One of the few jetsims out there with really good graphics! Great modelling and a BIG community out there!

User Rating: 9.5 | Lock On: Air Combat Simulation PC
I have tried a lot of jetsims, but this most clearly be one of my favorites. Originally released in 2003, even today it demands a powerful rig. There are not many american planes here, actually just two, the F-15C and The A-10. There are many more russian jets, not a surprice as the developer is coming from Russia. All planes are very well done with good avionics and modelling. It´s a big community out there, meaning you can download hundreds of mods, like more threes, less cpudemaning water, high res skins etc, etc. All planes feel very good to steer. I recommend a good stick. Saitek X52 is good. If you add rudder and Track Ir, you got yourself many hours of fun! There are also a lot of servers out there where you can test your skills online. Big missions lasting hours of hours.

Of course there is a steep learning curve. I have printed out the whole manual, 276 pages. It takes approximate 30-40 hours or so to fully understand how to use radar, different missiles and how and when to use them etc. There are several "virtual squadrons" out there performing acrobatic flying in formations, and who knows, mayby you will be on of them!? Thanx to the community there exists a lot of mods. You can change the skin of you SU-27 for example, or change the scenery with more buildings, railroads etc, change the sounds of the jet. I have 30 mods installed, some of them gives me better fps, some adds more detail. It´s kinda kool flying over a city and actually see cars, trains or busses pass under you! I can´t think of ANY jetsim that has this amount of detail in a sim. I have a P4 3.0 GHZ, 2 GB RAM and 7600 GT videocard and have to set things on medium! The only negative I can find about this game is sometimes the feel for speed. I have tried many sims, and this one is closest to really feel your flying 700 knots. BUT, when flying aroudn the mountains and diving around them, I feel that speed could be added like 1.5X or something. Be sure to buy the addon Flaming Cliffs and download the latest patch 1.12B. (A if you use XP). Flaming Cliffs adds another plane, the SU-25T and fixes several bugs. Be sure to check out the uservideos from Lock On F.C on youtube.com.