FALCON 4.0
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What can we say, falcon awesome!

By JAMES ANTHONY

A falcon is small bird of prey weighing several kilos and able to swoop swiftly and kill its prey with razor-sharp talons.

A Falcon, F-16 species, weighing 15,000 kilos can achieve speeds of 2000 kph (just a tad quicker than my 1986 Ford Falcon) and can kill enemies at 20 kilometres with very little fear of getting its landing gear wet.

Now the marvels of modern science/warfare are spectacular and a hang a lot safer for you, in an American plane, than the enemy - but they can reduce the enjoyment of victory with an overload of techno-assistance.
Few things can beat sliding a rattly old SE5A scout into the slipstream of a World War One hun and blowing the tripe out of him, only to find his wingman up your six, your guns jammed, and remembering there is no parachute.

But Microprose brings a heavy dose of reality back into modern flight sims with Falcon 4.0 where an F-16, with all mod cons, still has a difficult time surviving the odds in a series of instant action scenarios or an ever changing campaign.

Take to the skies over the Korean Peninsula and get stuck into sky-sweeping operations against opposing aircraft or apply major collateral damage to ground units in the Moving Mud scenario.

Falcon 4.0 comes with a hernia-producing 500+ page manual and offers dedicated flight-sim fans all the details they would ever want to know about the aircraft. We let's-just-get-up-there-and shoot-something types can also have a huge amount of fun with a very thin, simple guide to doing just that.

Graphically, this is a terrific looking game, in both software (2D) and hardware (3D) versions, although you do need a powerful computer to get it running if you don't have a 3D card.

The cockpit details and views are excellent, the aircraft are particularly well rendered and although you have to slow somewhat to be able to really catch more than a passing glimpse as you whizz by, the broken off wings of enemy planes bring a tear to the eye. By the way, don't shoot at everything as sometimes that dot in the distance is not a plane but some poor fellow hanging about in a parachute.

Realism is a key to Falcon 4.0 and the radar and weapons systems do take a bit of getting used to but a handful of missions will have you switching targets, and choosing the most appropriate missiles, almost as second nature.

It has been many, many years in the making, but Falcon 4.0 is the best modern flight sim around at the moment.

ORIGINALITY 80
OUND/GRAPHICS 95%
PLAYABILITY 90%
ADDICTION 95%
ENJOYMENT 95%