It’s a great voxel-based arcade game where the goal is to rescue POWs in your helicopter. The challenge is in controlling your helicopter, ensuring it’s still operation even when under attack, and landing safely.
There’s only two buttons you have to care about: the left arrow (or left mouse button) key and the right arrow (or right mouse button) key. Press them together, you go up. Press only the left; you go left; and press only the right, you go right. The shooting is automatic. The entire focus is on keeping your ship in the air.
I’ve spent many, many hours playing this game. After eight years of owning it, I keep coming back. It has this arcade quality about it that simply addictive. And actually, if this game were released for arcades, it would probably be very popular.
This being a voxel-based game, the graphics remind me a lot of Minecraft. However, this is not a sandbox game. It’s more like a 2.5D game that simply uses voxels. Personally, I love voxels – they have a lot of charm.
There’s no music in this game, and I’d probably find it annoying since the ambient effects are on point. I quite like the helicopter sounds and the faint voices heard on radio.
Now if you wonder why I continue to use Windows for gaming, here’s a simple fact: it’s the only platform that Dustoff Heli Rescue is still available. This game started off as a mobile game. Yet, you can no longer find this game on iOS or Android. And the Mac version is no longer playable since it’s not compatible with the new ARM-based Macs. It might be compatible for Linux via Proton, but so far, nobody has tested this to see if it’s actually the case.
This must have been a fairly successful game for developer Invictus Games because, later on, we got Dustoff Heli Rescue 2 and Dustoff Z. I have yet to try either of those sequels, however.
I’ve had a lot of fun with Dustoff Heli Rescue, and I recommend it. As well, it is pretty cheap. Steam sells it for C$4.65
