Page 2

Some items in the 2.02, however, have more questionable effectiveness and utility. Other issues have not been addressed yet:

• You can now select a mouse-controlled view system. Peachy, you say. Problem is, the mouse view disables the conventional hat-controlled system, and vice-versa. So it's one or the other. If you are one of the three people who like a mouse-only view system- you score.
• This thing is just too easy to land. Look, I hated the "glass gear" in one of the older versions of Falcon 4.0, but a 20,000kg airplane should not be as idiot resistant to land as a Cessna 152. In fact, the Sukhoi seems easier. You haven't seen me land a Cessna, have you?
• OK, you TNT II card types can ignore this. While F2 is simply gorgeous, things still look slightly fuzzy under Voodoo3. Several user-produced add-ons have improved this situation- why can't SSI?

Fig. 3. Coming in fast on the deck

The improvements help increase your survivability in what is- quiet back there in the peanut gallery- the most challenging pointy nose sim. Really, there's no doubt of that. The exacting flight model, the weird eastern avionics, the lethal "one hit, one kill" -meaning correct- missile damage modeling, and instruments that actually allow IFR procedures, all help make Flanker 2.02 the most hardcore of combat flight sims. According to the Read Me, 2.02 is not the last patch. Indeed, more details have been released about the anticipated "Uber-Patch", a.k.a. v2.5 or Flanker Attack. This add-on, or stand-alone, Gold Version, or whatever will supposedly fix what's really wrong with F2- the lack of a decent campaign structure. The Mission Editor is one of the easiest to use; most powerful one out there…but it is still somewhat buggy. And a realistic campaign is still a LOT of work- and only as glitch-free as the ME is. Flanker Attack, the ultimate enhancement to the Flanker franchise, may add an at least semi-dynamic campaign. New flyable aircraft will be added- MiG-29, Su-25/39, and- oh yeah, baby- the A-10.

Now that will be a patch worth partying about.

Click to join a discussion about this article.

 

© 1997 - 2000 COMBATSIM.COM, Inc. All Rights Reserved.