Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best there is for modern fighter simulation, 12 Jul 2006
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
Quite simply, this is the best there is for a modern fighter sim. The newly updated and re-released Falcon 4.0 is a very close contender, but Lock On Gold has snatched back the lead with this new updated version of Lock On.
In the case, you get Lock On, and the Lock On Gold upgrade disk, which adds a new plane, new tutorials, new single missions and new campaign options, as well as patching the game engine up to the latest version. So, if you have the original Lock On already, you can sell it on Amazon Marketplace and bring the cost of this Gold release down even more. Considering that, it is an absolute bargain at it's current Amazon price listing.
Newcomers be warned - it is a hugely complicated simulation, nothing like the airy-fairy-my-2-year-old-dog-can-fly Microsoft offerings which bizarely infest the simulation market. Lock On Gold requires you to THINK as well as waggle a joystick, and the learning curve is steep. Fortunately there are some excellent tutorials, complete with voice-over instructions, which "walk" you through all the flight, weapons and radar modes in each of the aircraft you can fly.
The graphics are excellent, arguably the best there is in any current flight sim, though this depends on your PC/graphics card setup. If you have a high-end machine, you will be fine: my set-up is regarded as "medium" in terms of capability these days and I have noticed a slow frame-rate on high settings, though the screens always look "cinematic" in quality.
At current prices, this is a bargain.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Startling elegance in jet combat simulation, 28 Oct 2006
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
Lock-On Gold is a program whose heritage stretches way back to the nineties in the form of the Flanker series. That there have been so many versions of this software stems from the complexity of trying to simulate fairly modern jets in depth. The era of jets simulated is somewhere in the eighties and the jets are mostly from the former Soviet Union. This fact alone confirms the purist status of this title. Lock-On is the mirror of many titles that focus on American aircraft. The simulation is very detailed, from the aircraft models to the flight systems. The physics and damage models are believable as you enter into a world of supersonic flight with flutter and inverted or unresponsive controls. Severe attention has been paid to the modelling of radar, missiles and ground installations within the limits of still classified information. This isn't a game where you launch a missile and it invariably hits. The subtle complexities of missile combat can be frustrating. The game has a long learning curve and it will be some time before you hop off the carrier, engage a couple of F-14's and land successfully in the dusk without anything going wrong. The area of conflict is in the Crimea with one large map that can be covered in a fairly short time with the aircraft in the game. The large expanses of water being ideal for carrier operations which is an aspect of this game. This is not like Pacific Fighters where you might spend hours flying; things tend to happen more quickly in this simulation. With aircraft like the SU-25, SU-25T and A-10 this game also encompasses the not so glamorous ground attack role. As you can see there is quite a variety of aircraft and roles they might play. The initial release of Lock-On was premature and consequently there were lots of bugs and crashes. This is not a problem with the Flaming Cliffs or Gold release which are altogether more refined. The graphics are beautiful and put a large strain on your system. As this game models many systems it is very processor and memory intensive. There are few titles that will bring a system to its knees, as this one will. One aspect that is particularly good in this game is the weather. Cloud layers, mist and fog all look right and don't seem to consume that much more CPU power. This coupled with the seasons which are added for Flaming Cliffs/Gold make for impressive visuals. Lock-On is away from popular titles like IL2 Sturmovik, it doesn't have that mass appeal due to its intricate nature. There is a mission builder as well as training missions to help with different types of combat, a fast battle planner for those who want to fight immediately and extensive options to scale the game. The input section of the options is daunting with the lists of controls for all the different aircraft and their systems. It can take some time after a fresh install to configure this lot. Which is the defining point about this game: a lot of effort but worth it in the end. Criticisms: AI tends to launch like mad. Non-dynamic campaign doesn't feel so much like a war; this may be partly due to the fact that the conflict is hypothetical rather than one that occurred like WWII or Korea. Combat field limited to the Crimea. If you're not an enthusiast of Russian aviation then that limits the appeal while not being a criticism. The controversial Starforce copy protection. All in all a unique simulation that can provide the enthusiast entertainment for a long time to come.
For
Superb Flight/Physics/Damage models
Superb Weapons systems modelling
Graphics quality
Lots of flyables (8) for this level of detail
Fine Mission builder
Against
AI could be better
No dynamic campaign
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good with a warning, 7 May 2008
Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars
Hi,
yes the game is good, even great I shan't add to what has been said already - but be warned, Lock on gold comes on two discs. The original lock on which is fine, and a second disk which adds the additional flaming cliff expansion campaigns and another aircraft. It is this second disk which has a warning attached as it also comes with the dreaded starforce copy protection system. This is notorious for interfering with the stability of PCs and needs to sit in your startup folder to run everytime your computer boots up. Many have reported resorting to system re-builds to remove starforce. Personally I did not appear to have any issues for the hour I had it on my computer, but I have removed the installation of the second disc by using system restore to uninstall (a simple uninstall will probably not do it). So before installing the second disc check on the web for the issues surrounding the starforce protected software. You have been warned.
Otherwise Lock on is a must buy - so don't be put off altogether.
Chocks Away!!
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