F/A 18: Precision Strike Fighter

by Xicat

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005QIQT
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: October 4, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,020 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #93 in Video Games > PC Games > Simulation > Flight
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Edition: Standard

From the Manufacturer

The F/A-18 Precision Strike Fighter puts you in the cockpit! Destroy enemy air defense, maintain air superiority, support ground units and destroy hostile aircraft. Fly head to head or in teams over the internet.

F/A-18 Precision Strike Fighter, one of the most realistic flight sims ever engineered, utilizes the latest 3D technology to produce some of the most incredible graphics available on today's machines. Enhanced atmospheric effects and stunning texture-mapped 3D graphics create an unforgettable flight experience. F/A-18 Precision Strike Fighter puts you in the cockpit. Pilot twenty-eight built-in missions or create your own with the powerful mission designer. Fly head to head or in teams over the internet-up to four players. Destroy enemy air defense, maintain air superiority, support ground units and destroy hostile aircraft. Take the challenge of this award winning game.

Product Description

This software is BRAND NEW. Packaging may differ slightly from the stock photo above. Please click on our logo above to see over 15,000 titles in stock.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars ..., October 17, 2001

By 

Matthew Duren (Tracy, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: F/A -18 Precision Strike Fighter (CD-ROM)

This program may have a nifty new title, but many of us combat sim nuts have already played this game some time back when 3dfx was something new. It's GSC's "F18 Korea" in sheep's clothing. For those of you who have played this before, you can skip the next few paragraphs.
For those of you who haven't, this is actually a pretty decent combat flight sim centered around the versatile F18. Training missions are flown around Hawaii, a desert area near Nellis AFB is used for multiplayer missions (no, there isn't any Las Vegas scenery), and combat missions take place in Korea. The combat missions are available through a "Korean Campaign" menu, but don't be fooled; these are just sets of individual missions that have no effect on any greater conflict. If you want a true campaign where you plan your own missions and your performance has an ultimate effect on the enemy's overall forces and such, then you need to get Falcon 4.0.
I found the flight model to have a good mix of realism and ease of flying. Turns and climbs bleed off speed nicely. This is no arcade fighter that can maneuver with impunity, nor climb straight up without any loss of airspeed, yet the model is still very managable for novice flyers and landings are fairly easy. Radar and instruments can be a bit complex for some, but not nearly so much as in F18 Super Hornet or Falcon.
Combat can be tricky, in that enemy missiles are VERY difficult to evade. I don't know enough about real modern air combat to judge, but the key in this game to winning, is identifying and firing first. At least enemy aircraft have an equally tough time evading your missiles. Wingman commands are relatively simple and easy to execute. Overall, I thought the AI was pretty good. The selection of available weapons does not compare to Falcon 4.0, but it suffices. I did greatly appreciate the availability of tactical nukes.
The mission editor, a necessity with any combat sim, is nicely done. It provides a good set of tools and variables, without being overly cluttered and confusing and I found it easy to work with.
When F18 Korea first came out, I thought the graphics were incomparable. The day/night shading and dynamic lighting effects were far better than anything on the market. Surprisingly, the atmospherics still hold up fairly well today, but the models and texturing to do not compare to games like USAF, Falcon, and Super Hornet. Though the perspective seems true, the terrain is woefully pyramidal in shape. This is supposed to be an updated version, but the only graphic improvment I noticed was the addition of sub-par 3d clouds. NPC aircraft are particularly lacking in detail. Even so, the sim manages to maintain a certain look that I can still enjoy.
Make no mistake, I loved playing GSC's F18 - when it first came out years ago. I still enjoy this game to a certain extent today. Watching the sunset turning to night on the cirrocumulus clouds can still bring tears to my eyes, ... The package claims this game has been updated, but the only updating I noticed was a few 3d clouds and compatibility with newer video cards. They didn't even bother to update the FA18 model with more realistic landing gear.
Seems the folks at Graphsim wanted one last shot at cashing in on an old title. Well, I bit, and out of respect to Graphsim, I didn't return it. I wrote it off as a gift to an old friend, though I doubt others will be so generous.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Falls Short of Expectations, January 13, 2002

By 

Santosh Kumar (Orange County, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: F/A -18 Precision Strike Fighter (CD-ROM)

Being a recent release, I expected a lot more from this game as far as graphics and joystick support goes. The clouds in the game appear to be volumetric and are excellent, but the ocean is just bad.... no waves or anything, just a static texture map to represent the ocean. I would have expected more comprehenisve Direct Input Support like in Combat Flight Simulator 2... but despite the claims of "USB Support" the game only supports a single input device instead of allowing multiple devices (as would be used for a USB forcefeedback joystick, USB rudder pedals, USB throttle etc... all connected together). The manual is good, but the lack of a proper keyboard map (as provided with Jane's F/A-18) makes the game very difficult to learn and not fun to play. The downloadable keyboard shortcuts on the xicat websight does not appear to be complete. Really the only thing good about the game is the realism of the avionics and radar systems. Unlike Jane's however, it does not allow you to use the mouse to manipulate the cockpit buttons and switches... this further makes the game harder to play.... it's like using WordPerfect 5.0 for DOS over again without a menubar, mouse or keyboard template.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Hornet Sim By Far, September 16, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: F/A -18 Precision Strike Fighter (CD-ROM)

This is the best and most versatile Hornet Sim I've used, and I've owned a copy of every Hornet Sim available in the U.S. since Graphsim's original Hornet Sim for Mac from the late 1980's. It can be played easily by beginners or by experts when set to its highest difficulty. Don't let the large user's manual scare you-- The sim can be played with less than 10 keyboard commands, actually only 5 specialty keys need to be used if you already understand that F = Flaps, G = Gear, -/+ = Throttle, etc. At higher difficulty levels, the entire keyboard is needed to operate the sim's complex systems. Jane's F/A-18 has perhaps a little more refined scenery, but Xicat's F/A-18 Precision Strike Fighter has BY FAR the absolutely best cockpit rendering of any Hornet sim. Since 100% of my flying is done from the cockpit, this makes all the difference for me.

2115|RYHP8LXLI4RBK;2115|R3SNL7QYODJ1YQ;2115|RDIJYG087B3MS;