The Jet Pack
by NovaLogic

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Product Summary

• PC Gamer (1-year)

Video Game Reviews of The Jet Pack

Customer Review: Good - but EF2000 and TAW are better
Summary: 3 Stars

Flight modeling is the sims' weak-point: they are pretty simple, perhaps too simple. On F-22, modeled after an airplane blessed with already stupendous flight performance, the simplified performance specs make that game seem less like a flight simulation and more like one of those sim-like arcade games of the early 1990's. On F-16 and MiG-29, handling is more down-to-earth, but still forgiving.

Flight systems, staying consistent to the overall simplicity of each title, is also simple - though this is also a weak point. The overall tactical picture is too generic - allowing for a radar picture, but not sufficiently giving you the threat picture (what other aircraft or enemy ground forces are scanning or shooting you with). Each game (though this is pronounced on F-22) creates separate screens for the displays that (on a real fighter, or at least a more comprehensive sim of one) would share a single multi-function display. The effect forces you to scan around your cockpit - probably with the idea of reminding you that you're supposed to be inside of one. If that's the idea, it backfires - only reminding you how far each sim is stretching itself to cover its simplicity (you don't need a screen that always shows your stores; instead of a separate MFD for the artificial horizon, why not just include one on each screen like EF2000 did?) The flight panel is okay on F-22 and F-16 (where you rely anyway on the HUD) but seems weak on the MiG-29. (You can rely on the MiG's HUD as well, but that only waters down the differences between this and the other games - the MiG is supposed to be about top performance and unsophisticated technology with conventional "steam gauges" to remind us f its backward Soviet pedigree; why remind us that we've spent top dollar three iterations of the same game?). Each game relies on Novalogic's "trademark" instrumentation (the letters F B G R for flaps, break, gear and radar projected in front of you on screen rather than somehow incorporating these functions into either the HUD or flight panel like most sims manage to) which only reminds you that this is a sim for any flier. Weapon symbiology (how digital information for various weapons is projected on your HUD) is simplified - the missile symbology all looks the same, regardless of which one you're using; gun symbiology is too simple, not giving enough info for tracking shots; free-fall bomb data is also too simple, but forgiving, giving each bomb the hit-coverage of a cluster bomb.

Performance: a big hit here. I flew MiG-29 on a Celeron system years ago, and found only marginal improvement when flying again on my P4 years later. The weak link here is graphics acceleration - these sims were "fielded" in the days when most high-performance games were written to use the "Glide" API used exclusively for 3d graphics acceleration cards designed for the 3dfx's Voodoo chipset. Now that OpenGL has overtaken Glide (I doubt that Glide will even run under WinXP) newer systems will be stuck in software-acceleration mode. While flying straight and level, graphics were acceptably smooth. In any kind of hard maneuvering (which is what you got the game for), framerate was reduced to the kind of herky-jerky stutter you'd expect flying a game at the limits of your computer's performance. Though hardly offering gameplay or graphics on the level of Il-2, these games otherwise act as if they required them. The graphics are otherwise very pretty - with cloud cover and terrain that conveys both a sense of flight and geography (missions can take place over jungles or snow-capped mountains). Your jets are fully animated (moving flaps, ailerons and rudders) and surface detail is almost lovingly accurate (esp on the MiG's low-tech riveted aluminum).

But is it worth your time? These games fill a niche for uncomplicated flight simming - though you can have more fun for the same system requirements using EF2000 (v 2.0) or any of DID's F-22 games (Total Air War or Air Defense Fighter). Those games, though supporting graphics acceleration only under "Glide", ran decently enough in software-graphics mode. But more to the point, they offer a broader experience - allowing for great gameplay for those looking for a simple sim, and even offering those players a way to learn what a more demanding game requires.

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