JetFighter V: Homeland Protector
by Aaron "Spectre" WatsonArticle Type: Review
Article Date: November 22, 2003
Product Info
Product Name: JetFighter V: Homeland ProtectorCategory: Jet Air Combat Simulation
Developer: InterActive Vision A/S
Publisher: Global Star Software
Release Date: Released
Sys. Spec: Click Here
Files & Links: Click Here
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Background
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| Jet Fighter 5 : HP |
Over a decade ago, I was presented with a choice in life. On the one hand was the up and coming IBM clone 286. On the other I found a system with 4 channel stereo, thousands of colors, and the demo of a combat flight simulation. As a newly initiated sim junkie via the Commodore 64, the non-CGA graphics, sound and subject of a title called F/A-18 Interceptor sold me on the Amiga 500.
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| The first of five, so far. |
A number of years later, as the decline of the Amiga was unwinding, a successor to this excellent game came out called JetFighter 2. Once again, Bob Dinnerman was the driving force behind it and the game had a similar West Coast invasion premise. This title was created for the then emerging Personal Computer platform and was distributed on floppy disks.
The third iteration of the game sported graphical enhancements, a new scenario and geographic area, and was distributed on the new CD format. This version was arguably the best. Then came a forgettable version 4 with its return to a US West Coast scenario and terrain—thankfully, it came and went with little fanfare. Now a fifth edition has been unleashed by GlobalStar and RenderWare. Normally, I would've dismissed this title out of hand, but after reading some of the online buzz I felt it deserved a closer, objective look.
First and foremost, JetFighter V: Homeland Protector, like its predecessors, is a flight combat game and not an authentic simulation of avionics and flight model physics. That's not to say that the aircraft and weapons don't look like their real-world counterparts, they do, but beyond that, most everything else in the game is done for playability's sake. Intentionally. But to what degree? Let's see.
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| Diving into it! |
Parts and Installation
I received the very cool VHS-sized box with a raised, 3-dimensional X/F-35 jet on the front. Slick marketing ploy, but a closer look reveals an inverted rescue arrow on the fuselage graphic, but I'm nit-picking (Ed. Note). I ripped on in and found the CD and thirty-five-page manual. Said manual covers the basics: Install, aircraft, BFM, how to deploy weapons, and the like. The center of the keyboard is where most of the keyboard commands are located—convenient. Again, since this is a game, there's not too many of them, in comparison to a simulation. Take these to heart, as there is no utility to change them to your liking. More on that later.
Installation was a straightforward affair, with a hard drive footprint in the 900 MB range. Once I clicked on the optional desktop icon, things got a little tricky. My LCD monitor popped up an "Out of Range" error, and refused to ALT Tab to something more in line with my ViewSonic monitor's way of thinking. Not good. Depress power button for between 5 to 7 seconds. Not good at all.
Luckily, I had done a quick rummage through their forums while awaiting the package and saw a few similar complaints. I recalled a solution posted concerning specific monitor drivers, not just a generic Plug-n-Play Windows driven monitor for this game. There is, unfortunately, no setup utility external to the game for tweaking monitor frequencies.
With the monitor-specific drivers installed, I was treated to four different splash screens, including an ad for AlienWare systems. From the main menu, I went on into the Options area to have a look around. There I changed the monitor frequency from default to a Windows-matching 72 Hz. No option to turn off the intro splash screens either. Controls consist of a choice between keyboard, joystick, joystick throttle, or joystick throttle rudder. No changing of default keys as mentioned earlier.
Pretty rudimentary stuff for all three areas: Audio, Video, and Controls. No biggie, let's take her for a spin!
Aircraft
There are three flyables in this iteration, The F-16 Falcon, the F/A-22 Raptor, and the new-comer, the (X)F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. All used under license from Lockheed Martin.
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| Pick a jet to tool around in. |
Single Missions
I took a look in the single missions area and saw a variety of options; namely: Number of Planes, Waves, Time of Day, Altitude or On Base. Even a shot for ground targets, but as I had no idea how to fly these fella's I figured I'd give it a look later.
