Jane's United States Air Force (USAF)
PC GAME REVIEW posted on 14 OCT 1999 by Scott Parrino
Jane's USAF aims to meet the needs of a beginner PC jet pilot, but also strives to gratify a seasoned virtual jet jockey. Its full complement of avionics, coupled with cockpits to mimic their real life counterparts, adds a realism not seen before in a survey simulation. With a full suite of USAF aircraft, the attention to detail of each aircraft's avionics, cockpit, and flight model is astonishing for one game to offer.
Star Trek: StarFleet Command
PC GAME REVIEW posted on 7 OCT 1999 by Scott Parrino
Star Trek: Starfleet Command offers a no-nonsense, intellectual, and visceral opportunity to those who have long been fans of Trek games, for the true space simulator fans, and even for the occasional wargamer. Interplay has done a great job of keeping the simulation convincing, reliable, and above all, enjoyable. This is a game that might take some time to get used to, and perhaps a longer time to learn to delight in. Despite the setbacks of an awkward control panel and some multi-player issues, Starfleet Command shines. This game can be slow on occasions and requires a lot of thought and patience. I recommend this game to simulation fans who want a different kind of challenge.
Force 21
PC GAME REVIEW posted on 25 SEP 1999 by Scott Parrino
The premise behind Force 21 revolves around a new view of warfare in the 21st century. Since the Persian Gulf conflict, the US Army has been refocusing its strategy around elite and extremely mobile ground forces that have the ability to make precise and lightning quick attacks on opposing ground forces. The term "Force 21" refers to that "battlespace," which is a battlefield that goes beyond the typical dimensions of physical space (to include information). More on the developing Force 21 program can be found at the back of the game manual. If you want the short of the long, let’s just say that the game is focused primarily on tanks, light armored vehicles, artillery, and other largely mobile ground units. And that’s what you’ve got with Force 21 – a game much like other military strategy sims (sharing many common elements with the Jane’s series), but with a complete focus on ground armor warfare. Perhaps too much of a focus, from what I found.
Jane's Fleet Command
PC GAME REVIEW posted on 26 AUG 1999 by Scott Parrino
While it may be tempting to say Fleet Command is a "Harpoon light," this does not seem to do it justice. Fleet Command is a detailed simulation of naval warfare in its own right. There is less player control, but a lot of depth is still present, with a much slicker interface. In this respect the game will appeal to more casual gamers who want to hop in and start playing.
MechWarrior 3
PC GAME REVIEW posted on 21 AUG 1999 by Scott Parrino
In general, I found this game to be quite well done. The game is stable, well thought out and the story line is thorough and comes across like good science fiction - futuristic but very believable. The graphics and sound are excellently done. Not much eye candy, just the effects you need to find yourself feeling like a MechWarrior. There were a few flaws but those did not make the game unplayable or prevent me from getting drawn in. Frankly, I was surprised at how I managed to get sucked in so deeply. During my testing I often forgot that I was doing a review and found myself plowing through the missions with an urgency that made me forget the time. This game is not for the master strategist. It is a game that focuses on 'Mech tactical exercises and lance (squad) control. It has the action that one expects of a first-person shooter, but hits on some of the things that the average shooter neglects, like supplies, ammunition conservation and pre-mission loadout planning.
F-22 Lightning 3’s Mission Editor - A Step-By-Step Example of Mission Generation
STRATEGY AND TACTICS ARTICLE posted on 16 AUG 1999 by Scott Parrino
Successfully creating a mission for F-22 Lightning 3 can be confusing at first, mainly due to a lack of instructions on exactly what needs to be done. I’ve written this account of the steps I took to successfully create a basic mission using the editor, which others should be able to follow step-by-step to create your own working, save-able mission, which could be used as a good starting point to creating more detailed missions. I included a few of my own points of unsureness and error messages which show what the program still required at various points. I’ve denoted the steps that are described in the manual with [Manual]. At the end are some notes on some of the difficulties I had.
Thoughts about flight simulators from one engineers point of view
EDITORIAL posted on 13 AUG 1999 by Scott Parrino
I was kindly asked by Rob Coppock to write an article about flight simulators seen from an engineer’s point of view. My personal point of view with regard to flight simulators is that they are just plain fun, which made it a tiny bit problematic trying to find something worth while to write about. I ended up writing some "loose engineering thoughts of mine" about flight simulators.
iF-22 Persian Gulf v5.0
PC GAME REVIEW posted on 1 AUG 1999 by Scott Parrino
So what does this have to do with iF-22 Persian Gulf Version 5.0 by iMagic? From this writer's perspective, it appears that iMagic has attempted to incorporate the best of these standards-setting titles into its latest flight simulator, iF-22 Persian Gulf Version 5.0. Did iMagic succeed in its efforts? Let's find out.
F-22 Lightning 3
PC GAME REVIEW posted on 24 JUL 1999 by Scott Parrino
F-22 Lightning 3 is not Falcon 4.0. Then again, Falcon 4.0 is not F-22 Lightning 3. These two products are aimed at different target audiences. F-22 Lightning 3 is a good simulation which focuses on fun and accessible gameplay that nonetheless has a lot of nice details and mirrors the real subject to an extent. F-22 Lightning 3 does appear to have several items modeled in detail, but it also offer simplicity that allows even novice players to jump right in and enjoy the action, without having to go through a pilot training course first. Although this is a simulation designed more for the weekend flight sim player than the hard-core flight sim junkie, the game will be fun for those junkies looking for something easy to get into and enjoy. With this said, there is little randomness to the single-player missions, so there won’t be much replay value there. All the replay value is in the on-line feature.
