Top Gun: Hornet�s Nest
- January 01, 2000 00:00 AM PST
Since the earliest days of computer gaming, sim publishers have sought to bring the thrill of air combat to the starry-eyed masses, dispensing with the usual hardcore elements in favor of a more generic, adrenaline-charged experience. In Top Gun: Hornet�s Nest, MicroProse has done just that, once again using the film license as the basis for its latest entry-level simulation. But it takes more than a box-office extravaganza to produce a worthwhile game.
- GamePro Score
- User Score
- Write your review!
Like its predecessor Top Gun: Fire at Will, Hornet�s Nest features the acting talents of James Tolkan (�Hondo�), who serves as the player�s commanding officer on board the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. While Tolkan gives a credible performance, the game and supporting cast crash soon after takeoff.
Given that Top Gun is intended for the masses, you�d think MicroProse would have its Is dotted and Ts crossed, but the game doesn�t even work out of the box with a SideWinder joystick (a 2MB fix can be found at www.microprose.com).
Although Hornet�s Nest is supposedly based upon the U.S. Navy�s F/A-18 combat aircraft, there�s precious little here that even remotely resembles the actual warbird. The flight model and avionics have been watered down to the point where the game feels more like an arcade shooter than a sim-lite. In terms of weapons performance, virtually every missile-launch eliminates the target. While this bodes well for the prospective pilot, it also means that nearly every enemy SAM launch will find its way to your aircraft, no matter how many flares and/or how much chaff you deploy, or how much evasive maneuvering you undertake. So, after a few successive hits, it�s mission over and a quick trip back to the carrier for a nasty debriefing by the cigar-chomping CO.
Then there�s your lone wingman. Nowhere in the manual does it mention anything about communicating with your partner. But if you delve deeply enough into the options panel, you�ll discover that you can, in fact, issue orders. But, again, problems crop up. For some reason, no onscreen text complements the four radio commands, which obviously leads to some confusing situations in the heat of battle. Furthermore, your wingman may, from time to time, unwittingly crash into a mountain or the desert floor, even though his gas tanks have been topped off and he was never once fired upon. Perhaps it�s his nerves, knowing that he has to fly alongside the inimitable Maverick.
Finally, there are the aesthetics. Usually games of this ilk try to offer flashy graphics and spectacular special effects to compensate for the relaxed flight- and weapons-modeling. But, even here, Hornet�s Nest finishes out of the running. The F/A-18�s 20mm cannon sounded more like a helicopter rotor than a fearsome tank killer, and the terrain was often dotted with nothing more than a couple of trees, radar installations, and SAM sites. With the lack of any high-definition detail, it was often difficult to tell where the sky and ground met.
So, while there�s certainly nothing wrong with appealing to the casual flight-sim audience, Top Gun: Hornet�s Nest just doesn�t have what it takes to make the grade, much less to be counted among Hondo�s illustrious �best of the best.�
