F-22 Lightning II Review
Review by Alfred Giovetti
Price: $60
Genre: Combat Flight Simulator
Release: September 25, 1996
Developer: Novalogic
Art: Keith Rust
Music: James Donnellan
Programmer: Randy Casey
Producer: John Garcia
Publisher: Novalogic
Phone: 818-880-1997
Website: www.novalogic.com/f22.htm, http://www.novalogic.com/c3.htm
Requirements: 486 DX 4, 100 MHz, 18 MB hard drive space, Super VGA, mouse, sound blaster, 2X CD ROM drive - - CPU - Fast 486/DX4 minimum, Pentium recommended. Fast Pentium required for maximum performance in high resolution mode, Video SVGA card (PCI or VLB cards strongly recommended), Memory - 8 MB minimum, 16 MB recommended, 2X CD-ROM drive (4x drive recommended), Sound Cards - Sound Blaster (TM) SoundBlaster 16, SoundBlaster AWE32, Microsoft(TM) Sound System, Crystal Semiconductor, Turtle Beach, TBS2000 and 100% compatible cards, Mouse, Peripherals - Supports the Thrustmaster FCS and WCS, CH Flight Sticks, Wingman Extreme, Microsoft Sidewinder, standard joysticks and throttles Multiplayer: For direct link play: null modem serial cable, For modem play: Minimum 14.4Kbps modem, For network play: IPX/ODI and network adapter Hard drive installation - minimum 17MB, full 40.8Mb (this includes an 8Mb swap file)

History: The F-22 Lightning is quite possibly one of the most exiting new planes to come out in years. The F-22 can cruise at supersonic speeds for hours without consuming inordinate amounts of fuel. At subsonic speeds the F-22 has maneuverability comparable to the F-16, and with the weapon's bays closed has a tiny radar signature when compared to other planes with this performance. The ordinance load of the plane is very respectable and as a dual task aircraft, the Lightning can perform both strike and intercept missions with equal efficiency.

We first saw the game when we were filming at E3 for the television show. Novalogic intends for the game to appeal to novice and expert alike with a simple game and simple controls. There is a quick mission editor, network play with cooperative and competitive missions. Not considered a grognards game. Novalogic's Commanche has sold over one million units world wide.

Modes: The game has several modes quick start with checkride tutorial and five campaigns. Each mission is a continuous link in a long, linear campaign.

Missions: There are five campaigns with eight or nine missions each, for a total of 36 missions. The campaigns include Training at Nellis AFB in Nevada, the Mekong delta which borders Laos, Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Thailand, Siberia from the Pacific Ocean to Novosibirsk, another Iraqui war with the Free Arab League, and Ukraine with Czech, Russian and Polish troops. Missions are primarily air-to-air since that is the primary mission of the F-22. You do not waste a 100 million dollar aircraft on a mission that might get it killed by a $25,000 piece of hardware, so missions are going to be high altitude and high priority.

Several games have given cyber fighter jocks a chance to fly the F-22, Advanced Tactical Fighters and Jetfighter III are two of the most notable of these.

Views: Multiple camera angles that feature fluid panning views around the cockpit and external panning views of aircraft and objects. Padlock view, which is similar to that view found in Falcon 3.0 and EF2000 , admirably provides the head on a swivel needed to fly a combat jet.

Enemies: Modern aircraft such as the Russian-built MIG-27 and SU-27 jet fighters, tanks, airfields, buildings.

Weapons: AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, JDAM 1000-lb. bombs, M61 20 mm cannon. Weapons load out cannot be changed in Quick Missions or the campaigns, which is a serious deficiency for a modern flight simulator.

The JDAM bombs are a real joy to use. The bomb can be released up to 10 miles from the target at altitudes above 10,000 feet and it becomes a fire and forget missile unerringly guided toward its destination by combination satellite and AWACS controls. The only problem is the accuracy since you must select other target locations to bomb out many targets, bomb spread and ripple effects are eliminated due to pin point accuracy. You can no longer fly over target releasing bombs sequentially and hit different parts of same target like a bridge or train or different targets like a SAM (Surface to Air Missile) launcher and radar dish. The bombing does take some getting used to. New technology always solves old problems and creates new ones.

