October 1999 Volume 80 Number 10 "serving the protectors"
By Mike Horsfall

FLY

FLY is perhaps one of the best flight simulation programs on the market. Developed by Terminal Reality, the game certainly lives up to its name - FLY is all about realism.

There’s also the choice of flight by day or night in real time, with accurate transitions of the sun, moon, and stars. For those strapped for time there is an option to accelerate the flight using distance compression.

Catering for both the novice and advanced pilot, there are five aircraft available, including a Piper Malibu Mirage, a Beechcraft King Air B200, a Cessna172R Skyhawk, a Piper Navajo Chieftain, and a Raytheon Hawker 800XP.

FLY also features audible Air Traffic Control through the on-board radio. This will also allow the pilot to hear other aircraft operating in the area. The addition of a complete simulation of a GPS navigation system will also ensure absolute reality.

The graphics of this program are of exceptional quality, with some of the scenery being quite breathtaking. The user manual is comprehensive and although it may appear quite daunting at first, it is a useful resource - easy to read and full of helpful hints.

In all, FLY is a most enjoyable and complete flight sim package. With so many more features than listed here, it may be the flight sim to beat for many years to come. Clearly, it’s highly recommended.

To use FLY you will need a multimedia PC running Windows 95/98/NT 4.0, Pentium 200 MMX, 400MB hard disk space, 4X speed CD-ROM and 32MB RAM. You will want a Pentium II 300 or faster and a good 3D card. 3DFX and force-feedback game controllers are supported.

Hidden and Dangerous

If you’re sick of the same old shoot-’em-ups, running around some military installation, blowing the hell out of unrealistic alien creatures while trying to collect ammo and bigger, badder weapons along the way, you’re not alone. Even the publishers of these types of games are realising PC gamers need more.

Hidden and Dangerous is another shoot-’em-up, but it has one major advantage - strategy. To set the scene, in 1941 the Second World War was raging. The allies were faced with the evil of the Axis. Entire battalions were demolished attempting to capture strategic locations. Along comes David Stirling, a 24-year-old Scots Guard 2nd Lt. While injured in a practice parachuting exercise, he planned the formation of small raiding parties which would infiltrate and attack logistics bases and airfields. He managed to present his plan to a few of those in the upper echelon. They saw the advantage and the SAS was formed.

It is recorded that, by the end of the war, the SAS had been responsible for the destruction of over 500 German aircraft and caused confusion among German troops and communication lines. This is what Hidden and Dangerous is all about. Players control a troop of elite men and are given specific tasks to achieve. While this may sound easy, it will prove to be very challenging.

Unlike most shoot-’em-ups, Hidden and Dangerous emphasizes the stealth approach to completing missions. For example, the first mission revolves around a bomber plane which has been shot down behind enemy lines and its pilots captured. Your aim will be to parachute in and meet up with Italian resistance. There is a small problem - the troops are on one side of the river and the resistance is on the other. It gets better - Germans guard the only bridge, and this is where the game begins.

The game is not restrictive in any way, and participants may use weapons of dead soldiers, both allied and German, or the weapons mounted on vehicles or guard towers. Vehicles can be driven - anything from trucks to tanks. One great function is using the overhead map from which troops can be synchronised to perform specific manoeuvres - the need for stealth is paramount.

For those seeking an involvement in the re-creation of WWII with accurate features, look no further than Hidden and Dangerous.

The game requires a multimedia Pentium 166 with 3D graphics card and 16mb of RAM. About the only thing stopping you from putting this one down short of completing the game is “the blue screen of death”.

For the opportunity to win Hidden & Dangerous put your details on the back of a used envelope (but not your postcode) and address it to Mike Horsfall, Sturt Police Station (12) Hidden.

NEED FOR SPEED - HIGH STAKES

Never happy to sit back on their laurels, developers at Electronic Arts have extended the company’s range of high-quality racing sims. In reality, the latest product, Need For Speed - High Stakes, is an extension of NFS3. Many will argue that it’s everything the previous version should have been.

Slightly higher in cost than the previous version, High Stakes includes all the features of NFS3 and more. In addition to the Hot Pursuit and Career mode of play, is the High Stakes mode, where racers stake their supercar in a series of events. In-game economy has also been introduced, as well as car damage - any damage caused to the car during races not only affects the handling and power, but also its physical appearance. Not only will dents appear on the supercar, but headlights and tail lights will smash, wheels will be damaged and windscreens will crack. All these features add to the realism, as does the force feedback support - it’s hell to drive with flat tyres, or wheels that are so badly damaged that they wobble as you drive.

At the conclusion of each race, players have the opportunity to repair their cars, but it all comes at a price. Nothing is free in High Stakes. On arriving at the repair screen, the player’s car is displayed complete with all the dents and scrapes. Select repair and watch the dents mysteriously disappear as the car is returned to its former glory.

To play Need For Speed High Stakes you will want a Pentium II 266 MHz or faster processor - you can get by with a Pentium 200. You will also need 32 MB of RAM and 50 - 350 MB of hard disk space. A good 3D graphics accelerator using 3DFX, or Direct 3D is a necessity - the latest display drivers are a must.

For the opportunity to win a copy of NFS High Stakes, put your details on the back of a used envelope (but not your postcode) and address it to Mike Horsfall, Sturt Police Station (12) NFS.

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