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What's the first thing you do whenever you open a CD case for a game? Speaking for myself, I anxiously look for the manual to the game that is inside of the case.
Soo, I open the case to this game, and I am immediately shot down. I think to myself "Oh boy, I am gonna regret offering to review this game." Now don't get me wrong. Not all games that don't come with a manual are crap, but sometimes you just know that this thing you've just opened is in fact, crap.

Giving it a chance, I put in the CD. Installation goes fairly smooth. No complaints really. I finish installing the game, and eventually get to the main menu. Options? Bleh! No manual? Holy crapola! There are so many options to choose from, and not having a manual sitting next to you makes you feel like you are lost in the woods without a compass.

Coastal Heroes is a search and rescue game, where you use helicopters and/or some type of rescue team. You fly to locations, (or start in locations if you choose to do so), and rescue those that are in need. For instance, a drowning victim, or someone who has been poisoned. The game almost has every scenario you can think of for the Med Evac team.

You can choose to play in Single Player mode, or in a Campaign. In Single Player mode, you can choose what mission you would like to play, what type of weather settings, the physics you would like to play (easy or realistic), the time of day, and the starting position you wish to start in (on the ground, in the air already flying, or hovering). In Campaign mode, you play certain missions that the game gives to you, in specified conditions that it chooses for you etc. etc.

Not knowing where to start, I chose single player mode. Well, while I wait on this to load, how is the weather over there? la la la Don't you just love it when a game takes forever to load. Okay. Straight face! Loading a mission takes forever, and when you finally get to start playing, you see that your thoughts of the game are true. The helicopter graphics aren't bad, but the rest of the game looks like it was made in the early 90's. Buildings are boxy, pixels and other graphics are choppy. I was not impressed with the lighting. The pilots of the helicopter look like they borrowed the "Legos" characters. Playing in an Ocean Rescue mission, makes you feel like you're playing "Where's Waldo". The navigation is terrible. Imagine being in a forest again, except this time you do have a compass and a map, but you still don't know which direction is North.

When flying to your rescue point, you might as well put it on auto-pilot and go watch the rest of your TV show, cause you're gonna be sitting there for a while. Don't fall asleep if you don't put it on auto-pilot. I mean, you've got wonderful graphics to scope out, while you fly the horizon. Yeah, Right! Whatever! You might as well crash your chopper, exit the game, and find the "Uninstall" button.

I understand that this is a simulation game, but the controls are a pain in the rear. Soo many different keys do soo many different things. For cryn' out loud, this is a game. I hope we really aren't trying to train people how to fly a helicopter with this game, and even if we were, helicopter pilots don't use 20 different keys to turn, or land a helicopter.

Overall, the game has a good idea, but the graphics suck. Forgive me if this review is short, but I'd prefer not to bore you with everything I might be missing.