Crash


Fighter Bomber

Author: Mark Caswell
Publisher: Activision
Machine: Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Crash #77

Fighter Bomber

A flight sim about fighter bombers this, with much touted 3-D graphics. You're a pilot after the coveted Curtis LeMay Bombing Trophy and can choose from the McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom, the Panavia Tornado IDS, the Saab AJ37 Viggen and the MIG-27 Flogger: each plane has its advantages and disadvantages.

Several 'missions' must be flown: Covert, Tactical, Strategic and Offensive. Within these missions are four 'operations' to complete to win the cup: Operations Sleeper, Spearchucker, Big Bird and Molestrangler. For realism a range of 'enemy' craft try to stop you from completing the course.

3-D representations at the start are nice, but multi-load strikes you down very quickly. The shaded 3-D landscape graphics are pretty impressive too. As with many sims a lot of practice is needed, specially to complete the later missions. A reasonable flight simulation for aficionados.

MARK … 75%

Nick ... 70%

'At first, Fighter Bomber seems quite promising. The plane selection section has some really good full-colour aircraft pictures and a 3-D option shows your plane spinning around in the air. Then you discover multiload (arrghh!). You stop and start the tape so often before start of play, you wonder if it's worth it. Once in you get a cockpit view, looking down onto a shaded landscape. Small lines amongst all the shading are supposed to represent roads and rivers - I can't quite see it myself. The thing worth looking at is the aircraft you're flying: you can jump out of the cockpit (not literally) and fly about the plane impressing yourself with the 3-D effect - it's quite good, to be honest. The actual missions you have to perform get so lost in the hype over the glorious 3-D that you haven't got a clue what you're supposed to be doing when you start. Graphically, Fighter Bomber will please all flight simulation fans, but the game hasn't had any lasting effect on me.'

Mark CaswellNick Roberts

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