Cockpit displays: Accurate console displays, aircraft schematics and actual flight dynamics provided by Lockheed and Boeing, manufacturers of the F-22. The radar is not very realistic since you can only turn it on or turn it off.

Artificial intelligence: Adjustable enemy AI allows ace opponents to perform more maneuvers better.

Wing person commands: Most of the normal wing commands, such as Formation, engage your target, attack nearest target, and cover your tail, are supported.

Controls: Four multifunction displays (MFDs) can show a variety of information, including threat display and alarm, target information, stores, and more. Support for major throttle, rudder, and flight type joysticks. You will find fewer controls in this F-22 cockpit when compared to the others on the market. The philosophy of DID is to exchange sheer stark realism for control over the plane. This is an interesting concept.

Flight dynamics and accuracy: One of my largest complaints, and those of the real combat pilots who look at computer games, is the absence in many games of articulated moving control surfaces on enemy planes. Pilots look to these control surfaces to anticipate dog fight moves before they happen. F-22 has these moving surfaces on your plane but not on the enemy, oh well perhaps next time.

The F-22 is a fully articulated aircraft model features retractable landing gear, opening weapon bay doors, moveable flaps, ailerons and airbrake. The cockpit layout based on actual aircraft and is very accurate. Accurate console displays, aircraft schematics and actual flight dynamics provided by Lockheed and Boeing, manufacturers of the F-22. Flight dynamics were tested and validated by Air Force and Marine fighter pilots.

State-of-the-art representation of ILS (Instrument Landing System) and multiple cockpit displays provide maps and navigational tools, as well as targeting, radar, and weapons management make the experience more realistic.

Graphics: Surprisingly, F-22 doesn't use Voxel Space 2. F-22 is based on a brand new, proprietary engine which provides a photorealistic terrain. It also makes for a thick, translucent cloud layer which you can rise above, hide in, and attack from. F-22 will feature desert, jungle, island, coastline, mountain, and rolling hills terrain. SVGA resolutions of 320x200, 400x300, and 640x480 are supported.

Beautiful rendering of the plane, including retractable landing gear, opening weapon bay doors, moveable flaps, ailerons and airbrake. Many nice features include haze over mountains, and smooth scaling of ground details from any height. NovaLogic's new polygon engine supports high density texture mapped polygons with hazing and light sourcing, includes four lush terrains with thousands of square miles each with desert, jungle, island and coastline.

NovaLogic's new polygon engine supports high density texture mapped polygons with hazing and light sourcing. NovaLogicis new polygon engine supports high density texture mapped polygons with hazing and light sourcing. Seasonal effects such as snow should be expected. There are snow-covered terrain, but unfortunately, no 3-D weather model.

Animation: Includes full motion video footage of real F-22 planes in action.

Voice actors: provide wing person chatter. Wing persons are not terribly useful in this one.

Music: Appropriate flying music is provided.

Sound: 16-bit stereo, Dolby Surround Sound including combat sounds, such as explosions and fly by noise and extensive helmet chatter. The sound effects are often hard to hear, but they can be adjusted to higher relative volume than the music using the game options controls.

Editors: Quick mission editor only. Includes Quick Mission Editor for custom combat scenarios which also allows you to play missions out of order.

Multiplayer: Free for all (FFA), and cooperative over modem, null and phone, and network play for up to 8 human pilots. Cooperative campaign mode, a personal bias of mine, was not reported to be supported. Only 1 CD is necessary to play a multiplayer game including an 8 player network campaign. Multiplayer out of the box.

Patches and multi-player: "NovaLogic announces MAJOR enhancements to F-22. Early next week the NovaLogic website will sport a brand new F-22 executable. Originally, this patch was to offer sound and video fixes for people whose hardware was having problems. We also planned to include a program to build a Windows 95 shortcut for F22 - so you'll have a quick way to launch the game under Windows 95! But now this new executable file supports the most requested features: 4 new pilot views and multiplayer CHAT MODE. Look up, look left, look right, and "check 6" will now be accessible with a single keypress. CHAT MODE will allow players with this new executable to send messages back and forth."

Hints: Your F-22 is equipped with a mix of weapons with ranges superior to those carried by your enemies. Because of this, you should always get in the first shot. Always keep your enemies at arm's length if possible. Never wait to use your gun if you still have Sidewinder missiles and never wait to use your Sidewinders if you still have AMRAAM's.

