Article 24680 of rec.games.video: Newsgroups: rec.games.video Path: uwm.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!think.com!ames!sgi!dragon!twilight!zola!tweezers.esd.sgi.com!portuesi From: portuesi@tweezers.esd.sgi.com (Michael Portuesi) Subject: F22 review (was Re: Genesis Mini-reviews (longish)) Message-ID: Keywords: Sega, Genesis Sender: news@zola.esd.sgi.com (Net News) Reply-To: portuesi@tweezers.esd.sgi.com (Michael Portuesi) Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc. References: <1992Jan2.211908.18185@noose.ecn.purdue.edu> Date: Thu, 2 Jan 92 22:57:50 GMT Lines: 78 In article <1992Jan2.211908.18185@noose.ecn.purdue.edu>, Larry J Brackney writes: >Now questions. Has anyone played F22 or Battlemaster yet? Santa placed a copy of F22 underneath the holiday tree for me (in this case, Santa had been noticing that I was drooling at F22 in the store for some time). If you set up a spectrum of realism for air combat games, with arcade titles like Afterburner and Blue Lightning rating a 1, and something like Microsoft Flight Simulator ranking a 10, F22 gets somewhere around a 6. It is a true 3D out-the window simulator, with filled polygon graphics (as opposed to cheesy scaled bitmaps), simulation of flight dynamics, and simulation of things like sun glare and pilot blackouts due to acceleration changes flying the craft. It also accurately simulates in-air refueling, and landings and take-offs from runways and aircraft carriers. You have real-life weapons such as Sidewinders, Tomahawks, and Maverick missiles. You also fight real-life enemies such as MiG figthers and such. At the same time, F22 also incorporates several video game elements, making it fun to play as a game rather than being another boring old simulator program. For one thing, the control layout is fairly simple compared to other combat simulators. A activates the afterburners, C fires your guns, and B will launch the currently selected weapon, that you can choose from a graphic diagram of your jet fighter (accessed with the Start button). If you can't cope with the standard controls (which emulate the control stick of a plane), you can choose the "steering wheel" option. You also get background music. However, there is only one piece of background music and it gets tiring after a while (you can turn the music on or off at any time from the Start menu). When you launch a missile, you get to see an animated sequence from the missile's point of view while it homes in on its target (much like the TV footage we saw during the Gulf War). In the case of a radar or heat-seeking missile, you actually get to guide the missile in on its target. You also get to see animated sequences from the missile's point of view when the enemy fires them at you! The game provides several campaigns for you to work your way through, much like levels in a more conventional video game. You can use the game's customization features to build your own combat scenarios, as well as adjust several factors of the simulation (you can make yourself invincible, give yourself unlimited fuel/ammo, change your plane's armament, etc). You can also control the behavior of your enemies, including their overall intelligence, whether they remain cool-headed or panic in the face of destruction, etc. Overall, it strikes a good balance between realism and arcade action...I think it is much better than Afterburner II on the Genesis or Blue Lightning for the Lynx. I wasn't impressed with Afterburner II on the Genesis at all. Blue Lightning was a good arcade contest, but neither game has anywhere near as much depth as F22. I'm also pleased by the fact the game uses true 3D graphics, rather than scaled bitmaps. However, somtimes it cheats -- ground features close to you (such as trees and airport runways) are sometimes rendered as really coarse bitmap-scaled objects. My guess is that it stops rendering ground features realistically once they reach a certain size; perhaps the work to fill large polygons is too expensive. But the graphics frame rate is pretty high, and the action is very fast. Those people who are into military stuff and/or want an air combat game with an air of realism should be pleased with this game. It's safe to consider this game another success from Electronic Arts. Michael Portuesi Silicon Graphics, Inc. portuesi@sgi.com