By Brandt Ryan January 18th, 2000

  So, in summary F/A 18 has..

• Dynamic lighting inside the cockpit is scary realistic, and quite jaw-dropping.
• Shimmering water is a very nice touch--sometimes you'll take a look outside your canopy and see the sun reflecting off of it beautifully.
• The carrier is very nice, although low in object density.

You will only see other aircraft on the deck, but of course, they are pristine, looking as though they rolled off the assembly line yesterday. Object detail isn't very high, but then even on LOW graphics settings this sim looks good. I wanted a boost in frame rate so I tested it on lower settings and was greatly impressed with the graphics that were retained.

Sound (82%)

I love the UI music--it's melancholy, as a warrior should be. In the sim itself the sound effects seem solid enough, some of them even ear catching (you know, like "eye catching", only with ears?) I was checking out some Air Defenses in action, and nearly jumped out of my seat when I got too close to the AAA.

Explosions are nice too. Once I was in an outside view on the carrier, and I heard some really fine CAT launches, although they seem absent if you're in the cockpit. There is an option to toggle external sounds in the cockpit, but I highly recommend leaving them on. It's nice to hear your wingies pull up next to you -- excellent opportunity for Situational Awareness without looking.

Intelligence/AI/COMMS and Control (97%)

The comms available in this sim surpass anything I've seen thus far for any PC sim to date. In fact, I'd say it DOUBLES the amount of comms we've seen in any other sim. Can you say "Benchmark"? Pretty much every essential bit of communication you need from any player in the air campaign world is included. Yes, you have JSTARS, FAC, Flight, Escort, Tower, and AWACS comms available. At first I thought it was a problem that they're all on the same channel. However, now that I've spent some time in the sim, it seems that this is only the case when you're close to the carrier.

Click to continue

Check in with FAC at 20 miles.

Once you go outbound, and get going on your flight plan, the comms reduce significantly, limited to the comms you initiate yourself. This is simply no longer an issue for me. The FAC is amazing: they give you vector to target, put smoke on it, lase it for you, and give you an updated picture on the air situation, including friendly traffic. ATC is not only accurate, but quite extensive. You have to contact three different controllers in order to successfully approach.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has always wanted to communicate with my Escorts in F4. Well, it's not an issue in this sim--you can even give them orders even though they're not in your flight. Things getting too hot in the zone? Give your carrier a ring and have them launch Alert-5 Aircraft. Then give them orders to attack. Again, forget about it.

The FAC marks the target.

My first look at the AI hasn't caused any complaints to surface. All of the orders I've given my wingmen have been fulfilled with flying colors. Also, in a multiplayer session, my human wingy decided to fire on the strike package we were supporting as SEAD escorts.

The package also had an F15C escort, and when he shot down one of our own in the strike package, he ended up having to fight our own F15C escort! I don't know whether this is a good or bad thing! I watched them turn and burn for ten glorious minutes. Let's just suffice it to say that the AI seem competent enough in terms of their BFM.

Go to Page Four: Carrier Ops