User Reviews (1 - 11 of 36)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

BEATS USAF, FALCON 4.0, AND ALL OTHERS HANDS DOWN!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 31 / 32
Date: March 25, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Falcon is a great game, but way too many crashes and bugs...my copy finally found the trash. And USAF is fun, if you don't mind sacrificing realism and detail for ease of play. Jane's F/A-18 has stability, blazing graphics and gameplay, and realism with detail beyond compare. It does everything other flight sims try to do, and puts it all in a finished, well rounded package. The manual is well written, although the use of a few of the weapons could have been expanded on. Online training missions have filled that need. FA/18's graphics equal and sometimes surpass Falcon's. The 3-D cloud, weather, and lighting effects are groundbreaking. Try dropping out of a 7000 foot stormcloud ceiling, watching the mist dissipate around you and lightning flash in all directions...see the glow of your afterburners from behind and watch your left side light up as you fire an AIM-120 to pierce through the darkness, winding it's way to an unsuspecting MIG-27. After the orange fireball plunges into the cold water, turn and head towards your carrier group. As you break through a low layer of spotty clouds, you see your carrier cutting through the shimmering moon-lit sea. You know your biggest challenge is yet to come...catching the tailhook of your 45,000 pound fighter on one of four wires, while your flight deck rocks and sways in the choppy waters. Communications realism is incredible, including dozens of commands that can be given to your wingman, section, division, or entire flight. Direct a few squadron members out front to take out enemy SAM sites or AAA, clearing the way for you and your wingman to deliver the strike while another section provides air cover. Contact AWACS to request information on enemy group locations and bearings. Unlike many flight sims, in Jane's your AI planes will do what you tell them, without crashing into the ground or performing unexplained maneuvers. Weapons are also modeled with excellent realism, and there are many to choose from: Laser guided bombs, GPS guided munitions, stand off lond distance weapons, anti-personnel, anti-armor, and several versions of the AIM-120, AIM-7 Sparrow, and Sidewinder series. Go into custom arming and pick a predefined loadout or load each of the ! eleven! weapon stations individually. Use data link pods, FLIR targeting pods (forward looking infrared), air launched decoys, or just pickle a "dumb bomb" by planting the crosshairs on your target. Launch the harpoon anti-ship missile after choosing options such as flight profile and skim or pop-up final attack. I've heard complaints about the virtual cockpit and lack of 2-D cockpit. Personally, I never play any sim using the 2-D cockpit, as you can't swivel your "virtual head" to see what is to the sides or behind you. So while Falcon's 2-D cockpit is a bit prettier, F/A-18's virtual cockpit beats Falcon's virtual and works very well. I'll take functionality over beauty any day. Many missions available online complement the great ones included. You'll also find training missions and add-ons like custom cockpits and aircraft skins online. This is the best fighter simulation available this year! F/A-18 isn't good at one thing...it's great at everything. I run it on a PIII450 with 96MB RAM and a Viper550 graphics card and it runs very smooth at full detail. If you have a decent system that can handle other simulations of this quality, you will not be disappointed. I've flown F-15, and this blows it away.

Awesome avionics - at a price.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 24 / 24
Date: January 20, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This "game" features incredible avionics and weapons modeling of the U.S. Navy/Marines newest attack aircraft, the F/A-18 E Hornet.

If you've got the hardware - and I mean a SERIOUS system such as a 600+ mHz PIII or Athalon, go for it. Otherwise, hold off until Jane's either optimizes the code or you get a faster machine. Even on my Coppermine with a GeForce DDR, this thing can CRAWL during a campaign.

The graphics are nothing to write home about (not as good as Hornet Korea, a 3-year-old Hornet sim, IMO), but if you can get past that, there's some serious fun to be had delving into the many weapons systems and comms. To be fair the game does have good weather and lighting effects, although nothing that hasn't already been done on non-flightsims for a few years.

The manual is sparse. At only 200 pages, it doesn't begin to cover the avionics systems in depth. You'll have to find your own way or resort to reading newsgroups.

