F/A-18E Super Hornet (PC)

CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
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Gamespot editors' review

• Reviewed by: Bruce Geryk
• Reviewed on: 03/27/2000
• Updated on: 05/02/2000
• Released on: 02/29/2000

Super Hornet F/A-18E from British developer Digital Integration first appeared in UK stores last November, but it has only now become available in America. Digital Integration is a flight-sim developer with a long pedigree and has produced such simulations as F-16 Fighting Falcon and the legendary Tornado. Thus, Super Hornet F/A-18E can be expected to contain all the elements of a hard-core flight simulation, such as particular attention to the realism of the flight model, weapons modeling, and avionics. And for the most part, the game does indeed deliver on these key elements. The problem is that Super Hornet contains none of the extras that make a flight simulation a complete package, even though there's a good flight simulator at its core.

Super Hornet's flight model is generally good, if perhaps a bit forgiving in areas such as energy bleed in turns. The Super Hornet itself is a particularly stable aircraft, which might lead you to believe that the sim unreasonably prevents departure from controlled flight, but in fact that's characteristic of the aircraft.

The graphics in Super Hornet are generally poor. The dark and generally featureless terrain textures make the game look quite dated and serve to make the graphics the most disappointing aspect of the simulation. Luckily, while the terrain textures are poor, the aircraft models themselves are not. The Super Hornet itself is beautifully modeled, and all its flight-control surfaces are actually fully articulated. Unfortunately, the game's lighting effects are substandard, so the overall visual effect of Super Hornet is simply not up to the standards of current simulations.

Inside the aircraft, Super Hornet treats you to one of the most detailed 2D cockpits ever designed for a flight sim. Almost every knob, switch, and display in this cockpit configuration can be manipulated. Compared with the cockpits and cockpit functionality in Jane's F/A-18, Super Hornet wins hands down. The 2D cockpit can be almost completely operated using the mouse alone, and it gives you an unprecedented level of control. Super Hornet also gives the option of a 3D virtual cockpit, like in Jane's F/A-18.

Super Hornet's avionics are commensurate with the detail of the cockpit and make up one of the best parts of the game. Its weapons modeling is also fairly comprehensive, and includes the standard loadout of missiles, iron bombs, and guided air-to-ground munitions that you'd expect to find in an F/A-18 sim. Unfortunately, the AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missile is strangely absent, and the AMRAAM is the only radar-guided air-to-air missile available. Furthermore, the capabilities of the air-to-air weapons seem a little optimistic in Super Hornet, as weapons seem quite effective even at the outer edges of their supposed maximum ranges.

Besides the cockpit and avionics, the other exceptional aspect of Super Hornet is its simulation of carrier operations. Unlike other sims in which the carrier deck is devoid of activity except for the aircraft taking off and landing, Super Hornet attempts to simulate the crewmen who direct planes on the flight deck. Crewmen are even differentiated by the color of their jackets, which designate them as plane directors, catapult crew, or landing-signal officers. They are not just for show: A careless pilot can easily cause an accident on the flight deck by running over a crewman, and following the crew's hand signals gives you a real feeling of being on a carrier deck. Unfortunately the on-deck maneuvers don't have a lot of variety, so eventually you'll get somewhat bored with repeatedly waiting for your clearance to advance to the catapult. Still, anyone looking for complete modeling of carrier operations won't find such detail anywhere but in Super Hornet.The Super Hornet manual is written in a very readable style, and while it sometimes spends more time on general background information than necessary, it does a very good job of explaining, step-by-step, how to use the many systems aboard the aircraft. Its explanations should be particularly helpful for novices, who might feel overwhelmed by the complexity of the simulation. Super Hornet also includes a fair number of training flights, which are full-fledged missions including takeoffs, transit time to target, and landing. Once you have flown the training missions successfully, you'll have a good idea of how to handle the plane. As such, Super Hornet is a great sim for novices.

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