Four new games to "fly"

Flight Journal, Jun 2002 by Marks, Bob

VR1 has chosen to enter a crowded field of other massive-- multiplayer WW II-- era aerial combat, and at this writing, FA3 is still a work in progress. In this late Beta stage, however, VRI looks to have a serious contender on its hands. With a capable mix of above-par graphics, scalable difficulty and a proven software base, Fighter Ace 3 stands a good chance of winning over converts from other online subscriptions.

It will cost just $10 a month to pursue the online aerial mayhem of virtual WW II combat that Fighter Ace 3 offers. Word to the wise: don't choose the Pe-2 if you plan to turn inside a Bf 109. Trust me; you'll lose.

AT A GLANCE

As product that is still in Beta, rating "Highs and Lows" would be premature.

Bottom line: Gorgeous renderings, challenging arenas and scalable difficulty highlight this promising step forward from its arcade-like predecessors.

Top Gun: Combat Zones

Developer: Digital Integration

Publisher: Titus Software Corporation

Console Platform: Sony PlayStation 2

Available: now

www.topgun-combatzones.com

Having fun is the theme of this issue's column, so let's not be too concerned over the fact that Titus Software's Top

Gun: Combat Zones is an arcade game and not a flight simulator. It is released solely on the Sony PlayStation 2 platform after all, so don't expect an all-- singing, all-dancing, technically demanding experience. It is one of only a few flight sims currently available on the PlayStation 2. Titus and its developer subsidiary Digital Integ-ration have a long history of developing serious desktop flight sims, however, so some simulation experience has been brought to the table here. Top Gun: Combat Zones is only a flight-type action shooting game.

Now that we've got that out of the way, what kind of appeal does Top Gun: Combat Zones offer for the virtual pilot? Unlike many of its flight-action brethren, it offers at least a nod to true sims by using a control system that is analogous to joystick flight controls. You are given the option of flying a multitude of nicely rendered aircraft that include the F-14 Tomcat, F-18 Hornet, F-22 Raptor and F-4 Phantom II, among others. They all seem to fly pretty much the same to me, but it is nice to see the venerable Phantom in an arcade game. Top Gun: Combat Zones is a very challenging game, even for accomplished arcade-- shooter players. The object itself is simple-blow up all of the aerial and groundbased bad guys within the allotted period of time. True to the arcade roots, the action here is fast and furious, but the ambiguity as to what is actually to be accomplished during your allowed mission time is somewhat frustrating-if this even matters. Given that Titus has secured the Top Gun franchise, I would have preferred a more story-oriented approach. As it stands, however, the "campaign" structure of Top Gun: Combat Zones is little more than a group of loosely related levels with no background story to link them. Other than the use of the film's logo and inclusion of the Tomcat, you would never really know that the flick had anything to do with this game. To be fair, this is a console game and not a candidate for the Oscars, so Top Gun: Combat Zones is not to be faulted in its reliance on cinematic special effects and pretty graphics. True to these Hollywood origins, Top Gun: Combat Zones shows an outside-the-aircraft replay, complete with the ability to control "camera" angles and with realistic special effects such as camera shake. At times, the replay can be much more fun and spectacular than flying the mission itself!