There are also LOTS of complaints about freezing on the newsgroups, so expect to have to wait for a patch before it's truly playable for the long-haul.

Would I recommend it? Yes. It's not the best flightsim I've ever seen, but it's close. If you're new to hardcore flightsims (anything non-Novalogic should qualify), and are looking for an entry level sim into the genre, start with Hornet Korea and then move up to Jane's F/A-18 after you understand what it's all about. Just keep in mind, his thing WILL bring your system to its knees, and if you don't have the hardware, stay well away.

A Step Backwards?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: January 21, 2000
Author: Amazon User

After playing FA/18, I expected to see an awesome addition to the excellence achieved by USAF. FA/18 doesn't come close. The graphics seem to be equal to some shareware products, compared to USAF, and the game doesn't capture the feeling of realism that USAF did. I guess if it had come out before USAF, it probably would have impressed me more. It appears to be F15 reincarnated, staged in a different theatre. The carrier take offs and landings are ok, but even the older Microprose F14 Fleet defenders' carrier activity appeared more exciting. It's definately not what I expected to take the stage after USAF. I was somewhat of a disappointed to me. If you're just dying to catapult from a carrier, at least wait several months, this way you can pick it up in a clearance bin for $19.99.

Great game, bad package

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: May 13, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Think of this more as 4.5 stars. Jane's F/A-18 is probably the best combat flight sim I have ever played. Anybody who liked F-15 or Microprose's Falcon series will love the attention to detail, superb flight modeling and living world of this game. Unfortunatley, the cheapo EA-Classics package, while cheap, robs the game of a very important tool: a printed manual.

This is a very, very complicated simulation. Almost every button in the virtual cockpit is clickable and performs an important function; everything from turning formation lights on and off to switching A-A radar submodes from RWS to TWS is possible in the game. And if the preceding sentence didn't make much sense to you, you will probably have some problems with the game.

With a printed manual, a dedicated newbie could slug his or her way through the game, learning functions and important options as they go along, responding to each situation as it comes; however, the 150 page manual comes only in Adobe Acrobat format, making it very hard to check on functions 'on the fly', no pun intended. There are a suite of tutorial missions, but they teach only very basic functions, and don't even touch on the various radar submodes, complex FLIR pod functions, and advanced air to ground missiles, all of which have unique operating modes.

Once you figure all of this out, though, this game can be infinitley rewarding: nursing a highly damaged aircraft with hydraulics problems and one engine running on fumes back to an aircraft carrier one hundred miles away, only to hear a frantic 'Wave off! Wave OFF!' from the LSO and knowing you won't have enough juice to make another pass is a very deep feeling.

All of the cockpit chatter, realistic damage effects, and advanced wingman controls help suspend your disbelief and make you think you are really in total control of a fifty-million dollar aircraft. Only one thing takes me back to the fact that it's a computer program: on my system, a P3-450 with 96 megs of ram and a 64mb Geforce 2, the game is really choppy at 800x600 with medium detail. I have a feeling this is sloppy coding on behalf of the team; the better looking Jane's USAF (from a different developing team) runs smoothly at 1024x768 with full details on my rig. Still, now I have a good reason to upgrade!

In short: If you are a serious simmer, get this game now. You won't find any better now and perhaps for a long while.

Even Great For Novices

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: December 17, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Okay, I know that title isn't very fitting for a Jane's game. However, previous to this the most detailed flight sim I had ever played was Freespace 2, and yes, I know that's not even a flight sim. I'm just making an example. However, as a novice to the genre, I bought F/A-18 and was immediately intimidated by the extent of detail in the game. Moreover, as thin as the tutorial actually is, it at least provides you with some sort of a basis to work with. If you search the web long enough, you will find that there are a plethora of customized training missions that will teach you every important nuance of flying the F/A-18, so that you will at least be a functional pilot.

