The feeling within the campaign is extremely dynamic. You will have traffic all around you, both on ingress and egress, both over friendly territory and enemy territory. You will find yourself challenged attempting to clearly ID your target before you commit yourself, especially in the case of inbound strike aircraft since they will not act aggressively.

On the other hand, you will get AWACS calls to intercept or warning you of bandits after your tail. BARCAP missions in the north near the FEBA should be especially interesting =)

However, if you've grown accustomed to the stealth of an F22 or the extra large loadout of shells on EASY or MEDIUM settings in EF2000 or F22: ADF you are in for a surprise. There is no selection for UNLIMITED WEAPONS in the Falcon 4 campaign, and the few shells you carry disappear VERY quickly unless you sharpen your aim and conserve them carefully for very close range shooting.

For most of us, Falcon 4 will be like no other simulation we have ever flown on the PC. While there are parallels to elements of Falcon 4 in a variety of other simulations, no one simulation has ever brought them all together with this level of accuracy in one package. Falcon 4 will NOT be for everyone, but is destined to be an instant classic and will undoubtedly convert many middle level players (many of the EF2000 and F22 ADF crowd) into hard core fans who will never again be satisfied with anything less.

Ok, I promised some ATC material. Here are a raft of shots from this morning. The first few shots are at about 18:15 PM, and the second batch are from 19:00. All shots are available at 1024x768. Unfortunately, I can't show you the row of strobe lights in the upper center on this first shot although you can see the single white dot of the first one...

If you get the feeling that TAXING isn't an experience to be missed in this sim, you are right! You will receive the various clearances necessary as you reach the appropriate point, or if traffic is light you'll simply get the OK to takeoff. If you then sit on the runway twiddling your thumbs, you'll be asked to hasten your departure.

This second set of shots was taken on a flight departing less than an hour later, but as you can see this time airfield lights are up. I haven't adjusted the gamma so these small shots are a bit tough to see. Click the image for a larger version.

Take off with full afterburner will be a problem for some of us at first. You'll find yourself exceeding the structural strength of your gear and hydraulics systems very quickly. On my first take off this morning I didn't get my gear up in time and the gear doors would no longer close. Remember to kill your afterburner when you get off the ground.

Coming in for a landing after a naval strike mission was fascinating. The only discernible error seemed to be that I came in way high at 20,000 feet but no one ever told me to descend until I was on final approach.

At 30 miles out I notified the Tower that I was inbound. I received a response from a male voice: "Good evening, Shark 5-1, maintain heading for KIMPO."

At fifteen miles I requested landing. Then a female voice came over the radio:

"Shark 5-1, orbit for spacing. Turn right 20 degrees, maintain maximum forward speed, vectors to left base." About thirty seconds later the female voice came back:

"Shark 5-1, maintain 200 knots, turn right 360, vectors to left base." This message repeated about five times in the next four minutes. Then:

"Shark 5-1, descend to 2000, turn right 145, maintain 250 knots, vectors for final." This was a challenging one because of my altitude. A moment later the male voice came back again with a similar message.

Incidentally, cruising along at 32,000 feet in late evening I noticed I was leaving a vapor trail. Maybe that's why the AAA boys liked to try to light me up every few minutes!

The detail at every level in Falcon 4 will warm your heart. True, it may not have the same effect on your wife or girlfriend, er.. or maybe your husband or boyfriend. Hmm, I guess the female Viper pilots probably have a lot easier time getting their spouses interested in these sims!

Gamma increased on this shot..

Click HERE for a night shot over the city...

For more information go to: F4 Index