From limbo!taylor@decwrl.dec.com Sun Feb 16 19:30:34 1992 Received: by csd4.csd.uwm.edu; id AA00734; Sun, 16 Feb 92 19:29:31 -0600 Received: by uucp-gw-1.pa.dec.com; id AA13805; Sun, 16 Feb 92 16:47:45 -0800 Received: by limbo; Sun, 16 Feb 92 16:29:22 pst Message-Id: <9202170029.AA00935@limbo.intuitive.com> From: taylor@limbo.intuitive.com (The Moderator) Date: Sun, 16 Feb 92 16:29:19 PST Subject: Digital Games Review Digest, #39 Reply-To: digital-games@dgrd.Intuitive.Com (Digital Games Review) To: digital-games@Pa.dec.com (Digital Games Review Digest) X-Mailer: fastmail [version 2.02] Status: OR Digital Games Review, Number 39 Sunday, February 16th 1992 Special Issue: Falcon 3.0 from Spectrum Holobyte for the PC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: masten@beta.lanl.gov (David A. Masten) Subject: PC: Falcon 3.0 Spectrum Holobyte's (SH) long-awaited Falcon 3.0 (F3), based on the General Dynamics F16A, finally hit the shelves just before christmas. This game, an update of Falcon and Falcon AT, is hyped as the most realistic simulation that isn't classified. The parent company of SH, Sphere, has worked on an "advanced situational awareness trainer" of the F16A for the Air Force, and therefore (presumably) has a wealth of knowledge on this high performance fighter. A unique feature of the game is that it takes advantage of coprocessors for a "hi fidelity" flight model option, which processes over "a dozen" flight variables. For those without a coprocessor, not to worry, the "complex" flight model works quite well, at least as well as flight in Chuck Yeager's Air Combat (CYAC), and far better than the missile-like performance of Jetfighter. The realism doesn't stop there. The player has the choice of three different radars. A simple mode, for novices only IMO, gives a "god's eye" 360 degree view. The more accurate Situational Awareness Mode (SAM) radar scans the front 120 degrees (both vertical and horizontal) with (usually) computer controlled range. For the ultimate realism, chose the "High Fidelity Radar" mode. This is similar to the SAM, but you control the range, attitude, and choice of four air-air submodes. This is overwhelming when you also have to worry about enemy fighters and SAMs, so I use the intermediate mode. Sure gives you an appreciation of the work load in a single seat fighter/attack plane. The cost of all this complexity is the requirement of a fast machine. SH recommends a 80286-12mhz as the minimum, but I would only recommend it for significantly faster systems. VGA graphics, a hard drive (with 11 MB of free space), 1 MB RAM, and DOS 5 are listed as required. The game (including first patch) was reviewed on a 386/33 mhz with 387 coprocessor, 4 MB RAM, with Soundblaster, mouse, and CH Flightstick. Ad Lib, and Roland boards, and both modem and network play, are also suported. Game Play ========= Four levels of action are available. For all levels (I believe) you can adjust: flight model complexity, enemy logic, weapons effectiveness, SAM/AAA effectiveness, HUD and radar type, etc. You also have a comprehensive ordnance choice including: AIM-9M, 9P's, AMRAAMS, two Mavericks, HARM and Shrike anti-radiation missiles, various dumb bombs, GPU15 guided bombs, Durandals, rocket launchers, cluster bombs, plus external fuel tanks and a jamming pod. Two omissions are the LANTIRN pod (not yet F16 combat rated) and laser-targeted bombs. Enemies have similar weaponry. In "instant action" you are given unlimited ammo and are thrown immediately into the air in a target rich environment. Your objective: blast as many air and ground targets as you can before getting shot down. Scoring is based on number and type of targets, and weapons expended. Mainly for arcade addicts. SH combined a few training missions with a comprehensive mission designer in their "Red Flag" option. Here, you are placed in a 300x300 mile area in Nevada surrounding Nellis Air Force Base, where the actual Red Flag competition takes place. The area features accurate terrain including Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and about a dozen fixed enemy sites and bombing ranges. Enemy sites include towns, bridges, airfields, radars, a railroad yard, a nuclear plant, amongst others. The mission designer lets you fly with as many as 7 other friendies in up to 4 flights. Friendly aircraft choices are comprehensive, including most US fighters, the A4, A10 , Kfir, Tornado, B52, copters, C130, and AWACS. Enemies (maximum of 8) include many types of Migs, Sukhois, Mirages and copters, transports and a Soviet AWACS. Each flight may have as many as 8 waypoints where you chose between: CAP, CAS (Close Air Support), Bomb, Escort, and others. Unfortunately, there is no air-refueling capability. You also can chose to add allied and opposing ground forces, including tanks, infantry, artillery, SAMs and others. They'll even fight it out before you get there! This is far, far superior to the simple air combat only "mission designer" of CYAC, an otherwise fine game. The only problem is, it doesn't always work! The main problem I have had is getting other jets to execute their bomb drops. Also, enemy planes flying CAP may not engage you, friendlies occasionaly (fairly rare) crash inexplicably. But