Heliborne Collection
Rotary-wing aviation and helicopter combat with a dynamic battlefield and the support of ground forces. Appreciated for MMO elements and an addictive gameplay loop. Use tactics and make strategic decisions or fly around and shoot in historically accurate maps.
Developer
Publisher
Release
October 12, 2017
8 years and 295 days ago
Steam Reviews
Mostly Positive4,011 reviews73.9%
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Game contextLatest: IGF Team
| ContextThe evidence factors used to assess whether this game belongs on IndieGame.Fan. | Status | Notes Latest Contributor: IGF TeamEdit notes |
|---|---|---|
Updated: Jul 13, 2026Developer scaleThe operating scale of the game's developer. | ||
Updated: Jul 13, 2026Publisher scaleThe operating scale of the game's publisher. | Klabater meets the large-publisher game and partner thresholds. | |
Updated: Jul 13, 2026Publisher statusHow the game's publishing relationship is classified. | ||
Updated: Jul 13, 2026Release statusWhether and how the game has been released. |
Media
16 itemsAbout the Game
Helicopters are widely considered to "have come of age” during the Vietnam conflict. Over the following decades, they have become integral to the military's very way of life. Heliborne seeks to showcase rotary wing aviation as it’s evolved over five decades of conflict, support, and development.
Heliborne offers 6 major maps inspired by the largest military conflicts in the history of mankind and their locations until the 2000s:
- Operation Nguyen Hue in Vietnam
- Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam
- Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan
- Khost Region in Afghanistan
- Kosovo
- Binomo Islands
- Training ground - in addition to the maps, pilots can make test flights on a training polygon map, before getting into the real battles.
The multiplayer offers two principal game modes: Domination and Frontline.
The Domination mode offers standard capture-the-flag gameplay. It is active on maps Badakhshan and Gulf of Tonkin.
In Frontline mode, the bases are captured by players, and ground vehicles spawn in convoys and move across the map to fortify bases and positions.
This mode is active on maps: Operation Nguyen Hue, Khost Region, and Kosovo.
The solo and co-op Sandbox missions offer procedurally generated tasks based on the Frontline mode.
The load-outs for each in-game helicopter are based entirely on historically accurate weapons systems employed in the actual combat operations.
The flight system in Heliborne models over 70 different aspects of flight per helicopter. This includes momentum and inertia dynamics.
There are three classes of helicopters: Attack, Air-Assault, and Reconnaissance, and some of them can add a new level to the dynamic battlefield by carrying ground units.
- Scout (reconnaissance) helicopters are small, fast, and may or may not carry a small number of soldiers.
- Attack helicopters are dedicated to air-to-air or air-to-ground operations and they carry no troops.
- The Air-Assault helicopters typically carry a mix of troops and weapons and can fill multiple roles in combat.
The Airborne Troops, MANPADS or “Man-Portable Air Defense system”, RPG soldiers, and mortar troops can be deployed anyplace, on any map.
The ground vehicles include Tanks, Troop Carriers, and Anti-Aircraft Artillery.
- over 40 legendary helicopters, including models from 1955 to the 2000s
- over 100 possible payload variants
- 5 wide open maps, inspired by historical conflicts and locations, including The Gulf of Tonkin (Vietnam), Operation Nguyen Hue (Vietnam), Badakhshan Province (Afghanistan), Khost Region (Afghanistan), and Kosovo
- single-player, co-op, and competitive multiplayer for up to 16 players
- fully supported gamepads, flight sticks, and keyboard & mouse
- refreshed UI and reworked visuals
- additional prototype machines
- night versions of maps
- an upgraded game engine
- updated in-game physics
