by Leonard "Viking1" Hjalmarson and Bob "Groucho" Marks

  Multiplayer

Finally, it's terribly unfortunate that USAF doesn't allow LAN play with a single CD. Not many people have a local area network in their homes, but those who do would love to be able to run a local game without having to purchase two copies of the game.

JANE'S Combat.net is a busy place with the release of USAF. I tried a single mission and was AMAZED at the warpless connection. However, I had no luck trying to establish a co-op mission when I attempted it two weeks ago. The good news is that you can also establish a TCP/IP connection and fly co-op missions, even in campaign mode!

Multiplayer features are quite rich, and you can type and send chat messages or send preset radio messages using the function keys (F1-F12).

Manual and Documentation

USAF comes with a fat spiral bound manual and a short (27 pages) installation guide. The manual includes a section on combat tactics, an entire chapter combining the History of the USAF with campaign backgrounds, and a chapter on aircraft specs.

The manual is nicely done, a vast improvement over that for WWII Fighters, but of course there is also more to talk about! The command card is nicely laid out, with four folding sections giving five pages of information and a keyboard reference chart.

USAF Reference

But of course USAF also includes the JANE'S reference section accessed via the main menu. The separate access almost becomes redundant since you can access information on virtually any threat you will encounter in a given mission from the links offered in the mission briefing.

For those who haven't yet discovered it, a file in the Cockpit sub folder called "Cockpits.ibx" that has a line like "AddFrMessage=0". If that 0 is changed to a 1, then the screen displays the frame rate.

Conclusion and Ratings

The Eagle Hunting

"You can please some of the people all of the time...." Perhaps one of the most difficult challenges faced by simulation designers is to throw the net broadly enough to attract the serious players as well as the weekend jet jockeys. USAF has succeeded, boldly going where angels fear to tread.

Click to continue

The Thud in Vietnam

The Thud in Vietnam

USAF is immersive, accessible and challenging all at the same time. It's gorgeous to look at, fun to fly, and flexible. It allows flight in many of the most famous aircraft ever built in diverse settings. It includes a powerful mission editor, good multiplayer features, a mission recorder, and comprehensive pilot records.

USAF can be played on your own, or head to head, or in co-op mode with your friends. You can take on in flight refueling, and you can issue orders to your wingmen via voice commands. With some tweaking in the UME and flight modeling, USAF may yet appeal to even more of the hardcore crowd, accomplishing what many thought impossible.

For some of you, this is "the other guy's" simulation. But for the weekend jet jockey, this is pretty close to heaven. Fly the Thud in Vietnam or check out the F4. Go tank plinking in an A10 or go stealthy in an F22 or F117. Jane's Combat Simulations tends to set the pace with each simulation they release, and USAF redefines the mid-core market with flare. Highly recommended!

Ratings

Core Rating: 70

The core rating is a scale to give the player some idea of what kind of gameplay experience to expect. In general, the "core" rating reveals how "hardcore" of a player the game will appeal to. Factors may include maximum challenge, perceived realism, control-use difficulty, complexity of AI and the depth of gameplay in determining the rating.

Learning Curve. What will an "average" sim fan have to invest in this simulation in order to be able to survive (not necessarily excell) in the simulated environment with cheats off and a moderate difficulty level? The "average" sim fan is someone who has been participating in military simming for two years or more, and who has invested in some good equipment: a joystick and throttle, and a decent computer system (PII 300 with 64 MB or better and a GOOD hardware accelerator).

• Gameplay: 90
• Graphics: 100
• Sound: 90
• Intelligence/AI: 80
• User Interface/Mission Planner: 85
• Fun Factor: 90
• Learning Curve (in hours): 4
• Overall Rating: 90

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