User Reviews (11 - 21 of 37)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Still the most realistic jet sim out there

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: May 07, 2001
Author: Amazon User

When you buy this title, you should realize you are not buying your typical computer game, but instead an incredibly realistic simulator. Therefore, you should realize it will take a lot of practise, training and reading through the excellent manual before you start flying serious online or campaign missions. However, I believe going through that process is part of what makes it so great - you really feel a sense of achievement once you start noticing you don't end up being killed during every campaign mission anymore, you are able to get your weapons on targer and you actually start understanding what is going on around you.

It has been quite a while since the original, buggy, sim that some people here complain about was released. In the meantime it has been upgraded to an incredible level of realism. This goes far beyond just the official patches - a group of coders (eteam) have actually improved it to a level where almost every button and switch in the cockpit is functional and they are still at it. At the same time, the graphics engine has been improved to make use of the newer graphics cards. These are all free upgrades and the latest at the time of writing was eFalcon 1.09. Just do a search on the web for links to all the downloads or helpful forums.

You can also find incredible cockpits, skins and now even new theaters on the web. The work and time spent by the people creating all these add-ons have turned this sim into something that I believe won't be matched for a long time. And since they are still at it, the game you get in the end is brand new and much, much more than what you find in the box.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, someone buying this product should realize it is much more than a game and about as realistic as a non-classified sim can get. Therefore, if you are looking for just a "game", I suggest you look elsewhere as this sim is demanding - in setting up and managing all the add-ons as well as of course the actual gameplay. However, there is also an extremely wide range of resources, including many forums with very helpful enthusiasts, available to help you get the most out of it. This sim, like most flightsims, also demands a good computer and be prepared to turn down some of the graphic settings in order to achieve smooth play if you have an older system.

If you are a hardcore simmer and would really like to know what is is like to fly a modern jet fighter, this title is what you were looking for.

Probably Best Combat Flight Sim of All Time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: November 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

If you crave realism, Falcon 4 is the flight sim for you. Download the SP3 (or whatever is the latest) realism patch ...and the avionics become much more realistic, you get weather effects, up-to-date weapons and platforms, and a much more stable sim. The original Falcon 4 was buggy and crashed a lot. With the latest patches that is a thing of the past. Recommend a beefy PC to play this game; it needs high performance to run IMO.

Ultra-Realistic but mixed feelings

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: June 20, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I pre-ordered Falcon and received it as soon as it shipped. Unfortunately it was seriously buggy, and even 2 years and numerous patches later still has flaws/bugs in it that are annoying at times.

On the other hand, no other sim, including those from Janes (though I haven't played the flanker series, in fairness) gives me the impression of more realism. Pull the nose up while taking off too far before you're airborne, and you'll scrape the tailpipe on the runway. Practice, practice and more practice is required before you can land this beast. Try landing with damaged gear and watch the damaged portion of the gear collapse at touchdown. Get guided your your target by the audio of the AWACS controller's voice, and hear the Air Traffic Controller's welcome you back to base after a mission and then vector you onto the runway. The avionics of the F-16 are nearly overwelming. The air to air radar has 4 master modes and numerous sub modes, and there are three air-to-ground radar modes. Fortunately, once you've mastered one of each type the rest fall in reasonably quickly. Likewise, there are three different modes for dropping unguided bombs - mastering the assorted ways in which your various guided weapons work is also daunting. And I won't even mention the difficulty of air to air refueling.

The graphics in Falcon are top notch, even two years later, especially the terrain. Its the only sim I've played that really gives you a sense of speed, especially at low level. There are a few things graphicaly that are sort of dissapointing - none of the other planes has as much detail graphicaly as the F-16, and when flying over cities, only certain structures are modeled in 3d, the rest are simply textured onto the ground and aren't objects. Also, the texture is a set of tiles that periodicaly repeat. They're very high quality, but in certain areas where they repeat alot (for instance, when a river flows through farmland the tiles repeat quite a bit) it can detract. On the other hand, seeing the haze and fog rolling up against realistic looking hills is terrific, as is seeing the contours of the ground on your air-to-ground radar as you fly by at low level.

I also have to say that the use of sound in Falcon is first rate - hear your engine whine as you spool it up, your breaks protest as you land and complete your rollout, the zipping sound of your gattling gun as you tear into your latest victim, and your heat seaking missles scream at you as they achieve lock. The use of radio calls in the game deserves particular note as they really add to the immersion. Since Falcon 4 simulates an entire campaign and all the vehicles in it, you hear other flights of planes talking to one another, calling for help, exaulting when their bombs hit home etc. Really excellent.

