ike
to fly the plane that set 27 aviation world records, including several time-to-height records? Well, the Fighter Collection Team and SSI have come together and released the long awaited sequel, Flanker 2.0. In the original Flanker, you could only fly the Su-27, but in Flanker 2.0 you get to fly the Su-27 and the carrier-based Su-33. The first Flanker had some pretty dull graphics, but had an excellent flight model, which is one of the things that kept this game alive. So, enough of my blabbering, lets get to the game.
Getting Started
Now, before you go and start installing this game, make sure you have the necessary system resources to even get the game off the ground. As written on the box, a 3D accelerator is a requirement, not recommended. These types of cards must support Direct 3D, Open GL, or Glide, so consult your video card manuals and make sure you have updated drivers as well. Read the Flanker 2.0 manual and follow the steps outlined and you shouldn't have any problems.
Side note: For anyone using Voodoo or Voodoo II based cards, make sure that you do NOT have the box labeled "Primary Display Adapter" checked, since this can cause your computer to lock up.
When you run the game for the first time, don't skip through the intro movie. I usually find them very exciting to watch. After the movie is finished, you just have to wait about 2 minutes for the game to load-up everything and you're ready to go. From here you can access all of the features of the game: Instant Action, Training, Missions, Campaign, Editor, Network, Options, and Encyclopedia.
Instant Action
The instant action is pretty self-explanatory. In this mode, you can choose such things as type of action (A2A, A2G, Anti-Radar, or Anti-Ship), Survivability (immortal, good, or realistic), Enemy Skill, Automatic target lock on, and realistic radar mode.
Training
Although the first Flanker had training missions, it took hours just to be proficient with each one and they could have explained them better. They must have realized their deficiency in this area and improved it in a way that will surely lower the learning curve. How did they do it you ask? Well, remember Jane's Longbow training missions with a instructors voice guiding you through each one? Pretty similar to that. In each training mission, an instructor has control of the plane and explains exactly what he is doing and how to do it. You can watch this recorded mission as many times as you want and when you feel that you can do it, take control of the plane and copy what he did. If you take control of the training mission and forget what to do, Flanker comes with flip over reference cards held together in a ring clip for easy viewing.
These training missions include Free Flight (Introduction to the Flanker, Heads-Up Display, Instrument Panel, Instrument Modes, Multi-Function Display), Take Off (Light and Heavy Takeoff), Landing (Automatic landing), Aerobatics (Roll, Loop, Half Loop, Reverse Turn, and Pugachev's Cobra), Stalls and Spins (Recovery from Spins and Stalls), Carrier (Carrier Takeoff and Automatic Carrier Landing), Air-to-Air (Beyond Visual Range Mode, Close Air Combat Mode, Helmet Mode, Bore Site Mode, and Longitudinal Aiming Mode), Air-to-Ground (Searching for surface targets), Anti-Ship, and Anti-Radar.
Missions
Clicking on either missions or campaign will bring you to a graphical menu display, very similar to the one in the original Flanker. It may look simple but it has everything that you need. The missions are divided into different folders, based on mission type (A2A, A2G, etc) and level of difficulty (Average or Hard). In this mode you can see a tremendous amount of information about the mission and some aspects can be changed, unless classified. If unclassified, you can change such things as the payload, way points, weather conditions, skill settings, and the oh-so unpredictable failures.
Campaign
The campaign mode is not what you might expect. Older sims relied on
scripted campaigns, where you had to complete a given set of objectives in
a mission before going on to the next scripted mission. Some of the newer
sims, like Falcon 4.0, have a dynamic campaign where the missions
are generated and you could choose which one to play. Flanker 2.0
has a multi-phased campaign, which operate just like missions, but when
you meet the conditions of the first phase, you will have the option of
going on the next phase. This may seem exactly like a scripted campaign
but it is not completely linear (if A, then B...if B, then C).
Depending on how the missions are written, you don't necessarily have to
complete all of the mission objectives. For example, first phase is a
fighter sweep of an area which is suppose to have reports of an AWACS and
couple MiG's. If you were successful in destroying the AWACS and MiG's,
you would go to phase 3 (destroy a runway). If you were only successful
in destroying the MiG's, you would go to phase 2 (destroy two more MiG's
that the AWACS called in). This would be only a basic campaign because so
many other factors can be employed in the missions (if your wingman
survives or not, if other flights are successful in their missions), which
can result in some long and complex campaigns. The possibilities are as
endless as your imagination.
Editor
The interface for the editor, missions, and campaign are pretty much the same and shouldn't take too much time getting accustomed to. As in the mission and campaign mode, the editor displays a top down look at the Crimean Peninsula, which has been reproduced from satellite imagery data and provides a very detailed overview of the land. In the editor you can make your own missions, campaign, start multi-player games, or edit mission and track files.
