Posted on: February 16, 2024
vvar
Games: 908 Reviews: 20
Ambitious flight sim for realism fans
(Review based on my DOS era gameplay experience) This flight sim differed from its contemporaries by trying to deliver a more realistic and immersive overall experience. This is not an arcade game, you do not get to jump right into action and shoot down 10 planes and bomb 5 targets in one go. First, you can tweak the mission plan (either for your flight alone, or, if you feel like it, you can adjust combat roles of all wings flying it, or pick a target and design your own mission). After take off, there is always a transition phase of the oversea flight, followed by building up tension, intense few minutes over target area, and a return leg home, sometimes damaged, sometimes chased. This game was played for period immersion, not arcade action. What made it feel different was that you couldn't just press T to cycle targets. You had to pick targets manually from radar clutter. There was no confirmation that the target was destroyed, you had to rely on visual observation. The MiG was hit and is trailing smoke, but is it down, or just damaged and limping home? Was that fireball the end of that power plant, or is it just damaged? The game makes numerous references to the "Flight of the Intruder" novel by Stephen Coonts - the pilots from it are actually present in the game - and my physical copy even came bundled with this book. To my tastes the graphics and visuals felt somewhat spartan in comparison to other flight sims, even back when it was released.
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