F-22 Lightning 3

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

F-22 Lightning 3

Developer(s)	NovaLogic
Publisher(s)	NovaLogic
Latest version	1.00.01.04
Release date(s)	April 30, 1999
Genre(s)	Combat flight simulator
Mode(s)	Single player Multiplayer
Rating(s)	ELSPA 11+
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Media	CD
System requirements	Intel Pentium 133 MHz CPU, Windows 95/98/NT, 32 MB RAM, 220 MB hard disk space, 3D card
Input	Keyboard or joystick

F-22 Lightning 3 is a combat flight simulation computer game from NovaLogic, produced only for the PC. It is based on the F-22 Raptor produced by Lockheed Martin. It was released on May 25, 1999 and, for the time, displayed very realistic graphics and some physics of flying a plane. The makers gained legitimacy by Lockheed Martin sanctioning their product, the actual makers of the real-life F-22 fighter plane which is to be used by United States and allied armed forces.

However this what somewhat contradicted by naming the aircraft 'Lightning II', instead of the correct 'Raptor'. It also failed to come close to the physics modeling shown in DiD's F-22 ADF released 2 years earlier. This has later been explained by Novalogic since they never intented a 'hard core' military flight simulator, but an easilily appraochable multiplayer software.

The game itself is not so much an all-out simulation but a combat flying game for the masses whose gameplay is easier to access than some of its rivals such as the Falcon series or games from Digital Integration. F-22 Lightning 3 features a host of real life weaponry such as AMRAAM missles, Sidewinders, 20 mm Vulcan Gatling gun, HARMs, JDAMs, various types of iron bombs, and the B61 10-kiloton tactical thermonuclear free-fall bomb. Due to the stealth capabilites of the F-22, the player rarely needs to worry about their plane's radar signature.

Since the simulator ignores the 'emcon' issues and doesn't model the difference in signature with radio and radar modes and activation. It remains stealthy even when you are tracking a target with an active radar.

There are six campaigns, with a total of 46 missions split between them (each campaign features either seven or eight missions, which must be played in order). The campaigns cover various hot spots around the world (Libya, Chad, Indonesia, Syria, the Kola Peninsula, and so forth. The game can be played online with a host of other NovaLogic games at NovaLogic.net or on a network. As of March 25th, 2007, the game requires a patch to play online, which can be downloaded via the NovaLogic website.