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FIGHTER
PILOT
Digital Integration, £9.95 cass, £14.95
disk
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This
is another jet simulator which follows a similar, if
less complicated approach to jet flight than US Gold's
F-15 Strike Eagle, even if it simulates the same
plane.
The
program has three practice modes which can be chosen
at the start of each game. First of all you can try
landing practice. This mode puts you six miles away
from the airport runway. Landing sounds quite simple
-- it's just a case of lowering your flaps, reducing
throttle and keeping on course. Actually doing it is
quite another matter, however. There are things like
lowering the undercarriage at the right moment, adjusting
with the flaps to compensate for the increased drag
as well as everything else involved in landing, and
all happening at high speed. Still, it gives you a good
chance to get to know your way round the controls.
Flying
training puts you on the runway and you have to take
off. Taking off actually is a fairly straightforward
task; simply put your throttles up to maximum and when
you're hurling down the runway at a fast rate, pull
back on the joystick.
The
final practice mode is air-to-air combat. You start
in the air just behind an enemy craft, and once you've
shot it down you can use your radar to seek and intercept
any other intruding aircraft, and if you find them shoot
them from the skies. The practice mode also lets you
land for rearmament and refuelling, if so you wish.
The
final mode is a fully-fledged simulator mode. You start
off on the runway of your own airfield and you have
to patrol the skies around four airfields, defending
them from enemy attacks. The bases are your own and
outlying bases Tango, Delta and Zulu. You are alerted
to any enemy planes and it's your job to seek and destroy
them.
On
the whole the simulator is quite exciting, although
the screen display itself is rather small. The graphics
update on the horizon isn't too fast but doesn't detract
from the game too much. There are four skill levels
and you can also toggle blind landings, crosswinds,
and turbulence on or off to add a little spice and difficulty
to the game.
Graphics
76%
Interaction 87%
Authenticity 78%
Overall 73%
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