Unfortunately I can’t share the same enthusiasm for the game itself. While deep inside there are some really good features, the flight viewing system and overall game play of the simulation kills the experience for me. While developers should study this title because of the excellent work on this simulation, the downside is that the game is mostly an exercise in frustration to play.

When you take your first look at Super Hornet, you will most likely be on the deck of a carrier staffed with carrier personnel and other Hornets gearing up for takeoff. The carrier is alive with activity and you are required (unless you press CTRL+C to skip) to spool up the APU, right and left engines, taxi and engage the launch bar. All of this is well executed, and it’s pretty cool the first few times you do it. Unfortunately, this is where the excitement ended for me.

My first mission out, my wingmen are long gone. I called to AWACS to not get pure voice communications exclusively (as our readers know, I can’t tolerate not having communications displayed in text format, too). At this point, I pretty much felt lost and confused. Fortunately, the cockpit is clickable, and due to extensive study of F/A–18 avionics in another recent simulation, I was able to transfer a lot of that knowledge into DI’s Super Hornet. This allowed me to function very well in the cockpit.

I shortly found out what I consider the buzz kill of this simulation: the viewing system. An adage for combat pilots is, “Lose sight, lose the fight.” In Super Hornet, not only are the views not mapped in their standard location on the keypad, but they are laid out in the most archaic manner I have ever experienced. View rotation keys are number 1–4 on the regular keyboard. Not too much of a problem if you map them to your joystick, but you will soon find out that the snapping views do not include directly left and right. The panning view isn’t much better as it’s limited to about 60 degrees left or right. Then the check 6 keys are CTRL+F5 and F6 and the snap views for left and right are shift F4 and F6. Confused yet? I certainly was. In the voice of Kelly McGillis in Top Gun, "This is a better example of what not to do."

The graphics are both good and bad. The aircraft and carrier models are the best I have ever seen. I would award high marks for the modeling of the objects, which is done exceptionally well. Unfortunately, the ground terrain is less than pretty. However, the sensation of speed is quite good when you’re down low, which is why my opinion of the graphics is a mixed bag for me.

The flight model is OK, — my only complaint is that to get the most realistic flight model, you also have to crank up the AI to the max. The AI and the flight model are linked and cannot be separately altered. This is not good! The overall feel of the aircraft is that it flies decently, but seems way overpowered. However, down low on an attack run, this power genuinely gives you a sensation of flying a jet at a very low elevation, which sim developers should pay more attention to, as it made tooling around in DI’s F/A–18E fun.

Shepard Sez
This is a sim that only a hardcore player will love. Beginners will lose interest in a few hours as the complexity of the avionics is overwhelming (good for hard core, bad for novice). The viewing system is my biggest complaint — it’s terrible! On the other hand, the planes, objects, carriers and especially the animations, are superb. It’s here that the art team deserves lots of recognition for doing an exceptional job. Interplay/DI has announced the cancellation of add–ons for Super Hornet, so I am skeptical of the long–term value of this simulation. In addition, the news boards are pretty dead for this sim, so user support is minimal.

Bottom line DI should take a close look at the positive elements in this sim as well as learn from the bad, and then never repeat the negative elements. For the end user, I would wait till this title is in the bargain bin and then purchase it just for the movies.

Overall Game Rating: C

[Editor’s note: We wish to thank Steve Martin for his many years of reviewing for Gamers Gazette. Due to other business needs, Steve is leaving Gamers Gazette to pursue other avenues and we wish him well as he moves forward with his career. Definitely, Steve is one of the leading flight sim reviewers in our industry and we shall sorely miss his expertise! Thanks for your help, Steve, and all our best to you and your family!]

Interplay Entertainment’s website

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