overall, I have found the mode very entertaining, illuminating, and realistic. You have to use the appropriate weaponry to accomplish your task. Taking out the Nuke, ala the Israel attack at Osirak, or Vegas are personal favorites. The meat of the game is the "Campaign" option. Here you choose to fight a war in either Iraq/Kuwait (surprise!), Israel, or Panama. All three include their own 300x300 mile area based on actual geographic and topographic features. These wars last from 7-14 days with 4 actions a day, if your squad of 18 pilots and 30 planes manages to survive that long. You control the squadron and fly as lead pilot in the lead flight. The primary missions chosen by tactical command, include bomber/transport escort, bombing, CAS, CAP, scramble, etc. Number of F16's, waypoints and ordnance loads are set for you. But as squadron commander, you can change all these (similar to Red Flag options) as well as specify different pilots. Unlike Red Flag, you control only the F16's. Pilots have individual ratings for dogfighting, bombing, and flying ability, plus a fatique factor. So choosing the correct computer controlled pilots is important. Pilot ratings may be improved through Red Flag "training" missions. Mission performance affects future missions and the overall course of the war. The campaign game also has its problems. Mission recap is inadequate, if not downright buggy. Pre-flight information is somewhat difficult to sift through or incomplete. For instance, you don't know what other friendlies (including planes you escort) are flying until you're airborn. But overall, the feel is there. You have to concern yourself with choosing the correct pilots, and ordnance. Do you take extra fuel on a medium distance bombing mission? What about an ECM pod? How about smart bombs, they're a lot easier to use but are heavy. You pay the price in that the plane will handle like a pig on the outbound leg. Then you have to pay attention to flying low, following waypoints, only occasionally turning on your radar to avoid alerting the enemy. Check that incoming flight with your IFF, is it a friendly? When you get in a furball, you have to decide *real* quick. These scenarios are hard! I quickly lost all my pilots in 4 days in the single Iraq campaign I've played to date. You can expect to encounter heavy enemy air cover, too much so in my opinion. I believe that in all three scenarios, the enemy is well equipped and has sophisticated jets. A better choice would have been more varied scenarios along the line of Microprose's F117A and Gunship2000 wherein the Iraq campaign features more dated enemy hardware, while the Soviet's best is found in Central Europe. A few more notes about combat: Unlike most other games, your missiles aren't nearly perfect. Unlike Microprose's F15 and F19 (and F117A?), you will also miss a lot with your gun and it will take a few hits to down an enemy. Enemies are not incompetent, they perform complex maneuvers, and have effective weapons. SAMs are extremely deadly. Finally there is the direct connect/modem/network option. I haven't tried to use it, but others have reported that it is very buggy. Parts may not work as of yet at all. But the idea is terrific. Along with flying against each other, you can fly as wingmen. In the Novell network mode, you can fly as many a six planes either as allies or enemies. For systems with at least 2 MB memory, a VCR mode lets you relive missions. A particularly nice replay feature, is an independant camera view. You can set the camera in one place (say a battlefield), and watch the action unfold as your F16 and wingmates come in for their attack. Graphics ======== In general, F3 doesn't break new ground here. The game moves smoothly on my 386/33, but nowhere near so as Jetfighter or CYAC. This is with all graphics included except detail set to "high", not "maximum" (recommended by SH for 486's only). I suspect for a 386/16 you will have to cut back significantly. I have serious doubts about the performance of F3 on slower machines, instead I would recommend CYAC. The hyped 3D terrain is both a hit and a miss. Its nicer than the usual pyramid mountains, but it's tough to discern distances and gauge height above the ground. Although, a HUD above ground indicator, and the excellent "Bitchin' Betty" voice will warn you of immenent crashes. The graphics are nice for snaking along a canyon to take out a bridge, similar to flying through the Death Star. Plane graphics are acceptable, but not as pretty as in CYAC. One notable exception is the F117A (an easy plane to render in polygons!). Identification of planes is often difficult, even in "target view". However, there are other aids to help identify planes, including an IFF, and the "padlock view" (more on this in a bit). Planes hit with missiles sometimes explode in a fireball, otherwise it is often hard to tell that you have finished them off. Parachutes are visible, and can be shot down :-) Ground features are good, although vehicles aren't as nicely rendered as in GS2000. Its hard to pick out certain targets until you are just about on top of them. But I suspect it's like this in real combat. Night graphics are especially pretty. But I would have preferred the option of a more