User Reviews (1 - 11 of 20)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Last of the real dogfights!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 20 / 20
Date: January 13, 2000
Author: Amazon User

If you are a fan of the Air campaign over Korea then this is a must have! Mig Alley accurately depicts how chaotic and close the air combat was. The campaigns are robust in that you can control not only your flight but other units that can affect the outcome of the war. It takes time to learn how to do it but it is worth it. I wish there was more medals and stuff in the campaign. The graphics rock, but you need a PC that can take it, what else is new. Yanking and Banking in this sim is not easy because spins can happen at a moments notice. Once you get the hang of it though there is nothing cooler than watching a Mig-15 burst into a fireball! One draw back is that you can't be Mig in a campaign, but you can fly single missions in one.

All in all this Sim is well worth your hard earned $$$$.

Outstanding dogfighting and dynamic campaign

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 21 / 27
Date: November 16, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I highly recommend this outstanding flight sim. Its only problem is mulitplay which needs some work, however the rest of the sim more than makes up for it.

Almost too realistic

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: May 08, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I was drawn to this game because of my love of the F-86, only after getting into it a bit more did I discover the depth of the sim. Being a former FAC, I really liked the fact that Interplay had included one for the ground attack missions. Air to air was very good, graphics great, and performance models good, but it was the mud moving that really hit home. Targets were difficult to locate (as they should be) without someone telling you where they are. Buy it!

Good simulator in an area with few competitors

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: March 20, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I purchased this game just over a year ago and still play it quite often. As noted in the editorial reviews this game has few flaws, especially when you consider the competitors for simulators of this period. I particularly would like to have had a flyable model of the F-4U Corsair as it is one of my favorite aircraft of the era, particularly in ground attack, it ruggedness and payload capacity made it a much more effective ground attack aircraft than the P-51 Mustang with it's venerable liquid cooled engine. The F-4U4 Corsair also packed a heavier punch with it's 4 x 20mm cannon instead of the 6 x .50 caliber Machine Guns found in the F-80, F-84, F-86, and Mustang. Imagine how much more fun it would have been to blaze away at ground targets, especially armor such as the T-34s in the game with 4 x 20mm cannons instead Machine Guns.

One feature that I didn't like was that it is impossible to frame air or ground targets without going into pad-lock mode, also when the relative location of the target slips from your cockpit field of view you get an external view of your own aircraft with the target visible behind it. This can be disorienting, particularly in a dogfight. I would have preferred it if you remained in the cockpit with some sort of arrow or other indicator to let you know the position of the target. In dogfights this is possible with the perspective indicator but it is impossible in ground attack mode.

In evaluated this simulator at 4 stars because of these two shortcomings, which are relatively minor considering the other fun features and challenges build into this game. And one thing the editorial reviewers left out was the historical footage included on the CD-ROM, this adds to the atmosphere of the period considerably and reminds us again of 'The Forgotten War'.

A Flawed Classic

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: August 22, 2001
Author: Amazon User

A great flight sim with a great big flaw. It's greatness stems something to do with the guns only, jet fighter combat scenario. The sheer speed of the flying, coupled with close up and personal weapons delivery (machine guns at 300 yards) make the game a blast to fly. Mig Alley is nicely packaged and the documentation comes complete with a reproduction of a Restricted RAF handbook, written during the Korean War that describes, first hand, the experiences of a British pilot who flew with the USAF and offers up some excellent descriptions of the air war (a nice touch and well worth reading from cover to cover).

Flight models are outstanding with the controls feeling really heavy if you do something too severe - even without an FFB stick. Since aircraft like the F86 are subject to compressor stall even when they're asleep in the hangar, aerial maneuvering if a very sedate affair, more akin to high altitude Tai Chi rather than an airborne Karate meet. While this high altitude ballet is a real joy - and the low altitude stuff ain't half bad either. Perhaps the best single mission of them all is the Red Air Force attack on your airfield which starts as you return from some mission (probably napalming some naughty commies) only to find 16 YAK-9's swarming all over your turf while swilling gallons of vodka and calling General MacArthur rude names. Naturally, this just won't do and this scenario usually ends up with gazillions of aircraft milling around at 10ft off the deck with everyone hell bent on shooting something that can be called a kill when they submit their highly exaggerated combat report.

The target padlock system is the most intuitive I have ever come across; the canopy cues and the floating artificial horizon provide continuous positive orientation and it is just about possible to have an entire furball without unlocking the target once. "Get outta here before I slap your face" I hear you say - but it's true I tell you, it actually works.

