First of all, go to the options menu, and disable Auto weapons. You don't want the AI to be firing your gun, mostly because....the AI is a terrible shot. You'll do much better if you fire your own weapons.

This is because of one thing...the AI can't lead shots. This means that most levels, you don't need to deal with the threat. Clear out the landing zone, but the actual route there, you can simply fly past at speed and they won't hit a single shot on you. Engaging the enemy unnecessary is more likely to get you hurt, and slow you down if you're going for the gold times.

I can honestly say that after completing the entire game, It is possible with amateur controls, even getting gold times on every mission. Unless you prefer pro, and can get used to it, I would stick to Amateur.

Combat, can mostly be avoided. Because of the shot leading I described earlier, the only threats are usually machine gunnner nests in tactical areas, and jeeps/tanks. This is because if a jeep or tank hits your chopper on the ground, it's an instakill for them. You just die. So take them out before you land. The rest of the threats, try to ignore, and just outspeed them.

Weapons are mostly personal preference, unless you're going for the Tough Soldier achievement, (It says to use a M60 machine gun, but is listed in game as the M2), but that's only for the final mission. I used the rocketpod for the rest, since it can 2-shot a machine gun nest, and 1 shot a jeep/boat.

Helicopters however, are different. You should always use the "smallest" chopper than can do the job. For example, if you only need to get 6 soldiers in a cave, you don't want to use the chinook. The extra health is nice and all, but the maneuverability of the Huey is simply better, depending on the mission.

Helicopter choice is mostly prevalent on the cargo missions I'd say. All helicopters can only carry 1 cargo at a time. While this would suggest the smaller helicopters for their maneuverability, which is true for most missions, there is one mission in the game that leads to a problem. The final cargo mission, in the windy environment, can have a serious glitch where the tank gets caught on the bridge, and "bungees" across the map, causing you to lose control of the helicopter. However, the Chinook has a shorter cord, making it a lot easier to avoid this glitch.

Can't live with yourself if you don't get that gold? Don't sweat it early game. You can revisit all the missions later with the better equipment you unlock later in the game (Chinook and Rockets, for example), and most missions become a lot easier in this.


Most importantly, stay calm. The game can be enfuriating if you crash into a wall you don't think you hit, but you just got to bear with it sometimes.