The thing that first drew me to Gunship III’s display was its graphics. The game looks stunning, better than either Longbow 2 or Apache Havoc, no weak sisters themselves. The game uses an upgraded M1 Tank Platoon 2 engine, and the choppers I saw in action at E3 were exquisitely modeled, from their exterior views to the virtual cockpits. But I was most impressed by Gunship III’s battlefield graphics. As Tim Goodlett, the game’s designer, flew an Apache over the game’s terrain, I noticed that the ground wasn’t just the usual flat deck with occasional blocky elevations. Its 3D contours rolled and rose and offered all manner of hiding places—for friend and foe. Trees and forests weren’t just big blocks of green elevations; they looked like the sort of copses one would find in central Europe. Even better were the vehicle models—even from pretty considerable distances I could tell whether vehicles were T-80s or BMPs, and the the game’s IR night vision was very realistic; so realistic, in fact, that burning wrecks showed up brighter than older ones.

As for gameplay, Tim told me that he wants Gunship III to be the sort of game "that you can just climb right into and start blasting away." But he was also quick to let me know that the game will have extensively scalable realism settings. In other words, Gunship III doesn’t seem to be aiming for the same market as Longbow 2—though the game will be realistic enough for most simmers, and easy enough for, say, my kids—it probably won’t have the sort of micro-realism that drives the hardcore wild. Nevertheless, the game will model and allow you to fly several different types of attack helicopter—including the Apache Longbow, SuperCobra, Havoc, and Eurocopter Tiger. You’ll be able to fly these in either single-mission or campaign mode, and as the pilot or the gunner. That’s right, Gunship III should have pilot AI good enough so you can issue commands and gun away while you leave the driving to the AI.

But by far the most intriguing aspect of the game is its emphasis on the interaction between gunships and ground units. In the battlefield environment, helicopters spend the vast proportion of their time close to the ground, either attacking or supporting ground units. Gunship III will emphasize this; in fact, its multiplayer game will be compatible with the upcoming M1 Tank Platoon III, which means that you’ll be able to fly a Cobra and stalk T-80’s while your teammates in Abrams try to take out those nasty SAMs and ZSUs. Frankly, I can’t wait for this. Many companies have been making noise about combining flight sims with ground combat sims, but nobody’s done it yet—or at least done it well yet. Here's hoping the Gunship III/M1 Tank Platoon III combo will be the first.