menu has a training option (In Fort Hood, Texas), a Single Mission option, a campaign option, a network option (for network multiplayer) and a Two Player option.

Another menu presented whether in Single Player or Campaign Mode is the World Map in which combat will take place in 3 areas (Yemen, Korea or Cyprus).

The training in the game is extensive and teaches the use of weapon systems, navigation and helicopter avionics systems. In single player mode the player can choose which mission that he or she prefers to select in the 3 areas.

In campaign mode the player can choose which 3 areas he wishes to enter in a tour of duty. The Campaign mode also plays video clips and has a briefing before any mission. In addition there is a Briefing Menu before the player goes into combat which has a Mission Description and then when the player selects the mission a detailed mission map (like a mission editor) is shown with the flight plan and the player can chose his desired ordnance, zoom in on the map, given a satellite view of the area or target and given meteorological data. The Briefing is also narrated with an American speaker and this narration also takes place in the campaign mode.

Gameplay
A joystick is preferred and a soundcard is desired in the simulation to fully enjoy this titles multimedia gameplay. The graphics are pretty simple in the simulation either 320 by 200 pixels or 640 by 480 pixels but the detailing on each vehicle or ship is more than adequate.

Apache is rated as a PC Gamer editors choice game with a high rating and the simulation is almost on par with Jane's Longbow simulation although it lacks the sophisticated avionics of that title.

There are quite a lot of vehicles and ships in this simulation which is similar to Digital Integration's earlier flight simulation Tornado in layout and gameplay.

Graphics are simple gourad shaded polygons, but many are used on cities and airfields giving the impression of a detailed landscape for the time period (1995). Ground Battles can be seen taking place when in combat. All the missions and campaigns in this simulation are fictional and hypothetical.

The simulator plays a pleasant non vocal rock music theme when one is in the menus but not when one is in the simulation. It has good combat sound tracks of weapons being fired and combat crew talk when on a mission. There is a hotkey which pauses the simulation and takes the player into an electronic manual of the simulation. This can be helpful if one forgets the key to activate a particular function in the game.

Allies
A number of allied units are present in the game, including F-15 Eagle fighters, UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, M113 armored personnel carriers, Patriot missile launchers, and M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks.

Enemies
A variety of enemy units are present as well, including Mi-24 Hind helicopters, AH-1 Super Cobra helicopters, MiG-27 ground attack fighters, C-130 Hercules transports, MiG-29 fighters, Su-25 fighters, and F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters.

Similar games by Digital Integration

 * Tornado 1993 (DOS PC)
 * Hind 1996 UK and 1997 U.S. (DOS and Windows PC)
 * iF-16 Fighting Falcon 1996 (DOS and Windows PC)
 * F/A-18E Super Hornet 2000 (Windows PC)