To sum up, if you like hard core sims, even with a few remaining bugs I think for [edit] you can't go wrong buying Falcon - the price is definetly right. I still play this game two years later whenever I get the chance.

If you don't like hardcore sims though, best to stay away as even though you can tone down the realism, there are better flight sims out there for the non-hardcore crowd.

It's the mother of all flight sims

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: January 18, 2001
Author: Amazon User

If you want a flight sim that's easy to learn and quick to fly, thenthis is NOT the one for you. If you are a dedicated flight simmer,then this is the one you must have. It has a very steep learning curveand a very complicated manual. At first release, it was verybuggy. Then Hasbro bailed out on it after one or two patches. But, ithas a very dedicated following(truly international)including manycomputer geniuses. They have produced (FOR FREE) many add-ons andfixes. After you buy and load it, go straight to the Falcon4website. From there you can download all the add-ons and patches,including extra cockpits for the Mig-29, F-14, and B-1 bomber. I havea Pentium II 333 with a voodoo3 2000 video card and 256 megs ofRAM. It runs well, but a faster chip and a better video card will makeit even more interesting. You'll need at least 128 megs of RAM to runsmoothly, although some people have said it runs OK on less. The bestfeature is the dynamic campaign. It's the US and South Korea vs. NorthKorea, although Red China and Russia may jump in also. There are 3different campaigns in which you can adjust strength levels. Also, itnow has a feature where you can have a Korean winter set up and a newadd-on just released- a campaign in the Balkans, with new terrain andeverything! Every week new things are being added such as moreaccurate flight models for all aircraft and new terrains for campaignsin the desert of the Middle East, Israel, and Southern Europe(all inthe works). It flys on-line very well, with dogfighting, campaigns, orTE's that you can make yourself. It's like many, many sims rolled intoone! It's a steal at the present price.

A Stellar Performer!! Great sim!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: September 13, 2002
Author: Amazon User

You know you're on to something in a flight simulation when some of your daydreams revolve around the next opportunity to fly the Falcon 4.0 instead of the largely lascivious prattle we guys normally ponder. Make no mistake about it, it has been fraught with a constellation of infuriating little bugs. I invite your attention to my little incident of being inattentive to ATC vectoring commands and being vectored to a North Korean airfield.

Having said that, I can launch into a long string of superlatives in praising the textured graphics, mission editing, flight model, sound and lots and lots of other astonishingly great stuff. Needless to say, I am greatly enamoured.

I am running 512 MG of SDRAM on a P4 at 2.13GHz. with a 64MB DDR Hercules 4500 with Kyro chip on a 21in. monitor. When I crank everything up to its max the experience is truly cosmic. I can see, however that if you are running anything more austere, you will need to trim the performance back on the sim (a little)as well as kill some of your background apps. But it will be well worth it! Don't miss this one!!!

F4 is THE benchmark combat flight simulator

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: June 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Its been over four years since the release of Falcon 4.0, but it is still proving to be THE benchmark modern fighter simulator.

While the more recent fighter simulators (i.e., LOMAC) are being "dumbed down", Falcon 4.0 remains the most realistic systems simulation that a game consumer can find.

The learning curve required is not compatible with the arcade gamer. On air-to-ground sorties, you don't simply press one button to lock on and another to fire -- you have to use your fire control computer. The many types of radar and delivery methods will be daunting for the new player.

In realistic mode (after downloading the "SP4" freeware addon), expect to spend your first day with Falcon 4.0 just learning how to fire up your F-16 and get it running. From a cold cockpit, this is a systematic process with no less than twelve steps. Once you get it though, it'll be second nature.

As you are learning to master your F-16, the war is raging all around you. You are but a small drop of water in the ocean of war in the campaign.

Its unfortunate that this incredible simulator is faulted by bugs that cause infrequent CTD's (crashes to desktop). Downloading and installing "SP4" resolves many of the issues, but they still occur -- however less frequently. If it weren't for the bugs, this would merit 5+ stars.

Buddy Spike

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: May 17, 2000
Author: Amazon User

1987, year of acid house, and Spectrum Holobyte's 'Falcon' (ST / Amiga).

