Comanche Gameplay Preview – Call of Duty but you’re a helicopter

Comanche is basically Call of Duty but you’re a helicopter. It focuses heavily on helicopter combat and it changes up the pace of the game by forcing you to switch to a heavily armed drone for certain scenarios.

The game is in early access and consists of two available modes. The first mode available a single player story mode with Mission one available right now. It is quite a lengthy mission, with multiple chapters and took me around one hour to finish.

The second available mode is the multiplayer mode. It is very similar to Call of Duty in that two types of maps are available right now, Kill Confirmed and Search and Destroy. Comanche’s version of Kill Confirmed is called Infiltration and your team of four players is tasked with eliminating the enemy players and picking up their blackbox that drops upon death. You can also deny the enemy points by picking up your teammate’s blackboxes. You need to switch to your drone in order to pick these items up so it encourages a fast hit and run, and then an immediate switch to your drone, and back again. While piloting the drone your main helicopter is stationary but vulnerable to enemy attacks.

The Comanche version of Search and Destroy tasks one team to sabotage one of two locations by arming an EMP, and then defending it from being defused. The other team is tasked with defending the locations and disarming the EMP if all else fails. The EMP can only be placed and disarmed by drones so it forces players to be patient and find a hiding place for their helicopter before switching to drones.

As for the gameplay mechanics, there are different classes of helicopters. Some of them specialize in long range, slower rate of fire but high damage attacks like snipers, and others specialize in a much faster rate of fire but with shorter range. Each helicopter class is also armed with a different type of missile, such as a stun missile that temporarily disables an opponent to a healing missile that will repair friendly helicopters.

The gameplay feels a little slow at first but once you master the flying mechanics and aiming, the game starts to pick up right away. You can aim freely, separate from your flying, by pressing shift, and this is essential to winning fights. The EMP game mode was my least favorite as it forced you to use the drones for a long time and I sure do like being a helicopter.

Fans of helicopter action have another title to look forward to in a game that shares a kindred spirit with Call of Duty.