Gunship 2000

Gunship 2000 utilised roughly the same format as most of the other MicroProse flight simulators of the time: the player had a profile, chose their combat theatre, and either performed single missions or a campaign. The primary similarity was the randomly generated 'primary-secondary' mission types where the player was given a primary mission (destroy a target / pickup or drop off troops or cargo / recon an objective) and a less valuable secondary objective that included the same kind of tasks as a primary. The campaign strung these missions together in a 'tug-of-war' system. Victories advanced the player's side towards victory and harder missions, defeat went the other way (though the missions sometimes got harder too).

Initially the player flies a lone helicopter to complete missions, choosing between AH-1 Cobra, AH-64 Apache, OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, MD 530MG and UH-60 Blackhawk. As the player's rank increased, the RAH-66 Comanche and the AH-64B Apache Longbow were unlocked (the 'B' designation is due to the game being designed before the Longbow Apache was in service as the 'D' model). Using less powerful helicopters resulted in a higher mission score, though this had to be balanced with the likelihood of having enough fuel/weapons to complete the mission. Realistic tactics such as nap-of-the-earth flight and 'pop-up' attacks can be employed on account of the reasonably detailed terrain.

The cockpit graphics were based on photos of actual army helicopters, though switches and buttons with no in-game function were left out to avoid screen clutter.

In 1991, Computer Gaming World's reviewer, United States Army AH-64 pilot Bryan Walker, criticized Gunship 2000 for presenting a helicopter that "flies like an overloaded Huey", but nonetheless concluded that "the designers have succeeded in creating the best helicopter simulator game currently available, thorns included". Cited flaws included inaccurate flight models and avionics; awkward controls; and mediocre graphics and lack of ground texture. Strengths included a wide variety of accurately modeled weapons and the ability to control multiple types of helicopters in a squadron. 1992 and 1994 surveys in the magazine of wargames with modern settings gave the game four stars out of five, and the magazine named it one of 1992's best simulation games.

The game received 5 out of 5 stars in Dragon. Compute! in 1992 said that Gunship 2000 was "the best helicopter simulation around", praising its gameplay, graphics, and manual.