Lock On: Modern Air Combat Impressions

We were fortunate enough to watch a quick demonstration of Lock On: Modern Air Combat at this year's E3. The game has been in development for some time, but it will be complete soon; in the meantime, the development team has occupied itself with tweaking the game's controls and mechanics to make sure it will be accessible for new players as well as for experienced flight simulator fans. With Lock On, the development team has attempted to create both a survey and a study simulation--a game that will feature both a wide variety of planes and detailed flight models for each one.

We were given a brief rundown on the game's specific features designed to make Lock On easily playable for beginners. The game will have an option menu that will let you choose such options as auto-pilot landings (rather than having to deal with the tricky business of airbase and carrier landings), "easy" physics, and "easy" radar (which will clearly indicate where the nearest planes are and whether they're friendlies or hostiles).

Though the game will support multiplayer play (including head-to-head competitive and cooperative modes) for up to 32 players over a network, we also learned about a few disappointing details: Lock On's single-player campaign won't be a branching, dynamic series of missions in the interest of making the game's ship date. Also, although the game will let you import 3D textures to skin your ships with your own custom paint jobs and logos, you won't be able to import actual 3D models into the game, so serious hobbyists who were looking forward to creating modifications featuring all-new planes may be disappointed. Fortunately, the game will feature a total of eight flyable aircraft and a campaign editor, so you'll at least be able to create your own missions. Lock On: Modern Air Combat will be released this summer.