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Flight simulators have never taken a huge role in the video gaming industry, and the ones that are released usually get very little attention. One, however, seems to be known by most, and that's Top Gun for the NES. While it was by no means a blockbuster title, the movie with the same name was quite popular at the time, and many people were fooled into buy the video game version. Since then, there have been a few other flight simulators, but none seemed to be as enjoyable as Spectrum HoloByte's latest addition into the genre, Top Gun: Fire at Will. While the name could catch the attention of movie fans by itself, the game is primarily flight/battle simulation action. Players are given a full-motion video oriented briefing on each unique mission, by no other than James Tolkan, that annoying fellow that plays a jerk in nearly every movie I've seen him in. Except for his arrogant appearance, the FMV scenes were done quite well, and the game isn't based totally around it, as some of the previous games that used full-motion video. The missions that are given to the player are each interesting and different from one another. One may ask you to destroy the ground targets while another may require you to protect a bomber (a specific aircraft). This allows for a variety of game play necessary to keep the player interested. For me, the game play was somewhat uninspiring for the first few minutes of play time, but things picked up and before long I found myself having a good time shooting down enemy aircrafts. I usually don't enjoy these types of games, but Top Gun: Fire at Will provided some needed enjoyment in a different form than the mixture of game types in the market today. It's a welcome change of pace for those like myself. Depending on each individual mission, your F-14 will have an arsenal of deadly weapons for destroying foes. You have you standard burst weapon (similar to machine gun fire), and missiles (which lock onto their targets). Missiles available are standard, AGM (air-to-ground), Surefire (highly accurate), U238 (keeps destroying targets until it's fuel is depleted), and MIRV (splits into multiple missiles). As expected, each are more suitable in some situations than in others. The graphics seemed pale and dull at first (like the game play was for me), but later I found them enjoyable to look at. The clouds in the sky look realistic, and you may even find yourself flying through one, causing realistic visibility restrictions. While the ground is sometimes detailed and colorful, it often gets quite pixelated when flying at low altitudes, and that irritating pop-up can happen. You'll be flying joyfully when you see a huge mountain appear in front of you. AAHH! The play control is fairly loose, as expected and preferred in a game like this, but often takes a bit of getting used to. After your F-14 has taken some hefty damage (which can be seen by looking at the graphic of your aircraft in the lower-left corner of the screen), you may notice that your controls have been altered. Your F-14 may try to fly itself in a spiral! Realistic enough for you? The music during the game is mediocre, but fits the game play, but the title screen music is annoying. It's just a soundtrack I dislike, I suppose. The sounds are usually blips and beeps, but again, appropriate in the situations in which they are used. The player has two viewpoints to choose from, which are views from outside/behind the aircraft and a cockpit view. I found it much easier to play using the outside/behind view, which is conveniently the default. Each character in the full-motion video scenes develop their own personalities, and they can even be heard talking through the radio transmissions during the game play. Games can be backed-up with a memory card or password, both which are nice options, especially with the difficulty of the game. The later missions of the game involve real life type of scenarios, which invoke a bit of panic and excitement in the player. In all, Top Gun: Fire at Will isn't a bad game, but gamers that aren't a fan of this type of game may not enjoy themselves. Give it a rent for a change of pace. |
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