A better place to start is with the training missions of which there are five. Starting with maneuvering, navigation and A/G, Countermeasures and A/A, the LANTIRN system, and finally Landing. Good places to get up to speed on how everything works in the game.
There are also thirty single missions named after the campaign missions. The names of each single mission are not descriptive of the task so finding a particular mission for practicing a particular air-to-air or air-to-ground combat skill is difficult.
Campaign
The heart of this combat flying game, like its predecessors', is the campaign. It follows a storyline much like previous versions with a move further south to the LA and Western Nevada areas as backdrops, instead of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is stated in the documentation that 90,000 square miles of satellite-mapped terrain is included.
The campaign is scripted on a pass/fail basis and they get increasingly more difficult as you progress. You always start in the air, and when missions are completed, you exit, as opposed to returning to base.
Missions
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| Mission Over? Debrief. |
The missions are a mix of either down-all-jets, kill-all-tanks, or both. There is the one mission where no shooting is allowed at all early on. You employ the LANTIRN system to spot targets and datalink their coordinates back to base. This mission is a night operation, of which there are a few.
Environmental Effects
Also there are missions with varying degrees of inclemency from scattered clouds to fully overcast. No precipitation is noted, but at these jet's speeds you wouldn't see it anyway. The cloud effect is probably the best I've seen in any flight simulation. Entering and exiting them seem as observed in real life, as are flying through the fringes of scattered clouds and is a really well executed effect.
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| A kill in the Clouds. |
Sound
The effects of sounds are a little unusual. I have found that when you have an alarm for an incoming missile, it goes up quite a few decibels when cracking the afterburners. Overall the sounds are good, with spoardic anomolies observed.
Multiplay
When it comes to Multi-play, there is a LAN option only. I had read on the GlobalStar forums about internet/WAN play being dropped fairly close to release, and a patch being in the works to allow it. I would imagine it had some type of show-stopper bug, and they yanked it before release for a bit more tweaking. Just a theory I have. I would refer you directly to the thread, but the forums have been down for "routine maintenance" for over a week now. I posted, went to look at my response, and haven't been able to get on since. What did I do?
Comms and Wingman AI
Overall, the missions played out well, with the odd update via scrolling text next to a helmetted picture of the speaker, be it a wingman, ground alert, or adversary. Yes, here is a mission where the adversary taunts a bit. Communications from you are not an option. Your wingmen will go about accomplishing the mission without guidance from you, thank you very much. Some parts of the story are pretty hokey, but that's bound to happen when the premise of the game is already a tad far fetched.
Physics and Enemy AI
The flight dynamics are definately relaxed and there is only a bit of variation in feel between the three different jets. Popping open the weapons bays on either of the two newer, stealthier jets do affect top-end speed and acceleration.
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| Open bay, weapon away! |
Enemy aircraft are basically missile targets in the beginning of the campaign, but become more elusive and prone to fire back as the campaign wears on. You catch one of their darts, you lose. If you lose, you have the choice to refly the same mission over. It is the only way to proceed. I admit to using a few "reflys" myself as I got toward the end of the campaign so it definitely does have some challenging moments. Use your NOE and countermeasures can see you through. To put it in a nutshell, it felt like a jet-flavored Crinmson Skies.
Summary
Pros
- Lower learning curve than standard simulations.
- Graphically well done.
- Fun, simple, fly fast, shoot hard experiences.
- Runs smoothly the recommended specs system.
- HUD color cannot be changed, and can be hard to read.
- Limited ground targets, T90's only.
- Low replayability value, as there is no mission editor.
- AMD Athlon XP2200
- 512 MB DDR RAM
- GeForce 4 Ti4400 (128MB)
- C-media Sound on Asus A7S333 MoBo
- MS Windows XP Professional, SP 1
- Microsoft Sidewinder Precision Pro Joystick
Resources
Articles:- 2003/11/22: Review
Files:
- Nothing at this time
Official Sites: