As my first foray into remote control helicopter games, Xbox Live’s indie title Pixelbit Helicopter Challenge was a very enjoyable simulation. For the reasonable price tag of 80 Microsoft Points, it soars above the small number of similarly priced indie helicopter sims with its believable physics and bright, clear graphics. From the team behind Pixelbit Snooker & Pool, this title shows a lot of promise, but it is not completely without its flaws.
For anyone familiar with real-life RC helicopters, the controls will feel natural; however for a novice they may seem tricky at first, as one analogue stick controls throttle (the “up” movement) and the other controls turning and moving forward and backwards. The controls can be changed to one of four presets, depending on which hands you feel more natural using for throttle and movement, but the default controls seemed to do an acceptable job of mimicking an RC controller. The right trigger is used for your helicopters cannons, but more on that in a moment. A tutorial level gives you advice on hovering, turning and negotiating obstacles, and is highly recommended before you begin.
The game is set in a house with 5 typical rooms: living room, kitchen, bedroom, kids bedroom, and attic. Each room contains 4 timed challenges and an unlockable bonus challenge, and each challenge offers bronze, silver or gold rewards based upon completion time. The challenges range from flying through hoops and collecting stars and bonus objects, to shooting stationary and moving targets with your mounted cannons, all while negotiating around well realised rooms filled with furniture and appliances. Get too close to the walls or furniture though, and the rotors on your helicopter will break and you have to start the whole challenge again.
Initially there are 2 helicopters available, a balanced model and one that is more suited to speed. Complete enough challenges successfully and there are an additional 2 helicopters to choose from, including an Apache-type model which handles, as you might expect, excellently. I often found myself wishing there was a garden area or a larger space to practice flying them in though, as the house can feel a bit small at times.
One small drawback of the game is the soundtrack; the sound effects are basic but good and can be switched off, but the music is bland and at times a bit tedious. Again this can be switched off, but that leaves the game feeling a bit empty. The graphics are bright and colourful, and the rooms are realistically cluttered with bright 3D objects that have a cel-shaded look. It’s an art style that will suit some players but may not please everyone. The camera can sometimes be another drawback; while it is often excellent at following the movement (it stays behind the tail of the helicopter), it can get stuck on furniture and if hovering near a wall to reach a collectible, it can often choose an inappropriate angle making manoeuvring tricky.
Pixelbit Helicopter Challenge is only a single player game, and I’m not convinced that there would be a great deal of replay value once all of the 30 challenges were mastered on gold. However, with it’s unusual choice of control pad layout, unlockable items, and”just one more try” addictiveness (combined with the very appealing price-tag) might just make it a worthy purchase, especially for an indie title.
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Things We Liked: Excellent RC helicopter physics. Unique control layout. Addictive gameplay.
Things We Disliked: Uninspiring soundtrack. A little short. Occasional glitchy camera.
Target Audience: RC helicopter fans. Regular helicopter fans. Fans of unusual game controls.
(Pixelbit Helicopter Challenge – Developer/Publisher: Pixelbit Games. Available for Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Indie Games. A copy of the game was provided by the publishers for review purposes. Unfamiliar with CFD!’s review system? Read our newly revised explanation here.)
