Falcon 4.0 (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.9 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Denny Atkin
• Reviewed on: 01/11/1999
• Updated on: 05/01/2000
• Released on: 11/30/1998
• Originally published on GameSpot: Falcon 4.0 (PC) Review

Nearly five years in development, the Falcon 4.0 that finally hit shelves in December is a bit of a dichotomy. At times, it's arguably the most detailed, ambitious, and realistic depiction of modern air war ever attempted. It's a sim that's so full of details you'll spend weeks making awed discoveries of new capabilities, of minute aspects of war never before re-created in a flight sim. At other times, Falcon 4.0 feels like it's more potential, more promise, than anything else. Bugs, glitches, and performance problems pop up all too often in some areas of the sim, a clear indication that even after all that time, the sim was slipped out the door without enough testing.

So is Falcon 4.0 the second coming of flight simulation or a buggy mess? Alas, it's a bit of both. Sim pilots willing to explore the plethora of options in Falcon 4.0 that do work fairly well, while awaiting the inevitable patches, are likely to find dozens of hours of play here. But gamers who want to be able to try any feature and be assured that it will work properly will want to wait and be sure that MicroProse comes through with its promised patches.

The promise of the sim is evident when you first open Falcon 4.0's package and are greeted by a monster manual packing approximately 600 pages. The more methodical players will want to start with the excellent tutorial section, which features 31 missions designed by F-16 pilot Pete Bonanni. These missions will take you step-by-step through learning to handle the plane and its weapons systems properly.

Of course, if you're more the instant-gratification type, you can skim the concise Cadet's Guide booklet, jump into the setup section, activate the easy flight model, simplified avionics, and exaggerated weapons effects, and dive right into the instant-action mode. With a variety of realism options, Falcon 4.0 is one of those magic designs that can ease a gamer from novice to expert, little by little. (Contrast this to Jane's F-15, which had arcade and expert modes, with little in the way of intermediate settings.)

Along with training and instant-action modes, you'll find dogfight mode, which lets you set up aerial encounters between up to four flights of aircraft. There's also a mission builder for creating your own missions. The heart of the sim, however, is the dynamic campaign. It's here that you may find one of the most engrossing, immersive simulated combat experiences ever. Unfortunately, it's in the campaign that you'll run across most of the sim's current problems.

Falcon 4.0's campaign is set in Korea, with three scenarios that start you with your forces ahead, at a stalemate, or in danger of defeat. The missions here aren't scripted but rather are generated on the fly by the dynamic-campaign engine. This tracks not only the entire air war, but the ground war as well. You'll see (and hear, on the radio) combat in the skies and on the ground around you. That's a big part of the sense of immersion - as you head towards your own target, ground battles are going on around you, contrails are above you, and air defenses are firing at flights miles away. Your actions do affect the outcome of the campaign, but not to an inappropriate degree. Overall, this is easily the most comprehensive dynamic campaign yet attempted, and the missions come across in a very realistic way.Much of what you'll see here will blow you away: surface-to-air missile sites unleashing volleys of SA-6s at attacking F-4 Phantoms, MiG-29s engaging F-15s in realistic air-combat maneuvering, and artillery shelling distant ground forces. Unfortunately, even with the latest patch, you'll also see wingmen returning to base immediately after takeoff, AWACS controllers sending you to intercept enemy planes hundreds of miles off your course, inaccurate post-mission success ratings, and the rare but annoying crash back to the Windows desktop. In fact, if you're going to be playing the single-player campaign, you're better off not installing the initial patch, as the program is more stable and the AI more intelligent without it.

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