realistic total blackness (except for lights and a FLIR controlled HUD), rather than the similar to day, but darker color plus lights. Airfileds are done particularly well. The gradient horizon is very pretty. Redouts and blackouts are especially nicely rendered. The usual assortment of views is included. In general, I find the cockpit views less than adequate for dogfighting even though you have the option of normal (for instruments) and a somewhat higher view. F3's novel answer to situational awareness is the "padlock view", where the main part of the screen simulates your eyes following a target no matter where it flies. Additional displays in the same screen give needed aircraft information and indicate the direction you're eyes follow. It takes a long while to get used to, but I think I'm getting there. I doubt if its better than just furnishing some wide angle cockpit views (as 'F117A' is reported to use). The manually continually extolls "check six", yet I find the rear view to be mediocre. As in real life, you will often be downed without even knowing what hit you. Nice animation scenes, actually some are fairly morbid like the funeral and capture scenes. Like most games you tire of these. But check out the lake in the opening scene. You even get to chose your squandron members faces (including women), names, and call signs. Finally, I should mention the terrific online 3D landscape views. From the setup screens, or replay, you can look at any of the 300x300 terrain, including emplacements at zooms from 1x to 1000x. Absolutely fantastic. Sound ===== This game has the best sound support of any I have. The music is varied and excellent. I've just finally shut it off after maybe 100 hours of play. The sounds of the engines, missile growl, lock-on, and firing, and other jets are all there. There are some slight bugs. Best is the use of digital voices (Soundblaster and 2 MB RAM required) for wingman messages and the warning system "Bitchin Betty", it really does get your attention. Wingman messages are both clever and useful. Manual ====== This thing is 340 pages! And they still offer not one, but two aftermarket guidebooks! I find it light on bombing tactics and explanations of some of the post-mission stats, but otherwise it does the job. It has a good reference section, bibliography and index. Some terrific photos are included, my favorite being that of a Mig29 with its nose buried in the tarmack (Farnborough Air Show?). Also it has a surprisingly evenhanded evaluation of "Operation Just Cause" in Panama. It's actually quite critical of the USA's history in Central America. God is in the details ===================== Some of the little touches are worth noting as an indication of the games depth and breadth: Glare is portrayed when looking toward the sun (both outside and inside views). IR missiles fired towards the sun may be spoofed. Enemy ground radars can be either CW or pulsed doppler (you spoof CW by flying tangentially, spoof pulsed by flying directly toward). Enemy planes have 6 different radars. Ordnance not only add weight but have unique drag factors. You choose between 7 formations to fly. You can give your wingmen about a dozen tactical ACM directives. Fly to low over a bomb drop, or get hit by AAA, and you may damage any of 14 separate subsystems. Overall ======= The best words to describe this game are depth and realism. I'm absolutely astounded by what they can give you for $40 ($80 retail). Maybe I'm getting jaded in that I still have many gripes against the game. I'm particularly bummed that the computer controlled pilots mar the user designed mission capability. I also find the campaign missions to be unrealistic in the large number of enemy planes you encounter. But if you want the best flight model, the most accurate radar model, comprehensive ordnance and enemy/allied plane choices, and the most fully realized terrain, this is the game for you (Provided you have a killer computer). Get a Soundblaster too, you're missing out if you don't have one. For those who like numbers: Graphics: 8.5 CYAC is prettier, GS2000 has better ground targets Sound: 9.0 Realism: 9.5 A high priority for me with flight sims Playability: 7.5 Still has some bugs after the first patch Lasting value: 9.0 Partially because it takes so long to learn! Manual: 8.5 Overall: 9.0 The best I've seen Falcon 3.0, by Spectrum Holobyte, for the PC, $79.95 list ------------------------------------- To join this group or have your reviews appear in the next issue, please send electronic mail to Dave Taylor at the following address; digital-games@Intuitive.Com We welcome reviews of games for any computer system, including the IBM PC, Apple Macintosh, Atari, Nintendo Entertainment System, Atari Lynx, Sega Genesis, Nintendo GameBoy, NEC TurboGrafix, Amiga and so on. Back issues are archived as digests, as well as broken into individual reviews. To receive them via electronic mail, send a note to the address "info@limbo.intuitive.com" (or decwrl!limbo!info) with the body containing the lines "help" and "listall Digital.Games". To obtain them via anonymous FTP, connect to "eklektik.cs.pitt.edu" [130.49.2.135] and look in 'videogames/digest'. 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