Graphics are generally good, ground texture maps represent a dull landscape fairly well - things like trees and buildings provide an adequate impression of built up areas but, like most simulators, tend to `pop up' rather unconvincingly. Flying top cover has its visual rewards, with haze and contrails adding realism. Formation flying at high altitude is extremely difficult and frustrating so unless you have a complete simulation suite with stick, throttles, rudder, ejector seat, instrument panel, F86 cockpit tub, full avionics, oxygen and a ground crew of thirty people, you are better off engaging on the autopilot and just enjoying the ride.

Missions are a bit paltry in terms of quantity, but you can fly a variety of unusual aircraft on the allied side and two versions of the MIG15 on the North Korean side. Mig Alley provides some interesting ground attack missions using prop and jet aircraft, all based on historical missions so there are no nasty surprises - essentially once you have completed your bombing/strafing/air combat sortie, you get to fly home in peace. Other flight sims tend to throw in an extra twenty squadrons of bad guys just when you are trying to haul your bullet-riddled, avgas-leaking, wing-flaming, undercarriage-dragging, flap-drooping wreck back to base. Another nice concept is the ability to customize the nose-art on the aircraft - so if you have a drawing package handy, why not whip up some dirty picture to plaster all over your aircraft - this is sure to frighten the bejesus out of those North Korean flyboys (or make them defect, depending on how excited they get).

Regrettably the game producers have managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The first is the music which is so unbelievably awful that it is difficult to describe in the English language - it's...it's...like a Latvian clog dancing team playing the piano accordion at a funeral, somehow strange - yet frightening. While funereal organ music is not catastrophic, the next bit is! The second (and major) snag is the multiplayer mode - or should I say, lack of it. It is almost impossible to play against anyone online. This is truly tragic since I spent ages at MCOM waiting for someone to turn up and have a game - I was there so long I had three birthday parties sitting in front of my computer. And when someone did show we couldn't get the game to work - what a crock! Ultimately it means that the game has a short shelf life - once you've played it out there's nowhere to go. Other gripes are: poor intro animation sequence (come on people, be creative); irritating user interface; lack of flyable aircraft (no twin Mustangs, Corsairs or YAKs); no carrier operations (you can't refly the `Bridges of Toko Ri' and return safe home to the charms of Grace Kelly to show her your joystick) and clumsy map visuals: but these would be probably be acceptable if the multiplayer aspect was corrected (I would still whinge but I would take less space to do it in).

As a stand-alone game it fills the Korean War niche, not completely, but enough, and most of the game experience is exemplary, but the multiplayer bit... oh, the horror.

Excellent fighter sim

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: April 21, 2000
Author: Amazon User

As a trainee fighter pilot I think this is really the most realistic game I have played. Although the game is very limited, for instance in the number of exercises that can be carried out, I have still found it very usefull. The games biggest plus is the detailed map, that when printed out allows you to fly low level tatical navs using roads ,rivers etc. No game including Falcon 4 does this as well. This game with its excellent flight model is also great for ACM. Especially as it teaches you alot about energy management ( which is essential in a low power fighter ). Once again its a great pity is it doesn't allow more options ex 2v1 & 2v2 setups. Even with all its limitations its a must for any aspiring fighter pilot.

Disappointing.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: May 27, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This could be a good sim, but unfortunately too many things are screwed up.

My two main complaints are graphics and controls.

The game uses the same graphical engine as 4 years old Flying Corps /WW I Rowan's previous sim/. On the box it says it is a new, advanced one. Well, it's not, I have FC sitting on the shelf for years and they look, feel and play the same. If designers made any changes, they are marginal. This means that graphics are average at best, compared with today's standards. Combined with clumsy viewies and confusing padlocks, the result is miserable. Explosions are cheesy, damage model as well. Ground textures from the lower altitudes are very bad, even with all filtering turned on, with tiles clearly visible. Cockpit art is average at best. Gunfire flashes sprites are laughable. Clouds are bad, with bad textures as well, sun glares are ugly. Rowan should get rid of this engine years ago...

Second major problem are controls. I'm using standard Microsoft's Sidewinder Precision Pro joystick. The controls are sensitive as hell, and there is really no way to decrease it sufficiently enough. /I've seen some reviewers mention this bug as well/. Keyboard controls are better, but result in major disadvantage of course and fast death.

Wingmen are precisely following leader's /yours/ moves. They are really very smart and can anticipate your every move, pitch and bank, without any delay, just like a flight of Blue Angels. Like shadows. Is this realistic?

The game locked up-crashed as well, there are known problems with 3D accelerators, not solved yet completely. /And they never will be, as well they never really were fixed in Flying Corps/.