MiG Alley
PC GAME PREVIEW posted on 14 JUN 1999 by Scott Parrino
A much neglected time frame in the PC simulation arena, the air combat in the Korean War. Take to the skies in an F-86 Sabre against MiG-15's over the Korean Landscape. Combines tactical engagement with detailed avionics in an air combat environment. Won game of the year in many games/magazines.
Apache Havoc
PC GAME REVIEW posted on 15 MAY 1999 by Scott Parrino
I really enjoyed Apache Havoc, and will continue to play it. It has a lot of good points and a few low points. The graphics and the weapons and avionics are of very good quality. The sound was not so great. I would expect that multi-play will eventually be fixed (I hope). A click-controllable cockpit would be the greatest improvement. Apache Havoc has enough flexibility to be enjoyed by the novice pilot all the way to the combat veteran. It is very engrossing, with enough variations to endure on your hard drive for a long time.
X-Wing Alliance
PC GAME REVIEW posted on 14 MAY 1999 by Scott Parrino
In a few words, I would say that you will surely love X-Wing Alliance if you liked TIE Fighter. This is the same brand of game, updated with state-of-the-art graphics, sounds and multi-player play. To enjoy it, you will need a strong configuration. I have not carried out tests with slower machines, but even my 400 MHz Celeron with a 16-MB TNT card can freeze and suffer from frame-rate hits in melees involving a few dozen spacecraft. On the other hand, outside of large battles the frame-rate seemed OK even on a 233 MHz Pentium II based system. Adjusting the details downwards did not make much of a difference. You apparently need a powerful configuration. Truly, X-Wing Alliance is a great game, and it seems quite robust as well (it crashed only once since I installed it). It will be one of the few games I’ll play from start to finish this year.
Falcon 4.0
PC GAME REVIEW posted on 14 FEB 1999 by Scott Parrino
A fully featured modern PC simulation of the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Recent developments have made this the most complete and user configuarable filght simulation to date. Definintely for the hard-core flight sim enthusiast!
Dawn of Aces 2
PC GAME REVIEW posted on 14 FEB 1999 by Scott Parrino
Online only WWI air combat simulation in a persistant virtual world allowing one to don their Snoopy scarf and goggles and engage in aerial bi-plane dogfighting, zepplin burning, and artillery strikes to command the fictional landscape with dozens of other online comrades.
Flight Sim Yoke PC
HARDWARE REVIEW posted on 14 FEB 1999 by Scott Parrino
In short, if you enjoy operating civil flight simulators and want the most realistic flight yoke at a reasonable price, I have no hesitation in recommending the CH Products Flight Yoke as excellent value for money. It is a worthy addition to any flight sim enthusiast’s collection and provides a quantum leap in realism over previous yokes. After spending many hours with it in a number of simulators I would have to say without reservation that this is one of the best and most realistic flight control devices I have ever used on a PC.
SWAT 3: Close Quarters Battle
PC GAME REVIEW posted on 8 FEB 1999 by Scott Parrino
When I received my review copy, I played it for eight straight hours. This game is engrossing, and with so many good things going for it, it's hard for me to not sing its praises. While replay value may suffer for a bit, if Sierra can come through with a solid multi-player, SWAT 3 will be a real winner in the tactical combat arena. If you're really wondering, my preliminary opinion is that this game is very nice indeed. Rarely do I tell readers to go out right now and pick up a copy, but I am going to do it here. Turn off your monitor, grab your keys, get in your mode of transport, and go get this game from your local electronics merchant! Don't bother ordering on-line, because it will just take too long! Multi-player be damned!
Su-27 Flanker
PC GAME REVIEW posted on 8 FEB 1999 by Scott Parrino
The Squadron Commanders edition adds the Version 1.5 patch which greatly improves the multiplayer capabilities and an added mission disk with over 150 customised missions. Don't buy this simulator for the graphics, but the flight model is certainly worth a look. To be consistent with our test criteria, Su-27 has been awarded a "Very Good" rating, as it provides an extremely accurate flight model in virtually all phases of flight. The rudimentary graphics and a number of visual perspective errors detracted from Su-27's capacity to provide a benefit to real pilots.
Stuka
PC GAME REVIEW posted on 8 FEB 1999 by Scott Parrino
The release of Microsoft’s Combat Flight Simulator about a year ago has spawned a whole series of add-on products such as Pacific Theater from Abacus Software, and Stuka from Data Becker. These add-ons promise to add scenery and aircraft to the Combat Flight Simulator package in much the same way add-ons for Microsoft’s Flight Simulator series do. Clearly then, I was eager to look at this Stuka add-on, being a fan of the whining dive-bomber noise it produced. However, that whine was almost the only thing that I found accurate or satisfying about this product!
European Air War
PC GAME REVIEW posted on 30 DEC 1998 by Scott Parrino
Microprose's European Air War puts the player in the pilot seat in the 1940-1945 war for Western European skies. In addition to controlling individual planes, it is possible to command a squadron in flight and between missions.
Panzer Elite
PC GAME PREVIEW posted on 15 DEC 1998 by Scott Parrino
Panzer Elite is a World War II tank simulation with players commanding either a German or American tank platoon from 1942 to 1944. The action takes place in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and Normandy. When Teut Weidemann of Wing Simulations was asked how the game would deal with the inferiority of American tanks early in the war, his answer was that they simulated the real techniques employed by the Americans. More explicitly, the Americans will generally have one additional tank per platoon, and a nearly unlimited supply of replacement tanks, artillery support, and more infantry support. (Obviously, careful scenario design will also factor into this equation.)
