Double Take: Force RC
A REAL-LIFE VIDEO GAME THAT CREATES RC PILOTS
ZAKARY WILLIAMS
Do you feel restricted by the walls of an Xbox? Has the Wii roller-coaster ride lost its thrill? Did the train leave the PlayStation without you? If you're looking for an interactive indoor activity that offers everything a video game can and more, put down the reset button and look at Force helicopters from Horizon Hobby.
I'm lucky to have friends in the RC hobby. William and Jacob Ramsey take me out flying every now and then, and they have almost made me a solo RC pilot. They called me for a sleepover recently and I was surprised at what was in store for my visit. If someone told me that I'd leave their house the next day a solo helicopter pilot, no way would I have believed it. And I wouldn't have gone, because that sounds like work.
We were to do battle, but I wouldn't need my football padding or video game remote. Battle-simulation games are a favorite, and we always play as if we're actually in the cockpit of a gunship. As it turns out, the time we spent pounding buttons on a remote and screaming at a flat screen weren't the waste of time our parents might have thought. Eye/hand coordination is a good skill.
Force RC features models born from the widely popular line of mCX helicopters sold by E-flite (now Blade RC). I understand that thousands of mCXs have been sold, and even an editor of MA magazine once wrote "...a cross-rotor-blade helicopter is the best RC trainer money can buy." For our weekend of fighter-ace glory, there were enough Force RC machines that we didn't have to share.
Key features and setup
- Fully assembled and flight-trimmed at the factory.
- Batteries are included to power the 2.4 GHz transmitter; the single-cell Li-Poly battery for the helicopter can be charged from the transmitter.
- Controls feel familiar — a cross between typical radio control and a PlayStation-style game controller (complete with triggers).
- Two body styles: FHX and MX-35. Both have the same performance; one is more military-looking.
- Three game modes: free-for-all, team, and squad. Team ID functions are easy to set for blue, red, or green.
- On-board options and programming are available to make the helicopter more aerobatic, but they're not required to have fun right away.
- SimpliFly Mode is available to disable roll control for an easier learning curve.
Gameplay and combat They automatically start with the on-board LED glowing green, which is the free-for-all mode — everyone on the field can be hit and sensors respond to hits from other teams. That feature got a lot of laughs. We experimented with the programming options, but you can jump in and play immediately.
William and Jacob knocked my model out of the air almost instantly during every flight — they were much better pilots than I was. We shortened the effective range of the on-board "guns" from 20 feet to 10 feet to even the odds.
When the gun trigger is pressed, a machine-gun sound effect comes out of a speaker in the transmitter. A bright white LED glows on the helicopter that is shooting. When a hit is registered, it feels like the flying target is spanked with a Ping-Pong paddle. A helicopter can be hit twice; the third strike sends the opponent into a death spiral:
- First hit: the aircraft spins 360° and recovers instantly.
- Second hit: the model rotates backward and then forward in a blazing motion.
- Third hit: power reduces to less than half and the victim helicopter pirouettes down into a death spiral. A few seconds later the downed model is ready for revenge.
Durability, flight time, and accessories The durability of the Force RC machines is incredible. William's and Jacob's helicopters collided in the air a few times, and every time I was shot down it wasn't because of something soft or a large piece of furniture — these things take a beating. Flight time is about 5 minutes per battery charge. After close to 20 sorties, the Force RC machines still worked as if they had just come out of the box.
The instructions are well written. I probably could have learned on my own how to operate the models by just reading the directions, but this is much better as a group activity.
For team sports you'll want a couple of Force RC Ground Targets. They take hits the way the helicopters do and can be programmed to respond only to a specific team color. When a guard helicopter protects the module, battle tactics come into play and the game gets intense.
In the day we spent battling the Sofa Scoundrels of the Great Room and the Easy Chair Extremists of the Foyer, I actually became an RC helicopter pilot. We laughed all day long, ducking our whirling machines behind convenient cover, didn't bother the dog, and didn't stain any laundry.
Now all we need is theme music.
Zakary Williams [email protected]
Sources
- Horizon Hobby
4105 Fieldstone Rd. Champaign, IL 61822 (800) 338-4639 www.horizonhobby.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