What are positive things? Sound is OK. A nice documentation, including a replica of authentic Korean War handbook /F86 vs. MiG reports/. Supposedly a dynamic campaign mode /didn't try it/. Frame rates are OK, smooth enough.

MiG Alley is a disappointment for me, sorry but I expected more, and so the game goes back to the store tomorrow after I spent an afternoon with it. Going to try something else /maybe Jane's F-18/, or rather wait till Jane's will make next sequel to WW2 Fighters /that's my favorite :)/.

Run on PII-400 /128megs, AGP TNT Viper550 16 MB + PCI Voodoo2's in SLI /24MB /, for accuracy tested as well on iCeleron 466/128megs, TNT2 AGP ViperV770 32MB . Pretty same results on both machines. Max detected and allowed resolution was 1280*960 :( ; ... Played with the latest ,1.23 patch.

Let's be realistic here...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: January 11, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I can understand the complaints about graphics, but let's face the fact that not everyone is sitting in front of some super-fast high priced PC. I am running a K6-III 400 with 256MB of RAM and this game screams with everything cranked to the maximum. This really is a great game. It's very difficult and unique unlike most sims out there. Flying a MiG 15 is even more difficult. But that was the nature of the beast. If I really want to get picky I would point out that the MiG 15 did not have wing fences as the outside view shows in the game -- the MiG 17 was the first MiG to use this for improved high speed performance and stability. And if I wanted to get even more picky one could say that the NR 23mm and 37mm cannon don't do as much damage as they would in real life -- one shot would tear any plane apart in almost every case, including B-29s. They were derived after all from German Rheinmetall-Borsig MK-series cannon from WWII. But anyway, the only real complaint is that there is limited use with MiGs and the campaigns start you out in a Mustang where you try to hit targets on the ground that are almost invisible. I have yet to have a successful campaign mission. But that's fine -- something to work at. There's nothing wrong with the explosions or bullet tracers or little superficial stuff. The fact of the matter is that there aren't any '50s era dogfighting games on the market -- current sims being stupid high tech fighters of today using missiles and that's pretty boring. The only other complaint is that the radio chatter isn't exactly very clean, but again that's small and superficial. The only real complaints are limited MiG useage and that campaigns force you to be a ground attacker at first. If you want a really difficult simulation, this would definitely fit the bill, and the graphics aren't that bad and the options for flight and the game itself are very extensive. It's definitely a great game.

I don't care what anyone says....this is a Great Sim !!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: October 15, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Unlike some people I think the flight modeling is quite good. The two swept wing fighters are fast but poor in maneuvers. The straight wing fighters maneuver well in a dog fight but lack speed. The MiG has a superior rate of climb but flies like a brick at low altitude. The only flight model criticism I have is that in the game the Sabre is more prone to tail spins than the MiG. This should be reversed, In reality the MiG was more prone to tail spins due to it's high vertical stabilizer.

Damage modeling is also quite good with the MiG destroying most targets in under 3 seconds. They have even included the poor gun site effect for the MiG because the MiG was known to have a poor site in real life. With all flight model effects turned on, the Sabre is quite a challenge to fly, however from what I have read I think they may have over done it's instability a bit.

For a 5 year old game the graphics are quite good ! Some of the sound effects are a little weak but I have replaced the sound files I didn't like with mods found on the web. I love the "blackout" effect, it forces you to lay off the stick a bit. Force Feedback support is also quite good.

Campaign mode seems to have a bit of a learning curve but i'm sure once I get the hang of how it works it will only add to the realism of the game. The radio chatter is ok for the most part however I can't stand how the wingman always seem to scream GET HIM LEAD !! POUND HIM ! every time you jump on an enemy 6. It's quite annoying to say the least. Ground pounding also has a few issues. Finding ground targets in MA is like looking for a needle in a hay stack.

I have read some of the less than flattering reviews for this sim on Amazon.com and I must say I disagree with the negative reviews. Mig Alley is a fine simulation of air combat during the Korean conflict. I has features that will please casual users as well as "hard core" sim nuts. Give it a try, it's worth the 20 bucks. Just remember to add the latest developer patch and the BDG patch.

bitter-sweet failure of a sim

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: May 03, 2003
Author: Amazon User