Network
This is one part of the game that a lot of people will be interested in. Getting a multi-player session started is pretty straight forward. Choose if you want to be host or a client, select which protocol you want to use, TCP/IP or IPX, and network configuration, LAN or WAN. From here people can chat with one another to make sure everything is setup to everyone's satisfaction. One downfall is that anyone who joins has to set up their own flight group, way points, and objectives. It's not that big of a deal, but it will slow things up a bit and people will have to make sure that they have everything set correctly.
The host has control over who joins and removing unwanted players by either removing them from gaming sessions or blocking their connection attempts. This is great if there is someone you don't want flying with you, or if you have a ladder competition and want to remove the losing competitors.
If you want to talk to others in your flight, you can type in the message but it takes away from the game play typing frequently. Flanker 2.0 comes with Roger Wilco, a great little program that allows you and others to communicate with each other using a microphone and your existing sound card. All you have to do is create a channel and get others, like those in your flight group, to join. You can set a password so only those in your flight get in and form a secure channel. Another great thing about this program is that it is free! All you have to do is go to their website and get a free license key for unlimited use.
Options
From here you can choose the graphics settings, sound, input devices, and miscellaneous. The graphical setting can be changed to your liking, but use what is outlined in the manual for good performance. The sound options are generic as any other sim. The input option is one aspect that I really liked. The button mapping menu allows you to customize your buttons to your liking for each mode. For example, if you are in NAV mode, button 1 could be change way points. In BVR mode, button 1 could be cycle through weapons. You can also change the responsiveness of your stick under the input option. Under the miscellaneous option, you can choose things like: HUD in Russian, G-Effects, Cockpit mirrors, Cockpit Reflection, etc.
Encyclopedia
The encyclopedia provides reference for all of the air, land, and sea vehicles in the simulation and weapons. When I was looking through the weapons, I came across one particular bomb that I didn't expect to see. I'm not sure if it appears in the game or if you can use it, but it would be quite impressive to use. Just click on the picture to the right and see for yourself, a 2 Megaton bomb! The one that was used on Hiroshima was only 35 or 40 Kiloton.
Game Play
The game boasts a realistic flight model, and I doubt that there are many people would disagree with this statement. From making High-G turns to carrier takeoffs, do not take the flight model lightly or you will find yourself entering a stall or taking a swim in the Black Sea. Because the flight model cannot be scaled down, this might turn away some new gamers, but the radar mode can be scaled back, so it's a compromise. One of the things that cannot be changed, that may cause many players confusion, is the metric system for height (meters) and speed (Km/h). Being from Canada, it's second nature for me, but a majority of players will probably be from the United States and this may cause headaches for some, until they get use to it.
The weapons are modeled very well, except for a few bugs about SAM's and smoke trails that SSI is working on. Choose a rear view of the plane and watch as a missile drops off the rail, engages its motor and flies towards the target. If the missile misses its target, it will self-destruct after a given amount of time. The explosions are modeled well, but objects on fire could have been modeled better.
Although there was no support for the Voodoo I based cards, the 3D modeling of vehicles and terrain was superb and ran surprisingly good, considering that I had several of the graphics setting on either high or medium detail. The game got choppy when I got close to explosions and when several objects came into view.
System Requirements
The minimum requirements for Flanker 2.0 is a Pentium 200 MHz, 32 MB RAM, Windows 95 or 98, at least 600 MB of hard drive space, 8X CD-ROM, DirectX compliant 3D accelerated video card with 4 MB RAM, and compatible sound card. Recommended requirements are a P II 300 MHZ, 64 MB RAM, 16 MB 3D accelerator card,
I played Flanker 2.0 on a PII 300 MHz, 64 MB PC100 SDRAM, 8 MB ATI 3D Xpression, 4 MB Diamond Monster 3D (Voodoo I), SoundBlaster Live!, CH F-16 Combat Stick, and Thrustmaster Elite rudder pedals.
Conclusions
This is probably the question on everyone's mind: is Flanker 2.0 better than Falcon 4.0? There is no easy answer for this question, but in my opinion, I believe F4 is the better game. Now I'm not saying that Flanker 2.0 is a bad game, far from it, but its just that F4 has some better points and features. Flanker 2.0 is an excellent game and is not nearly as bug riddled as F4 was when it came out, and is definitely one of the best flight simulators that came out this year. If you are looking for an excellent flight simulator, be it for Christmas, birthday, for yourself or someone else, you definitely cannot go wrong with this game. If you are hesitant about buying it, you can go to Flanker 2.0 web site and check it out or download the demo and see for yourself what a great game this is.
Michael Hewitt
Email:
michael.hewitt@mailcity.com
