Janes F/A-18 Simulator

This Sim does`nt have a steep learning curve,it has A Mountain for ya to climb and only a very select few who stick with the Sim will ever conker it! It does have a few week points such as the graphics are now dated and look pretty drab from say USAF but i would`nt let that put ya off they are good enough to suck you into the virtual world! Theres so many keys to remember too and the manual is Slightly anoying rather than tell you what key you should press to do xx it rather tells you how a real pilot would do xx and so this means you have to go runing throught he index to look up certain words to find out what on earth they are on about! that said it is quite a big manual and its on paper, much preferred to a PDF manual anydays!

SO to sum up if youve got a decent PC, lots of time to learn, like hardcore sims then you will love this SIM! landing on the carrier in bad weather or at night is a real blast!

Another thing is this Sim is supported well on the internet with many missions and campaigns to download and if you download the hyperlobby theres even internet play after the death of Janes Combat.net. Theres a great Reference in the software like all Janes titles so if you ever wanted to know about the mig29 or Aim 9 Sidewinder then its all here!

Sadly Janes and Electronic arts have parted company and this means no more Janes combat sims which is a real shame as they have produced without doubt some of the best Titles money can buy!

Highly Reccommended to the Hardcore Sim Fan

Okay, so close up the graphics don't look as sweet as CFS2, but in CFS2 you can't watch a Tomcat taking off from your carrier whilst you are 185 miles away dogfighting with an Su-35 and simoultaneously trying to lock your laser targeting systems on that missions ground target.

Having said that however, the lighting effects are awesome, as long as your PC is up to it, and in this respect the graphics completely blow away the likes of CFS2, flying up through the clouds towards the sun is a real experience in this.

One word of caution though, I think Janes must have raided the Pentagon to get the details of all the weapons, so you absolutely have to read the instructions to learn how to use all the various types of bombs and missiles or the game gets very frustrating.

If you like modern flight sims, and don't mind a bit of work, buy this game.

The game is also very difficult. Whenever you venture over enemy territory you are constantly harrassed by ground-to-air missiles which more or less prevent you from lining-up on your bomb run, or whatever else you're supposed to be doing. It makes no difference what altitude you fly at either. If you stay above 15,000 ft, like the US do to stay out of harms way, you can still get blown up from the ground. The game is also prone to crash to desktop every now and then, despite a patch on EA's website to prevent such events. The F/A 18E also has an automatic carrier landing gadget which you would think would come in usefull until the second time it piles you into the back of the carrier's superstructure.

I gave this game plenty of my time - tens and tens of hours but have come to the conclusion it's just pants. If someone could combine WWII Fighter's interface with CFS 2's flight models then I think I'd have my perfect sim...