First, a caveat - when I tried this sim on my P4-winXP, it wouldn't respond to joystick inputs. Even when re-calibrating in-game (which just sends you to the WinXP control panel), and downloading the official patch failed to help. With a 3rd party patch I realized a mixed blessing - I could now fly the sim well enough to realize how good it could have been if not for some serious flaws. While I haven't determined which of these problems were endemic to the pre-patched game, they mirrored the same problems I'd found on the Empire Interactive/Rowan game "Wings of Gold", a promising WWI sim. "MiG Alley" (MA) was one of two sims that appeared in the late 1990's dedicated to the Korean air war - the co-called "forgotten war". World's apart from "Sabre Ace", MA was still bedeviled by horrible bugs, again eerily recalling WoG - graphics re-draw (in which the program will re-draw the next graphics frame w/o fully erasing the previous one - reminding you that you are in fact looking at graphics and also making for a more psychedelic experience than you'd expect in a military flight sim), numerous freezes and the all powerful CTD (crash to desktop)! Bugs aside, MA reveals an uncompromising sim from a developer with a uniquely uncanny choice in its subjects, one obviously designed for the serious aviator (WWI sims were on the decline when WoG appeared and remain eclipsed by sims based on WWII Europe; "Flight of the Intruder" remains not only of the most demanding hardcore sims of all time, but one of the few that focused completely on [SE Asia]. USNF '97 graciously included VN among its otherwise blandly generic missions. "Strike Fighters" included [SE Asia]. War-era planes, but had them fighting a fictitious war in the mideast).

In MA, you fly single missions or in segmented campaigns in the Korean war, a comparatively short though bloody war in which fortunes seemed in constant flux (from the North's initial overwhelming of the US-backed South, to the allied landing and break-out at Inchon, to the entry of red China). Your choice of aircraft is extensive, but also limited to USAF assets (meaning that there's still room for a sim that has you flying FJ-3, F-9 and Corsairs from aircraft carriers, ala "Bridges of Toko-Ri" and "Men of the Fighting Lady"). You'll fly the F-80, America's first true combat jet (and the winner of the first all-jet dogfight), the F-51 Mustang (the legendary prop-fighter of WWII now out of its element flying strike missions and CAS), the early F-84 (a straight-wing jet fighter later designed with swept wings,... and of course, several versions of the F-86 itself. Though you get to fly the MiG-15 (a fighter based on the Focke-Wulfe Ta-183 prototype designed by Kurt Tank for the Luftwaffe near the end of WWII), the sim makes it clear where your attentions are devoted (i.e., there are no careers for flying Yaks or Lavotchkin fighters). Each of the plane's are wonderfully distinctive: like the real thing, the game's F-84 is bedeviled by its non-stabilator tail and non-swept wings, but its stability and resilience to damage will reward the faithful; Giving Mustangs the ground-attack missions that should have been tasked to the P-47 (a Mustang contemporary of WWII that was actually an ancestor of the F-84, and possessing, for a prop-fighter, the same stable flight performance and better able to absorb damage) was probably a bad idea, but Rowan uses the inclusion of any prop-fighter to highlight the sensation of their jets - the Mustang of this game is hardly the dumb-downed jet of "Sabre Ace", but so retains the nuances of that prop-fighter that you have to remind yourself that you're not over wartime Europe; the F-80 is the perfect jet for beginners - neither so agile that it's inclined to spin, nor so stable that you'll find yourself wrestling with the controls while trying to anticipate enemy fighters; the ultimate experience of course is the F-86, which will definitely spin if given half a chance, and will likely spin if given any chance. All allied aircraft share the flaw of being outgunned by the MiG-15 (which carried a rapid firing cannon against the [firearms] - inadequate by WWII standards - lofted by our planes).

Combat is challenging at every level - there were no HUDs in [SE Asia], so just finding your targets is akin to impossible (the game "allows" a semi-3d scanner reminiscent of the one in the X-Wing Fighter games; echoing the "Air Warrior" series, the game also features dots alongside the edges of your screen hinting at the location of fighters both friendly and otherwise). Realistically, aircraft appear as fast-moving specks on the horizon, then as blazing stars (likely the sun bouncing off that aluminum) and only into fully realized airplanes once they're practically sitting on your hood. Apart from the combat, flight is also a challenge, but a rewarding one (not even downing MiGs is as empowering as saving your plane from a spin - just remember to ram the nose down, lateral neutral, and use full rudder opposite direction of the spin). The campaign mode is also interesting - allowing you to choose how deeply you want to control its course. Unsurprisingly, the campaign mode has the most promise, requires the most attention and suffers the most from the game's inclination to CTD. In the end, I just had no patience to fly the same mission over and over again, knowing that a CTD would set me back to square one. So much of this sim went unrealized, but I've kept it around, if only for its instant action, a few minutes of some of the most demanding and fleshed out air combat I've seen on a computer, and the saddest sign of what could have been the best flight sim of all time.

Review Page: 1 2 Next 

Actions