by Leonard "Viking1" Hjalmarson

No, it isn't the appearance at 10,000 or 20,000 feet that will surprise you. After all, the cloud engine is similar to that of WW2 Fighters. The game looks incredible at altitude, and the sky colors, horizon gradient, dusk and dawn colors etcetera are very impressive.

What will surprise you is how good it looks down low. In this sequence of shots I have X'ed a MiG. You'll see the missile shot, part of a distant explosion, and an ejection. What you might not notice is that the seat separates from the pilot and becomes a separate object. Furthermore, the rocket motor in the seat generates a smoke trail!

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This next shot shows something unusual.. the reflection of the blue AB flame on the aircraft. You'll see something similar in the damage shots that follow.

With this shot I barely missed capturing something we haven't seen since the Longbow II days: a light map generated by the missile travelling through the clouds. You will actually see the clouds reflect the light from the missile flame.

Go to more screens and First Impressions