Feature: Out of the Mothballs: Jane's USAF Revisited

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Super Pro 9.4 (continued)

And it is no piece of cake either! In order to complete a mission you will have to choose the right weapons and use them correctly, instruct your wingmen wisely, and keep an eye on the clock. Sometimes you must protect high value AWACS or else you will no longer have their data link provided to you and hence you won’t have a clear picture of the battlefield. Missions are both accurate and intense!

But that’s not all. In SP 9.4 you get to enjoy war in the air along with incredible ground battles because friendly and enemy units don’t just move around or just shoot at you, they also fire at each other and you have the chance to experience that in a unique almost cinematic way. That goes not only for tanks, and vehicles or soldiers, but ships and submarines too. And last but not least, if you feel like it you can… drive a tank and put your feet on terra firma for a change of pace!

To fully appreciate the detail and fine work which is included in SP 9.4 you need to play it. Surely you will love the fabulous skins of the planes; you will see the names of the pilots under the canopy of the jets you fly (Maverick’s and Goose’s included!) as well as kill marks. In some of the planes you will be able to deploy a parachute when landing. The explosions are one of a kind, especially the ones from napalm bombs. The terrain (Iraq, Vietnam, Germany, and Las Vegas) is spectacular and is, in many cases, filled with many well designed buildings that add a nice touch to the overall atmosphere as you whiz across them. Another aspect of the game that makes it more intense is the sound and the radio chatter from wingmen, control towers and AWACS. The music score of the game is different too. Even the mission briefings are well written and the details in them ‘get you in the mood’.

Consequently, the best way to realize the near perfect work that has been put in the game is to fly different planes and see that the flight models are pretty accurate. Try flying the F-16 or the F-14 for example (by the way the F-14 is one of the planes which have variable-sweep wings that you can change position!) and then the A-7; or even better the C-17 and you’ll see what I mean. Remember that the game boasts a huge variety of planes and helicopters, from the A-1 Skyraider to the F-22 Raptor, and from the UH-1 Huey to the RAH-66 Comanche.

And that doesn’t go for the planes and helicopters only but for the vast number of weapons as well. There is a noticeable difference not only in the explosions but in the damage caused as well, not to mention the variable ways with which weapons are fired at or guided towards their targets.  One has to be intrepid to try and finish the whole game with so many missions and campaigns. There’s just so much to it. You get to choose between historic or futuristic campaigns and missions that cover all major conflicts from past to present: Korea, Vietnam, Iran-Iraq, Falklands, Middle East, Panama, Gulf War I & II, Bosnia, etc.!

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