So, what is this game all about? Helicopters of course! And a lot of them. You have to unlock them after accumulating the required amount of stars. There are a lot of variety here when it comes to the chopper selection. The game is locked to the normal difficulty, so once you beat the game, you will have access to the easy difficulty. I have no idea why they did this, as the game can get a lot frustrating even on the normal difficulty.

The main cause for frustration is the controls. Yep, they are horrendous and unresponsive, and the thing that makes it worse is the targeting. It’s a side scrolling game, but you also have the option of turning your helicopter in the most clumsiest way imaginable. It just didn’t work properly for me; it was incredibly annoying especially when taking fire, and when you factor-in the terrible controls – it just becomes a clusterfuck of massive proportions.

The main premise of the game is to rescue people and bring them to safety, and if you encounter enemy fire, you can return the honours yourself. There are plenty of helicopters at your disposal here, but they take a while to unlock. The amount of levels available aren’t scarce either. As you keep playing, the difficulty increases and this is where this game falls apart, when you the controls make your gameplay experience really torturous. 

When your helicopter is damaged, you can head back to base to repair it and you can also refuel at certain stations, which is shown in the HUD on top of the screen. If you use boost, you will burn fuel fast, but it also helps you escape enemy fire. The game does provide some thrilling moments where you feel like a hero for rescuing hostages from a dangerous situation, but it eventually gets old. You also have a lot of firepower at your disposal depending on the chopper you are using.

You have to land carefully while picking up or dropping off hostages, where this is a chance you can crush them. I actually found it interesting to do that, because well, it’s a lot of fun. There is a lot of missions available where you have to do complicated things, but once you get the hang of the game and the controls, it is a bit manageable. I really, really disliked this game due to the controls, as it just wasn’t immersive enough, and the visual design makes it worse to appreciate anything about the game.

There is nothing here in this game, that would warrant a replay. It has terribly shallow gameplay, and it’s a technical mess. All of this could be forgiven, if the controls were good, but unfortunately, it isn’t. It feels like the developers worked on a really short budget here, as this game doesn’t justify the 1200 MSP or $15 they ask.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox 360.

inXile Entertainment today announced that the highly anticipated Choplifter HD is now available for download via PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade and PC for $14.99/1200 Microsoft points

“We really focused on returning to our old school gaming roots with Choplifter HD,” said Brian Fargo, CEO of InXile Entertainment. “We made sure to have plenty of variety in missions, choppers and enemies, while lacing in those special moments that we love here at InXile. Choplifter HD is the kind of game that WE want to play! We are very proud of the experience we created and I can’t wait for gamers to get their hands on it!”

Konami have outlined the pricing and release date of Choplifter HD. The game will be available on January 10th for the PSN for $14.99 and on the next day for XBL for 1200 Microsoft points. You can check the official PR below:

InXile Entertainment today confirmed release dates and pricing for Choplifter HD across the PlayStation® Network, Xbox Live® Arcade and PC. Choplifter HD will be available for download next Tuesday, January 10 on the PlayStation Network and PC; and will be available just a few hours later on January 11 on the Xbox Live Arcade. Priced at $14.99 or 1200 Microsoft points, Choplifter HD is developed by inXile Entertainment. InXile will publish the PlayStation Network and PC versions and will co-publish the Xbox Live Arcade version with Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.

In Choplifter HD, players take control of a variety of helicopters armed with a number of offensive capabilities so they can swoop in and make daring rescues in hot zones. The game features more than 30 missions ranging from straight prisoner extraction to dropping off saboteurs that blow buildings sky high to saving survivors from viral outbreaks. Pilots must bank, hover, touchdown, and sometimes even shake loose pesky zombies hanging from their choppers. Gamers can also look forward to a few cameos from some of the videogame industry’s most legendary leading men including Duke Nukem and Super Meat Boy. Choplifter HD combines intense action, humor and tons of variety, creating developer inXile Entertainment’s own, fresh take on the original Choplifter experience. Choplifter HD is rated T for Teen by the ESRB and dares players to risk their lives in order to save others starting today.

Here is a gameplay video as well as a developer walk-through of the Xbox Live Arcade game ‘Choplifter HD’.  In the game as you can guess you lift things… with a chopper.  Watch the video below, because there is much more to the game than that, with 20 levels where you will have to rescue survivors in a zombie infested city, with zombies and people grabbing on to you chopper as you lift off.  From the trailer the game actually looks like it has some funny moments including Super Meat Boy’s cameo.. gotta save him.  It will be out this fall for Xbox Live Arcade, the Playstation Network and the PC.