Second, other than the controls and learning time needed, F/A-18 is a wonderful looking game. I have a mere Celeron 400 with a ATI Rage card, and the game still played at a fine speed with minimal slowdown once I toned down the level of detail. For that matter, the game still looked wonderful, the explosions were great, fire and sunlight reflecting inside of my cockpit.

If you want to get into flying REAL flight sims, like me, take a shot at F/A-18 and be prepared to spend some time learning. It'll take a while, but figuring out how to play these kind of games is a more than worthwhile reward. F/A-18 is a great example of Flight Sims at the top of their game. Buy it, learn it, revel in it's quality, reap the rewards of knowledge.

I feel...I feel the need...the need for speed!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: December 08, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game is a piece of art. Not software, art

In this game, you fly the famous F/A-18E Super Hornet, the Navys most advanced strike fighter. You have a lot of weapons and equipment at your disposal, about 30 each of Air-to-Air and Air-to-ground, ranging from the M61 Vulcan cannon, the AGM-65 Maverick, the AIM-120 AMRAAM, AIM-9 Sidewinder, TALD's(Tactical Air launched decoys) and the like to NAVFLIR, ATFLIR, Chaff, and data link pods.

The flight model is extremely realistic, but you can adjust it to the level of realism you want. For you people that can fly but cant land on a carrier, your in luck, because the F/A-18E has an ACLS (Automatic Carrier Landing System). However, you should be at least and ace in the virtual sky, if you are a pudknocker(if you dont know what that means forget it), dont buy it. Start with something like F-22 Lightning.

The scenery is terrific to. When you turn it up to 1024x8??x32, it looks pretty photogenic. The carriers, other ships, planes, ground objects, etc, are all extremely accurate. Then theres the cockpit. Its beautiful. You will find yourself staring at it a long time. Its extremly accurate, compared to pictures I've seen of the real F/A-18E's cockpit. All the switches (except for 2) are active in the cockpit, everything really works, no showbiz here.

In overall, this game is really good. It does run on XP, but you will have to download the patch that's on cd first. Also, if you dread textbook type manuals, reconsider.

Splendid

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: February 25, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I have to disagree with all the negative comments and reviews. This product truely out performs any sim I have encountered so far. This ranges from the Microsoft products up to Jane's Combat Simulations. No crashes or so many upsetting bugs as in Falcon 4.0 or FS-2000 Professional. Superb 3D graphics, avionics utterly realistic created, and too many numerous other new features. As a dedicated flight simmer, I will give this product a definite 5/5.

F/A-18 not what I expected...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: January 14, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I preordered this game a long time ago, just after I purchased USAF. I expected a simmilar kind of simulation, one like USAF but spiced up. People have to know this is more of a real f-18 simulator simulation, I mean the real thing. It's very complicated. Once you get the hang of it you will start liking it. I was disapointed with the graphics. I have a K6II 400 mhz and it doesn't run smoothly.

Perhaps the most detailed flight sim that you will ever see.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: March 21, 2002
Author: Amazon User

The biggest mistake you can make about this F/A-18 Hornet simulation is confusing it with one of the "Jane's Fighters" games like ATF or USNF '97 - simple games packing a lot of variety but little realism or much deep detail. Instead "Jane's F/A-18" is more like previous Jane's games which focused on a single machine, like "Jane's F-15" or "Jane's Longbow" and were extremely complicated and demanding. In short, this new F/A-18 game may be the most complicated sim you'll ever be able to run on your computer. Here, you can fly the titular attack jet in both ACM and strike missions in single play, campaign mode or instant action. The action is centered around USN carrier ops near Russia's Kola Peninsula, familiar territory for Tom Clancy or Craig Thomas fans. Simulating the new F/A-18E, the radically redesigned (and so-called "Super Hornet") the game intricately models the demanding flight model as few sims can, while also allowing you to peruse an extremely detailed flight panel with mouse-clicked switches, and navigate reams of information from an extensive suite of analog instruments and digital multi-function displays. Think you'll just have a radar with three modes? (air, ground and nav) Forget it - it's not 1992 anymore. In "Jane's" you'll have to contend with numerous master modes and sub-modes for either counter-air or ground attack profiles, and you'll have to manage the information yourself. Think your magic airplane will fly whichever way you play the stick, and will stall gracefully? Forget it - this plane may look the a beauty, but it's a beast when it comes to edge-of-the-envelope flying, with yaw-skidding and some unpleasant (if recoverable) departures. Just getting through the instant action will require that you've perused the game's extensive manual (more on that below). While newer sims can raise the bar on graphics or sound, it won't be soon before a new sim raises the standard for outright and utterly demanding realism.

