Apache AH-64 Air Assault is a 3D chopper shooter developed by InterActive Vision (these guys created games such as Search And Rescue 4, Vietnam Med Evac, Beyond Pearl Harbor: Pacific Warriors and Worlds Of Billy 2). In the game you get to sit in the cockpit of the AH-64 Apache combat helicopter and do battle with enemy units both in the air and on the ground.

The game features 30 missions with a story-based timeline in both jungle and desert environments, including taking out enemy outposts, providing air support for friendly units, and protecting oil refineries. Each mission has a primary objective that needs to be completed in order to complete the mission. In most cases this will involve some sort of frontal attack on enemy targets. However, some missions may call for tactics and strategic maneuvers rather than head-on attacks, for example if the enemy forces are too massive. The game offers four 4 unique weapons systems: 30mm Chain Gun (effective against lightly armored vehicles or ground soldiers), Hydra Rockets (an unguided rocket, effective against most vehicles at close range), Hellfire Missiles (a radar-guided weapon, effective against all vehicles and targets) and Zuni Rockets (unguided rockets much like the Hydras, though they carry a much more powerful explosive).

In addition, there are two different flight modes: arcade and realistic - you can press F12 on the keyboard to toggle between these two features during game-play. Arcade Mode is better for playing through keyboard - it's an easy control system that maintains helicopter altitude while flying forward. The Physics Mode is recommended for those who are using a joystick. Apache Air Assault can be played from a number of different exterior and interior camera angles (look at screenshots).

I've played this game a couple of hours and I wasn't very impressed. There are much better helicopter shooters on the market (Comanche, Heli Heroes...), so I wouldn't recommend this game. Just not worth the money.

What looks like Medal of Honor: Allied Assault plays like Medal of Honor: Allied Assault but in fact isn't Medal of Honor: Allied Assault? :) Well, I will tell you. It's Call of Duty! Call of Duty is a World War II based first person shooter developed by Infinity Ward, a newly formed studio including 22 of the individuals, and all of the production leads, who worked on the original Medal of Honour: Allied Assault. (FYI, the original company that developed Allied Assault, is now developing the Vietnam-based Men of Valor for Vivendi). Call of Duty is done in a mostly similar style to their previous work, but this game includes more of the good and less of the bad.

The single player in Call of Duty gives you three parts (28 missions) - American, British, and Russian. The maps are played chronologically with you starting as a Pathfinder for the United States (101st Airborne) on the night before D-Day invasion. You then switch over to the British (6th Airborne Division) where you join the British Special Forces as Sergeant Evan and take part in the famous assault, Capture and Defence of Pegasus Bridge. Finally there is the Russian campaign which starts in Stalingrad and ends with you raising the flag above the German Reichstach. Each of these three parts is a completely different experience with different settings, weapons and team mates. Each mission has markedly different objectives, ranging from the capture bunkers, destroy a battery of German anti-aircraft guns, daring rescue at the prison camp, capture intact a bridge crucial to the defense of the Normandy beach landings to sabotage the legendary battleship Tirpitz. Call of Duty also offers a few more densely scripted missions, such as an American level where you're riding in an old sedan, shooting Germans out the window. Another has you actually get to command a T-34 tank, controlling both its movement and turret.

Call of Duty is fast paced throughout generally, so expect hordes of enemies at times. Each mission is brilliantly paced and varies in style, so you never feel the repetitivenes, instead there are nice memorable moments such as Stalingrad opening where I've truly been made to think about the horrors of World War II. Try to imagine Volga under heavy fire from German dive-bombers and you are in a boat, this time crossing the river to Stalingrad with other "recruited" soldiers. They are pretty scared and one of your troop jump out of the boat in fear and was shot by his own officer in the water. After getting off the boat you start off with no weapon and are forced to be a runner drawing fire for snipers. There's a lots of explosions and dead bodies, as you hold back the German forces until your superiors can call in an artillery strike.

Call of Duty includes a surprisingly good multiplayer with 11 multiplayer maps based on missions from the single player campaigns. There are five multiplayer modes that range from standard, Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, to some unique modes - Behind Enemy Lines (a very small team of Allied soldiers is outnumbered and surrounded by Axis soldiers behind enemy lines), Retrieval and Seek & Destroy (a team must plant bombs on targets on the map while the other team strives to defend the targets from the saboteurs). Most of these modes are enjoyable to play, mainly because the weapons, the basic combat model, the tech and the maps are all solid. In addition, the game does include an in-game server browser with pretty much all the features you've seen in Q3A and RTCW.

I've noticed that some people are trying to compare Call of Duty with Hidden & Dangerous 2 (I will try to review the game soon). I would like to note that you can't really compare Call of Duty and H&D 2 since Call of Duty is an action FPS genre and H&D 2 is just a representative of the tactical shooter genre. As you see, totally two different genres. Some people prefer action, some tactics. Although I'd say, forget the tactics and let's go to kill all the badies! :)

Overall, Call of Duty simply rocks. No joke. It's the most atmospheric game I've ever played in this genre, and while the gameplay may not be innovative, it's solidly implemented and very enjoyable. When comparing it to movies it was a mix of the beginning of "Saving Private Ryan" and the beginning of "Enemy at the Gates". For those that haven't gotten there yet just crank up the speakers and enjoy! Is this game worth your money? Definitely!

American Conquest is historical real-time strategy game from the same team who worked on Cossacks: European Wars and its add-ons. Needless to say that the team is very professional and owing to the RTS development experience gained while working on previous projects. If you ever played Cossacks - battles with thousands of units on the map, you probably already know what I'm talking about. Unlike Cossacks, American Conquest is about the history of American continent exploration. The game covers a period of 300 years packed with various historical events, starting from Columbus's discovery of the continent and up to the War of Independence in the United States (centuries 15-18).

You will start playing as Columbus discovering the continent and then gradually move along the milestones of American history of the time. The difficulty curve will grow smoothly through missions. Initially in the game you, just as the first European travelers to America, will learn how to build fortifications, survive in the hostile territory, carry out exploration of the territory and establish diplomatic relations with Natives. The gameplay is half Cossacks, half new. There are many innovations implemented such as doubled unit limit, units go inside houses, unit morale and experience, better animations, physics, water effects, photorealistic textures and so on. The missions cover a variety of simple and complex objectives, including defending an area for a specific amount of time, reaching a resource goal, setting up an outpost, or capturing enemy territory, etc.

American Conquest features 12 different nations (including three colonial powers England, France and Spain, and smaller tribes such as the Incans, Aztecs, Iroquois, Huron, Pueblo, Delaware, Mayan, Sioux and Algonquin, each with its own appropriate characteristics, unique units, and building facades), 42 campaign missions (they include Columbus' Voyage, Pizarro's Raids, The Seven Years' War, Tecumseh's Rebellion...), over 100 different units (with several types of attack - both melee and ranged + morale and combat experience), up to 16000 units on the map though you can win even with a small group of troops, combat formations of infantry, cavalry and artillery in line with historical accuracy, six resources (food, wood, gold, iron, stone, and coal), a rich game world with flora and fauna - four climate zones - northern, moderate, desert and tropics, a variety of landscapes, random map generator, editor and multiplayer support up to 7 players.

Overall, American Conquest contains all the necessary elements for a compelling real-time strategy title. I do not think that American Conquest will disappoint you especially if you are a large fan of Cossacks