~US Navy Fighters

Just a quick review of US Navy Fighters. (From the Internet)

First off - If you've got anything less than a 486DX then go to 
the next message - USNF *requires* at least a 486DX :-(  8megs 
of RAM also very highly recommended indeed.  The game is CD-ROM 
only. 

However, if you've got that, read on!

I love it.  It really is very good indeed.  Basically you get to 
fly the F-14B, F/A-18D, F-22A, A-7E, Su-33 and the F-104N off a 
carrier. The usual range of missions are available: Fleet 
Defense, Escort, Ship Attack, Runway Attack; everything that you 
normally get in these type of sims. 

The graphics are EXCELLENT, but.... they are simply too slow (on 
my 486DX/2-66) in anything above 320x200 for my liking.  Once 
you go to 640x480 or even 320x400, you will have to start 
turning off the scenery textures :-(  However, if you are 
willing to sacrifice some of the scenery detail, it runs 
acceptably.  However, I found that it looked better in 320x200 
with everything on, than in 640x480 with scenery textures turned 
off.  In 320x200, it still beats the crap out of anything else 
available (including Flight Simulator 5) in graphics terms, with 
texture sky, land, ocean, clouds, ships, vehicles and aircraft.  
Put simply - the graphics are *EXCELLENT*, they really are 
photorealistic. (Rating: 95% [would be 100% if it ran at a good 
speed in 640x480]) 

The sound is also the best I have heard in a simulator, with a 
massive amount of speech, and excellent FX.  For example - when 
your engine is damaged, it starts to whine, and sounds more and 
more unhealthy as it becomes more damaged.  Nearly everything 
has speech involved - from AWACS to your wingman announcing 
RADAR contacts.  Your RIO (the other guy in 2-seaters) even 
grunts under high gee loads :-) (Rating: 95%) 

The in-flight music is also excellent, with a similar system as 
TIE-Fighter - it changes as your situation changes (ie dramatic 
chords when an enemy occurs).  However, unlike TIE Fighter, the 
music is a bit repetitive (ie always the same music when a plane 
appears), and I found myself turning it down after about 15 
hours :-) [Rating: 85%] 

The flight-model for the aircraft is not the most realistic in 
the world, but is adequate at medium speeds.  Certainly the 
aircraft perform similiarly to their real-life counterparts.  
However, it's no Falcon 3.0 or Tornado in flight-model realism 
terms.  Particularly poor is the low speed model; your AOA is 0 
until about 150 knots, then increases to about 25 degrees at 120 
knots :-(  However, during combat, the model is quite adequate, 
with the differences between aircraft handling clearly 
noticable. (Rating: 70%) 

Now, gameplay, the most important part!  Excellent gameplay.  
You can do everything from fly a quick combat mission (you 
choose the planes on your side, and on the enemy side, weapons, 
weather, range etc etc), to fly the full 50 mission campaign.  
The campaign plot is horrifying similar to the current situation 
in Chechnya (sp?).  Simply replace "Chechnya" with "Ukraine" and 
you have a very good idea.  The main difference is that the 
Americans are involved (obviously), and that a coup has already 
occured.  You get to fly the Su-33 as the Ukrainians are allies.  
This causes a few problems - some of the MiGs in the air are 
friendly!!  The campaign has full-motion-video sequences 
throughout (not just little windows, a full 320x200 screen). 

Combat is excellent - your RIO and your wingmen help out, and 
actually obey your orders.  The enemy artificial intelligence is 
good - they don't just turn the dogfight into a turning battle - 
they scissor, go vertical, loop, dive etc etc..  The range of 
enemy and friendly aircraft is extensive (only notable exception 
being the F-16 :-(). (Gameplay rating: 90%) 

Weapons choice is also good - with a wide range of air-to-air 
and air-to-ground ordinance available. 

A mission designer is also included, as well as 50 single 
missions for you to fly. 

The only real let-down is the manual - it's quite thick (100+ 
pages), but doesn't really tell you very much in the way of how 
to fly the planes. (Rating: 55%) 


Overall: 

If you've got a "multi-media" 486DX2 or better, and like any
kind of FlightSims, buy it.  *96%*  (Even my dad likes it, and
he hates just about everything except FS5 and F-15 III) 

David 

