It seemed like an ordinary day when I got out of bed. The weather was ordinary: dark clouds covering half the sky, most of the town still in sunshine. At 7:30 my two daughters were still asleep in their rooms: my family was ordinary. And when I checked my mail I had my usual forty messages: the mail was ordinary. Then the unusual happened....

About 8:30 there was a knock on the door. The Fed Ex man handed me an ordinary envelope. I chucked it onto the side table by the foyer and was about to continue my ordinary day, when something prompted me to check the originating sender: Microprose. Could it be....?

This was no ordinary day. The alpha CD for Falcon 4.0 had just touched down unobtrusively in my front yard. No fanfare; no special markings. Just that faint smell of kerosene....

Within the hour I had the beta fired up on the runway. I dug for my old Thrustmaster configuration (from the demo days) and pulled out my command card. I cranked up the realism and slid the detail levels to the top and slid into the cockpit for a ride in Instant Action...

It was a good thing that I had neglected to adjust the enemy AI. I found myself fumbling for keys and commands. After experimenting with the padlock and extended FOV I started taking screen shots (click any shot for a larger image). Here are some early results:

The first shot above shows the old F3 style padlock, which divides the screen into two sections. In the left section you get a pictorial orientation that represents the centerline of your aircraft in relation to your current target. At the same time, the virtual cockpit slews in relation to your orientation to the target. One simply places the center line over the target box (yellow box with symbol at left just above the gauges) and then pull back on the stick until the target pops up in the main screen.

The advantages of this view are twofold: you never lose your orientation to the ground; and you can actually locate your target in such a way that you can perform some combat manouvers relative to your target WITHOUT having to place the target in your forward screen.

The other padlock is represented by the next two shots: its an extended field of view. When you first call up this view you will likely see the middle screen above, with three boxes superimposed on your screen (I've colored the pointer at left middle with grey, its actually green like the HUD indicators).

The three boxes represent your two main MFDs and a current target view in the center. As you follow the large pointer (which rotates around the screen according to need) you will find your current target and the middle screen disappears, as in the lower shot above.

My next move was to launch into the campaign. I was presented with three choices which represent different phases of campaign, with varying balances of power. The first choice is the most difficult, with only a small section of South Korea in Allied control. The second choice is more equal, and the third choice has North Korea on the defensive.

I chose the middle option and started in. After allowing the campaign engine to run for fifteen minutes I began experimenting with viewing options on the tactical map. The amount of information that you can access, either immediately on the map screen or by clicking on units and icons, is incredible.

I then accessed a strike mission that was about 100 miles out from base and just approaching the FEBA. I was a four ship flight that was about thirty miles distant from an incoming enemy flight. The screens that follow represent one of the engagements that took place.

As I expected, damage modeling both graphically and physically is outstanding. Guns and missiles seem appropriate in killing power and the visual and auditory feedback from hits seems appropriate. In fact, sound settings are also tunable for realism. You want to hear the impact of your shells on an aircraft at 1000 yards? Fine. You want full realism? You got it!