Novice pilots tend to fight only in the horizontal plane using high-G energy sapping turns to attack and evade. Don't make this mistake. Air combat is a three dimensional affair. Get in the habit of using the vertical plane (zoom climbs and extended dives) when engaging in dogfights. Enemy pilots in this simulation love to use vertical breaks, Split S turns, and 3D energy reversals. Be prepared to deal with these tactics.

Future: This blockbuster game is being translated in French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Japanese, even Chinese.

Reviewing the Reviewer: "Real life pilot, Jeff Ethell in Computer Player, July, 1996 pointed out that many flight sims today aren't realistic because they demand too many keyboard commands from armchair and real pilots. What do you say about this? Give us your opinion, email to Doug.call@dol.net. Computer Player's preview is a lot of fluff.

Conclusion: The avionics and controls may be too simple for grognards, but the novice and those who do not like too much complexity will like the game.

Reference:
http://www.fscentral.com/f22lightningtxt.htm
http://www.cdaccess.com/html/pc/f22.htm
www.gamesmania.com/english/reviews/new/f22/f22.htm
Christine Grech Wendin, PC Games, volume 3, number 8, August, 1996, pg. 35.
PC Gamer, volume 3, number 8, August, 1996, pg. 50.
PC Gamer, volume 3, number 8, August, 1996, pg. 19
. Computer Gaming World, August 1996, pg. 76.
D. Atkin, Computer Gaming World, number 144, July, 1996, pg. 42.
Denny Atkin, Computer Gaming World, number 146, September, 1996, pg. 50-63.
All About Games - http://www.nexi.com/aag
Computer Gaming World - http://www.zdnet.com/gaming/welcome.html
PC Gamer - http://www.pcgamer.com
PC Games - http://www.pcgamesmag.com/
Strategy Plus - http://www.cdmag.com
Multimedia Merchandising - http://www.m3mag.com/
Next Generation - http://www.next-generation.com/
BOOT, Aug/Sep 1996, p. 48-53
Glenn Broderick, Computer Player, volume 3, number 5, October, 1996, pg. 59.
COMPUTER GAMING WORLD, Jul 1996, p. 42
COMPUTER GAMING WORLD, Aug 1996, p. 76
COMPUTER GAMING WORLD, Sep 1996, p. 50-60
...........Head to Head preview of the newest F-22 sims!!!
PC GAMER, Aug 1996, p. 50-51
PC GAMER (UK), Aug 1996, p. 18-19...........4 pictures!!!
PC GAMES, Aug 1996, p. 35&38................E3's top 25!!!
PC FORMAT (UK), Aug 1996, p. 6-7
STRATEGY PLUS, Aug 1996, p. 36
Steve Wartofsky, Computer Games STRATEGY PLUS, issue 70, September 1996, p. 70.
Company website: http://www.novalogic.com/f22.htm
Glenn Broderick, Computer Player, volume 3, number 4, September, 1996, pg. 22.
MULTIMEDIA MERCHANDISING, Aug 1996, p. 48&56
PC POWER, September 1996, p. 36-37
PC ZONE, September 1996, p. 30-31
COMPUTER PLAYER, October 1996, p. 59
Dan Bennett, PC Gamer, volume 3, number 12, December, 1996, pg. 246-247, 78%.
Pipa, http://www.avault.com/sector/reviews/f22.html
Apexx Technology Wall of Games - http://www.apexxtech.com/html/gamewall.html
F-22 Lightning II page - http://www.dragonfire.net/~ares
Game Over! Magazine - http://www.game-over.co.uk/
All About Games - http://www.nexi.com/aag
Computer Gaming World - http://www.zdnet.com/gaming/welcome.html
PC Gamer - http://www.pcgamer.com
PC Games - http://www.pcgamesmag.com/
Strategy Plus - http://www.cdmag.com
Multimedia Merchandising - http://www.m3mag.com/
Next Generation - http://www.next-generation.com/
Lee Buchanan, Boot, volume 1, number 5, January, 1997, pg. 85, (90%).
Kevin J. McCann, Computer Player, volume 3, number 7, December, 1996, pg. 82, (80%).
Christopher Tou, PC Games, volume 3, number 12, December, 1996, pg. 145, 85%.