ATF Gold and USNF 97

What do you get when you make a flight sim with the option to fly over a dozen different aircraft? The ultimate in realism? Not quite.

I include USNF 97 and ATF in the same review because they are fundamentally the same game. In USNF 97 you land on a carrier, and in ATF you get an additional instrument that tells you what your current radar signature is (this is a common instrument in the F-16, right?) but otherwise the two games are identical. So identical, in fact, that Janes has just released a compilation called the Janes Anthology which includes both games.

Both games have something like 120-180 missions, which is pretty ridiculously large if you ask me. This includes some quick play missions (about 40 each), as well as three linear campaigns each. In addition, there is a decent mission editor that allows you to build a mission from the ground up, as well as a quick mission generator that allows you to control fewer variables to quickly set up different dogfights and so forth.

Cockpit instruments are minimized to what can be fit on your HUD. Every HUD for every plane is the same, with some exceptions. Planes with variable directional thrust have a symbol that shows which direction the thrust is pushing, V/STOL planes have a symbol that shows if they are side slipping or not, and very basic planes (like the MiG-15) can't have a box around the enemy plane because there is no radar available.

Flight characterstics for each plane are very similar. In fact, the only real differences between planes can be seen very easily with an in-game window that shows your flight envelope and where you lie within it. Some planes, like the F-104, have an axe-shaped flight envelope that allows high speed at high altitude, while limiting speeds at low altitude. Other planes, such as the AV-8B Harrier II, have the opposite: a hump shaped flight envelope that limits maximum speed at high altitude but increased speed at low altitude.

Turn rates are different among the planes as well, but only simulate continuous turn rates. The snap turn rates allowed in real fighters are not mimicked in this game. There is only one maximum turn rate, and it will be the same for a given speed, altitude, and plane no longer how long you have been turning. With enough thrust, you could fly a perfect circle at your max turn rate just by pulling all the way back on the joystick.

Stalls are very simplistically executed, merely forcing the nose down until you are no longer stalled. Spins are ignored completely, and as long as you have the altitude to increase your speed past stall speed, you need not worry about attempting violent maneuvers at low speeds and altitude.

There is no weight shift in the plane as the fuel is used, and there are no wind gusts, so your plane will fly in a perfectly straight line. It is not unheard of to fly an entire mission from 20 feet off the ground at night in an F-117. In fact, while you are heading towards a waypoint at 20 feet it would be possible to get up and find something to eat. As long as nobody shot you down and there wasn't a mountain that rose up in your path, you won't crash.

Of course, it doesn't matter much if you fly at 20 feet or 5000 feet, since you seem to be just as visible to radar at any altitude. Might as well stay at a higher altitude, beyond the reach of AAA.

Dogfights usually go to the plane/planes with the better missiles. For example, an F-104 with AMRAAMS could An F-104 with AMRAAMS would easily take out a SU-27 with its much less reliable "AMRAAMSKIS". The challenge only comes when encountering groups of enemy planes larger than the amount of missiles at your disposal. Similarly, there is absolutely no difference between Semi active radar homing (SARH) and Active radar homing (ARH) missiles. With either, it is possible to gain a lock, fire the missile, release the lock, target another plane, fire another missile, and so on. This is IMPOSSIBLE with missiles such as the AIM-7 sparrow. Oh well.

The damage model is fairly weak as well. When attacking targets, each unit has a bar that shows how much damage it can still take. When that bar goes to zero the unit is completely destroyed. A similar situation must exist for your own plane; when you reach a certain amount of damage you blow up. More complex, however, is that you can take a little damage and sustain seemingly random ill effects. For instance, your engine could begin to leak oil or your HUD could go out. Some of these injuries are as bad as exploding, though, like having the fuel line severed. There is only so far you can glide! Still, there is no way for one missile to simply blow your plane up. Expect to take at least 2, maybe 3, missiles up your tailpipe before going down. Similarly, one AIM-9 sidewinder will never take an enemy plane down. Might as well fire two right off the bat.

The Graphics are decent, though definitely a generation behind. Sounds are terrible, however, and the MIDI music sounds like it came from Pac Man's era. All in all, I would have to say that if you missed purchasing ATF Gold or USNF 97, I would leave it that way.