That said - a couple of complaints. First, I got the CD Classics version which (big surprise) came with another CD-ROM where the manual should have been. (i.e. although this looks like a boxed edition, it's actually an oversized jewel-case release). You can print the manual off the disc, but it will run well over 200 pages - better get a binder and a hole-puncher. (This was especially aggravating for a game that was so complicated, the manual was indispensable.)

What really kills me is the huge gap between the game's realistic and arcade-like gameplay. (You can either play the game's hyper-realistic aspects or the Super-Mario version - with no middle ground). This was also a problem on "F-15". Why not have some training missions or a module of the game set in Florida ala "Bogeys and Bandits" in which you must fly with demonstrated proficiency before being cleared to fly in fleet ops (let alone combat). And why no "car-qual" - carrier qualifying flights that every aviator must complete before he's certified to land on carriers? (This was actually something required on the original "Jetfighter" of 1990, a game which had no other aspirations for realism). In short, the game is so eager to blast a hole in something, that it never gets a chance to show you how deep and convincing a flight simulation (military or otherwise) it really is. In short, if you're looking for an easygoing flight sim, go for one of the survey sims like USAF. If what you want is a more detailed sim, but still one that won't tax you too hard, try "Total Air War" or EF2000 (v 2.0). Go for this game only if you need the most demanding sim you can find. I flew this game off my P2 4 GHz with no problems except initial compatibility problems with Win XP, but these were resolved once I downloaded the patch.

below Jane's standards

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: May 31, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Expected more from this title; being spoiled be the previous Jane's releases /my most favorite sim is probably Jane's WW2 Fighters/.

I just can't believe that they slightly re-polished their 4 years old F-15, removed Glide support, and put it on the market with words "the next generation graphics" on the box; that's pretty deceiving at best.

Graphics are very tired, with exception of some atmospheric effects and storms. Explosions are far below average, 3D objects modeling /with exception of your F-18/ is very simple.

There comes the question; how come that with such a poor graphics the game crawls even on relatively fast machines /heard about guys with PIII600's and Athlon 700's having problems/much exceeding Jane's recommended setup, not mentioning required one ? Probably just bad code, which is not optimized enough. You're in hardware 3D, but it seems like you almost do a poor software rendering instead.

So you'll end up with choppy gameplay and miserable visuals at max. resolution 1024*768. Color depth is not selectable, and is obviously average 16-bit. But there are not many colors in the game anyway, so you don't have to worry about that part. The game can be choppy in lower res as well, so it's no need to run anything less than max res and max detail. This is definitely not a way to go in the year 2000.

Positive stuff: Weapons systems and avionics are accurate, with many sub-menus, a lot to learn and to play with, but don't expect much help from the thin manual /to have Falcon4 manual on your desk can be handy here, since systems operate similarly/. There is a decent scenario editor available in the game as well. Overall atmosphere is, surprisingly, pretty OK , I guess it corresponds with that part of the world by Murmansk, Northern Russia. Also, the game didn't lock up or freeze once, and missions load time is very short /since there isn't much to load really/.

Hopefully Jane's will release another patch /1.01F is out now/, addressing at least the framerate problem. Until then, unless you have a very fast PC, would recommend to stay away from.

Tested on well tuned PII-400MHz/128MB RAM/AGP ViperV770 TNT2-32MB. /Jane's recommends P350/64megs/16megs 3D card/.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 Next 

Actions