'Lock On!' -- Modern Air Combat Sims

4   8  

Dec. 2008 - Third Wire
An updated version of Strike Fighters, with higher resolution graphics, patches and improvements, and now Vista-compatible. Third Wire has also released 'Europe' and 'Vietnam' add-ons for this, which brings most of the 'Wings Over' series all under one latest & greatest flight simulator.

3   0  

Feb. 2008 - Third Wire
With the campaign focused on the 1967 Six-Day War, the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and the 1982 Lebanon War, the latest Third Wire release brings a wide range of aircraft to fly for the IAF. And as with other 'Wings Over', the game is highly modifiable, and can easily be tweaked to allow you to fly the Arab assortment of MiG fighters.

5   7  

May 2006 - Third Wire
With 12 of the most powerful NATO fighters of the Cold War era at your disposal, Wings Over Europe is a must-own for flight sim fans. And with a highly modifiable layout, and a strong online community of fans, its very easy to download and add more planes, or unlock all the MiGs and Sukhoi fighters from behind the iron curtain.

4   9  

2005 - Eagle Dynamics
The Gold edition includes the latest patched Lock On game, along with its add-on, 'Flaming Cliffs'. That add-on was developed by Eagle Dynamics without funding from publisher UbiSoft, so it was never commercially released and was technically an unnofficial add-on, until Ubisoft decided to bundle it in this Gold edition.

5   9  

Jun. 2005 - Lead Pursuit
This is essentially an updated Falcon 4.0, developed by a different company. This sim brings more realistic cockpit, better graphics, improved radar, volumetric clouds and dynamic weather, and a dynamic campaign.

4   6  

Nov. 2004 - Third Wire
The second release from Third Wire focused on the Vietnam War conflict in late 60s and early 70s. In addition to many jets found in 'Strike Fighters', this release adds carrier deck operations and several new aircraft such as F-105 Thunderchief, F-8 Crusader, A-6 Intruder and A-7 Corsair II.

9   8  

Nov. 2003 - Eagle Dynamics
The first true hardcore modern flight simulator since Falcon 4.0, Lock On was developed by the team behind the Flanker flight sims. During development, this was set to be called 'Flanker 3' until it was decided to branch out and make it a full featured simulator with many jets to fly.

4   0  

Oct. 2002 - Third Wire
Third Wire is a Texas-based studio launched in 1999 to develop flight sims. They are well regarded for their 'Wings Over' series, but it all started with Strike Fighters, a jet sim focused on 1960s fighters such as the F-4 Phantom II, F-100 Super Sabre, F-104 Starfighter and A-4 Skyhawk.

3   8  

Nov. 2001 - Graphics Simulations

5   8.5  

Jan. 2000 - EA Baltimore

2   8  

2000 - Digital Integration

6   7  

1999 - Pixel Multimedia / Electronic Arts

Prelude's rating:

3   8  

1999 - Eagle Dynamics

11   9.8  

1998 - MicroProse

Prelude's rating:

6   8.5  

1998 - EA Baltimore

4   8.3  

1998 - Pixel Multimedia / Electronic Arts

1   0  

1998 - Interactive Magic

2   0  

1997 - InnerLoop Studios / Eidos

3   7  

1997 - Electronic Arts

6   7.7  

1996 - Electronic Arts

Prelude's rating:

2   10  

1996 - Graphics Simulations

2   0  

1996 - Parsoft Interactive
Sequel to A-10 Attack! for the MacIntosh, this flight simulator has been praised greatly for its very realistic flight dynamics and feel, and critically panned for using fast-paced basic polygonal graphics rather than textured more photo-realistic graphics found in most other sims at that time.

5   10  

1996 - Eagle Dynamics
Developed in Russia by Eagle Dynamics, this flight sim brought to gamers a very realistic simulator which was based on a sparse graphical shell, allowing even older computers at the time to run this game smoothly.

4   7.3  

1996 - Mission Studios / Velocity
Velocity (now called Mission Studios) followed up their hit flight sim series with this third installement, but with stiff competition, it didn't do well. They shifted focus away from a simulation and into air combat arcade with the next game 'Full Burn', then with JF IV and V, and kept the series alive.

Prelude's rating:

3   8  

1996 - Digital Integration

3   0  

1996 - Dynamix / Sierra
The sequel to 1990's A-10 Tank Killer brings high quality SVGA graphics to this detailed and realistic simulator of the A-10 Warthog.

3   8  

1994 - Electronic Arts
The team behind Chuck Yeager's Air Combat develop this revolutionary flight simulator, and thanks to its popularity, Jane's was brought on board with EA to develop the famed Jane's Combat Simulation series.

2   7  

1994 - MicroProse

6   8  

2   6  

2   0  

4   7  

2   0  

2   0  

1   0  

1   0  

2   7  

2   0  

2   0  

1   0  

3   8  

1   0  

2   9  

11   6.2