Amazon.com Product Description
F/A-18 Korea combines all the realism and excitement of F/A-18 Hornet 3.0's award-winning simulation technology with a new Korean theater, advanced new features such as 3Dfx hardware acceleration, and a intuitive mission creator/editor. Three theaters of operations, all featuring rolling 3-D terrain and atmospheric effects like sun glare, haze, cloud layers, dynamic sky illumination, and even an accurate celestial sphere at night, combine to enhance the flight experience. F/A-18 Hornet 3.0 "Take the challenge as F/A-18 Hornet 3.0 straps you in for the ride of your life. Each of the many scenarios take you deep into a new conflict in the Middle East." Truly authentic avionics and flight modeling provide months of excitement at a level far more rewarding and enjoyable than the usual arcade-style "flight simulators."
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There's a certain pleasure that comes from taking down an Su-27UB Flanker with your McDonnell Douglas F/A-18's main guns after all the air-to-air missiles are gone. The good folks at Graphic Simulations have brought this feeling to the masses with F/A-18 Korea. Based on the F/A-18 Hornet 3.0 flight simulator engine, it is, quite simply, the best combat flight simulator available for the Mac today.
F/A-18 Korea is set, as you might expect, in the Korean peninsula, where North Korea is leading a massive invasion of the South. You play an F/A-18 pilot assigned to various strike and support missions during the conflict. The game allows for up to eight pilots, so you have at your disposal a whole squad to take on the North Koreans. It's a rich combat theater: missions range from ground strikes to air sorties; pilots can be based both at airstrips and on aircraft carriers; opponents range from the throwaway MiG-21 to the ultrasharp Su-27UB (which can carry nuclear weapons).
The flight and simulation engine is basically the same as that found in F/A-18 Hornet 3.0, which was set in the Persian Gulf during the Gulf War. Thanks to fast frame rates and a smooth simulation engine, flying the F/A-18 is a pleasure. But learning to fly is a complex undertaking, so there's plenty to sink your teeth into. The enemy artificial intelligence is sharp enough to take you out of the sky more often than not. And if the artificial intelligence isn't good enough, pilots can go head-to-head in networked games of kill everybody and bomb the flag. You must play network games, including those you play over the Internet, via an AppleTalk-based connection. You need to use something like IPRemote to mimic an AppleTalk connection over the Internet.
Even though its engine is the same as the one in Hornet 3.0, F/A-18 Korea would be worth the money if Graphic Simulations had offered only the new campaign. Instead, besides some bug fixes - the training VCR works properly now, thank you - the company added 3Dfx support for use with TechWorks' Power3D card. The resulting simulation is breathtaking. Also new is the mission editor. Those who don't get enough with the missions included can use the mission editor to create a virtually unlimited supply of new sorties. The editor is limited, however. Users can create only single missions, not campaigns. Also, the locations of key facilities (such as factories and railyards) is fixed. Finally, users must use the supplied terrain map of the Korean peninsula. Still, even with those limitations, the mission editor keeps the game lively long after you play the prepackaged conflicts.
If you like Hornet 3.0 (or any other realistic combat flight sim), you'll love F/A-18 Korea. Be warned, though: F/A-18 is tough for beginners. It takes some time to learn how to control the aircraft, and landing on an aircraft carrier at night is not for the squeamish. If you're willing to press on and learn an invaluable skill you can use next time you wake up on an aircraft carrier, consider F/A-18. It's a great flight. - David Reynolds
Good News: Great realism. Aircraft control is precise and challenging without being overwhelming. Lots of missions and an included mission editor.
Bad News: Tough. Unit placement in mission editor is limited.
Rating:4/4
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