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| Introduction | |
| Located deep within the Middle East, far away from any allies, lies a tiny piece of disputed land known as the State of Israel. This state has been the location and object of hostilities for almost all of its 50 years of existence. And on the front lines, stands the Israeli Air Force. This relatively small, but potent, force is perhaps the single, greatest deterrent to the Arab states that keeps them from attacking Israel. With Jane’s IAF, you can be part of the elite force that is widely regarded as the best in the world. |
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| Terrain | |
| It may seem odd to have an entire section of a review dedicated to terrain, but it’s just that good. The terrain in the game is based on stereoscopic imagery of the region, and the graphics engine is a model of the ones used in actual Israeli simulators. While all of the screen shots on this page are official game shots from the Jane’s web site, actual gameplay on my computer seemed to be almost identical. However, at lower altitudes (you fly there a lot in this game) it becomes slightly pixelated, but is smoothed out quickly. The elevations are completely accurate. Nothing quite as exhilarating as a dogfight at an altitude of 60 feet! |
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| Weapons | |
| The weapons you can choose from are mostly a mix of Israeli and American weapons. Arming your aircraft is graphical and very easy to do. For air-to-air missions, you can choose from Israeli designed weapons such as the Python 3 and 4, and American ones like the AIM-9 (Sidewinder), the AIM-7 (Sparrow) or the AIM-120 (AMRAAM). Air-to-ground weapons consist of standard Mk-80 series bombs, both laser guided and unguided, and guided missiles such as the Maverick, HARM, Walleye, Shrike and Popeye. Other munitions, such as cluster bombs and rockets, can also be carried. The visual model and performance of the weapons seems to be very realistic, although not as realistic as games such as F-15E (also by Jane's). |  |
| Multiplayer | |
| I'll be honest with you. I love playing multiplayer games, and if you love them too IAF will not disappoint you. I have already played many times on Jane's Combat.Net and found it extremely entertaining. You can either play "All-Out-War" (each player for himself) or "Teamplay". There are also two additional aircraft available in multiplayer mode, the MiG-23 and MiG-29. I played with 4 other players on my 56kps modem, and it didn't seem any slower than playing the regular missions. If you like multiplayer combat sims, then IAF is definitely for you. |  |
| Aircraft | |
| There are 7 aircraft available to fly in IAF (9 in multiplayer). All are aircraft that have served or are currently serving in the IAF. You can choose from the Mirage III, the F-4E, the F-4 2000, the Kfir C-7, the F-15 2000, the F-16D, the Lavi ATF, and the MiG-23 and 29 (in multiplayer). The aircraft you will be flying against consist of a wide range of Soviet aircraft exported to Arab client states. The flight characteristics and cockpits of the aircraft are fairly realistic, although not as real as in games like F-15E or F/A-18 Korea. Most cockpit controls, such as the MFDs, radar, etc., can be controlled either by the mouse, keyboard, or buttons on your joystick. |  |
| Gameplay | |
| One of the best features of this game is the tactical display (see right). When you fly a mission, you are only one of many formations of aircraft performing their tasks. For example, the mission may call for two F-4s to kill a SAM, while F-15s provide air cover for a C-130 delivering paratroopers, and Kfirs are bombing ammo storage depots. Not only can you choose which formation you want to fly, but during the game you can press ESC to bring up the tactical display, and switch formations in mid-game. All formations not currently being controlled by you will be controlled by the computer automatically. The skill level of opposing pilots can be changed, but your score will be effected. For example, if you set the difficulty to "Easy", you will only get 80% of the score you would on "Normal". Setting it on "Hard" will give you 120% of the score. Crashing your aircraft, or failing to complete the mission objective, will result in loss of points. |  |
| Documentation | |
| This is the only major problem I have with this game. Not only does the manual contain numerous spelling errors, but it lacks consistency too. For example, within the same paragraph the identical aircraft is called three different things (F-16, F16, F 16) Didn't they at least spell check it? Otherwise, the manual is very easy to read, and helps you learn the game quickly. Tactics are also discussed, but it's very hard to learn a maneuver from a small blue and black diagram. In-game documentation and training missions are superb, and help you grasp the basics of air combat. |  |
| Conclusions | |
| I personally enjoy this game very much, and find it very entertaining. It's not very hard to, at least for a brief moment, feel as if you're actually there, patrolling the skies over the Middle East. For air combat sim fans, I would definitely recommend this game. | |
| System Requirements | |
Because of the high realism of this game, the requirements are kind of steep;
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Reviewed by Bryan Samis