Gigantic and imposing, 'Falcon 4.0' is more or less the last word in ultra-realistic, ultra-anal combat flight simulators, one which shot itself in the foot. After half a decade in the making, it came out two years ago to variable reviews - most praised the stunning graphics, the realism and the campaign, whilst bemoaning the monster PC required, and the mountain of bugs. Nonetheless, this is a product of quality and depth, something to which the passionate network of fan sites testifies. Two years later it still looks stunning (the horizon stretches away seemingly forever, and only the chunky textures look dated). The newer patches (multi-megabyte downloads all) fix most of the bugs, leaving the world with a rock-hard simulation of an F16 locked in combat with North Korea.

Apart from the ultra-realism (just for example, you don't just have to fly waypoints - you have to do it *on time*) the campaign mode sets it apart from the competition - you're basically flying over a giant wargame, one that is played out in real-time (even when you're selecting ammunition load-outs and so on), and your actions, however small, play a part in the big picture. As you soar over the battlefield, you watch explosions ripple along the ground in the distance. The complexities involved in planning and administering strike missions can be daunting - thankfully, you don't have to, as you can just drop yourself into an existing mission.

Despite the ability to tweak the realism, this is still frighteningly complex to start with, even if you're a flight sim veteran. The relative antiquity of the F16, compared to such sci-fi aircraft as the much-simulated F22, contributes to this - if you're expecting to just press 't' to hit the nearest ground target, you'll be horrified at the array of radar modes, bombing crosshairs, and the insanely strange way in which you can't just press a button to drop a bomb - your fire control computer does that for you. Nonetheless, once you start to get the hang of it, it's gripping.

As in real life, the Other People fire back - and, often, your first warning of an incoming missle will be a loud bang, followed by a complete loss of control, a spin, a radio voice announcing an incoming missile, and a crash. It's not fair, but then again neither is real life. Flying low over enemy vehicles will get you shot to pieces, and with 510 cannon rounds you can't strafe them into oblivion. On the other hand, I can't think of another sim that lets you drop napalm over the enemy.

It's interesting to compare it to DID's five-year-old 'EF2000'. That also had a clever campaign mode, although being set over Norway it was mostly restricted to air and sea units. DID's simulations managed a balance between realism and playability that fell on the latter end of the scale.

The Ultimate Hardcore Sim

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: December 09, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I have owned and played Falcon 4.0 for a year now. It is certainly not for the casual sim user, in fact I find it to be the absolute most realistic sim experience I've ever had. It took a while to learn the ins and outs, actually I still am. It's a constant learning experience, I still get shot down on campain missions occasionaly, miss the target on occation etc. And of course the graphics are amazing as well. I would highly recomend this game to anyone who is looking for an extreme challenge in flight simulation.

The only true combat flight sim on the market

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: November 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is as real as it gets.

Falcon 4.0 on it's own is not that crash hot, you need to get the community addons, (current standard is SP3), and that is where the negative reviews are coming from. But if you have the addons, you will find this the best simulator on the market by a rediculously huge margin. I am a current pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force, and know quite a few other pilots who swear by Falcon, we recently tried LOMAC and were hugely disapointed. There really is no comparison, and with Falcon OIR on the horizon which is going to be a simple easy install of falcon and all the community work, plus some new improvements, Falcon is only going to get better.

Not worth the headache

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 17
Date: March 05, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I have a Falcon 4 since it's release, and used a numerous patches with various results. My final opinion: look elsewhere...

This game is nice when it works; unfortunately for me, it will crash quite often, and usually in the most inappropriate moments /like when you have the enemy locked, before landing, etc/. problem is that it takes a very long time from launching the game into the firing position. After a few reboots and hours of "playing", I'm finding myself to have fun maybe 10 minutes. The rest of the time I'm loading or rebooting.

I used all available patches and tried 3 different videocards /Voodoo2's in SLI, Viper 550 and 3D Prophet/; remember that one of the early patches actually worked quite well...but other things were flawed.

This game has a problem with bugs, and will probably never be fixed enough to run on every system. Maybe is's too complicated for today's systems, who knows.

Demands on system are very high, particularly in the campaign mode /main part of the game/, which really needs a major CPU power. Even to load a single missions takes forever. Tried multiplayer a few times as well, game kept crashing.

Maybe it is possible to fine tune the game&system in order to minimize the crashes, but I'm giving up /don't have really the time and patience for those tweaks and believe that to have the latest drivers for everything should be normally sufficient for every game, don't have usually problems with any game which I couldn't fix within a couple of minutes/.

Run on PII400/128MB, 3D Prophet 32MB DDR video /3.68reference nVidia driver/, SB AWE64 sound, Win98 SE and DirectX7 .

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 Next 

Actions