F22 Lightning 3 Review

F22 Lightning 3 Review

Review by Alex

F-22 Lightning 3 continues the series fun and addicting flight simulation that trades super-realistic aerodynamics and flight controls for more action and combat focused gameplay.

Easy to Learn Controls, Realistic Motion

The plane still feels like it handles believably as you throw it through high-G turns, but the overall mechanics and avionics are rather simplified to allow you to focus on the action and even gives you the option of turning some maneuvers onto automatic, such as landings, taxiing, takeoff, shoot lists, formations, and in-flight refueling. It really is easy to start the game, learn the controls, and jump right into the missions within only a few minutes.

Modern Weapons at Your Fingertips

Another appealing aspect are the assortment of weapons you have at your command, such as AMRAMMs, sidewinders, 20 mm Vulcan Gatling gun, JDAMS, and even a B61 10-kiloton tactical thermonuclear bomb. Nothing gets your pulse pounding as riding the wake of a thermonuclear explosion!

Plenty of Missions

With 22 quick missions, that ease you into the controls before providing more sophisticated mission parameters, and 46 missions split between 6 campaigns there is plenty of gameplay to be found with the single player action. Add into this the mission editor, that allows you to create your own missions, and addicting multiplayer features and there are even more hours of enjoyable flying.

Won't Appeal to Hard Core Flight Sim Fans

There are only a few slight issues that could possible turn off some players. For instance, the simplified aerodynamics and flight physics might turn off more hard-core flight simulation fans. Also, the missions are in a set structure and there isn't any randomization, but there is always the mission editor if this is a deciding factor. While the graphics for the most part are pretty striking, they are from 1999 and could be viewed as slightly dated by some players, but this does little to detract from the awesome gameplay.

Conclusion - A Fun and Accessible Modern Air Combat Game

Overall, F-22 Lightning 3 provides gameplay that is both fun and addicting. It's more casual take on flight simulation lets even new players get into the action rather quickly and become flying aces in no time. The variety of missions keeps things fresh, and the multiplayer mixed with the mission editor means there are hours upon hours of gameplay to enjoy. If the very slight problems mentioned above are giving you pause, at least try out the demo and get a taste of the entertaining gameplay before making a final judgment.