I hope one of the bigger/wealthier game sites persuades John Walker to review MicroProse’s newest release. John and Myst have, as they say, history, and if Neyyah somehow managed to impress him, it has the ability to impress just about anyone. While THC’s Chief Foxer Setter may pay a visit to archipelagic Olujay, without a strong recommendation from a trusted pal I doubt I will. Frankly, I’m more interested in MicroProse’s latest retro offering.
As I’ve a soft spot the size of the Pripet Marshes for Digital Integration’s Hind, and a fund of fond memories of its step-brother, Apache, too, I’d be horrified to discover I didn’t like iF-16.
The relatively dear* Steam release of this 1997 sim relies on a bundled copy of DosBox and comes with four campaigns (Afghanistan, Cyprus, Korea, and Israel), forty single sorties, twenty training missions, and a quick action mode.
* Seven GBP at present. Hind and Apache are significantly cheaper.
Obviously, you don’t get Falcon 4.0 calibre realism or campaign malleability for your seven quid, but the 116-page manual testifies to iF-16’s depth and detail, and although the campaigns don’t offer asset tasking and dynamic front lines, because there’s randomness in the sortie generation, the long games should stand up to multiple playthroughs.
For example, the first time I launched the Israeli campaign my initial foray involved finding and neutralising Syrian MLR systems. On the second occasion, I was asked to lay a minefield. Test 3’s baptism of fire involved hunting enemy recon vehicles.
I’ve always liked the way Digital Integration products of this era rendered terrain. There’s enough definition and colour subtlety to provide a sense of place and communicate distance effectively, but landscapes aren’t so complicated they weary eyes and overheat GPUs.
Possibly because they resemble my mental image of vehicles in genuine military training sims, I also find DI’s perfunctorily shaded target models strangely pleasing. Textures on sim tanks and buildings? As far as I’m concerned, the jury is still out.
I feel like old (and retro) sims like these – where you don’t need to manipulate every cockpit button, move the throttle with absolute precision, or require a head tracking suite – would be perfect for my Steam Deck. The only challenge is deciding how to map the dozen or so keybinds. It’s absolutely possible, but I unfortunately lack the patience.
I hear F-117A is terrific on the Deck. I play it on my tablet all the time.
F-117A was *the* game of my childhood. Sounds like a good candidate to help me adapt to classic sims on the Deck since I’m already so familiar with it.
Faaannnntastic.
Sadly, this is DI’s last great sim. I liked it well enough back in the day, but Tornado and Hind are still my favorites.
Planning missions in Tornado was absolutely fantastic.,
These games retain the excellent planner from Tornado. What they’re lacking is the dynamic campaigns from Tornado, sadly.
I have a hard time figuring out exactly what to make of the new MicroProse.
When I first heard that the name was back, I was skeptical that it was another cash-grab attempt of someone buying a nostalgic name with the sole goal of milking money out of its old street cred.
Then I heard an interview with the fellow who bought the rights, and he seemed genuine and enthusiastic about bringing new high-quality simulation titles out.
Their current Steam catalogue is a solid mix of both. They have a few good new games, but they are also now shoveling out the old IPs with mixed reception; Falcon, Falcon AT, and Falcon 3.0 with mixed reception, the old Air Warrior games coming soon, and relics like Task Force 1942 coming out without even the effort to remove the old physical (manual page reference) DRM being removed.
From what I can gather, they are trying to make money off of old IPs, and publishing other developers’ games that fit in with their “style,” as a way to fund their ambitious, home-grown projects, none of which have really surfaced much yet. Closest thing is the “redux” of B-17: The Mighty Eighth, which it seems like they are using to both train themselves and to bring attention to the sequels they are working on.
You’re not wrong to be confused by Neu MicroProse. It’s something of a mess. Not only is their catalog all over the place, they announce all sorts of things and then follow them up with silence. Examples are Outerra and Falcon 5. They announce them, then we’ve heard nothing since. It’s infuriating. OG MicroProse is one of my favorite developer/publisher houses ever, and this new one just makes me sad.