Introduction

Mig Alley is a Korean War sim in which you can fly a range of US aircraft in missions ranging from bomber escort to Close Air Support and in scenarios ranging from instant action to thoroughly detailed campaigns. The aircraft range from the WW2 F-51 Mustang to the then top of the range F-86F Sabre Fighter. The Mig-15 can also be flown in single missions.

Flight Model

The game is challenging - it is pretty easy to depart controlled flight. The enemy are varied in their manoeuvring and can be set to operate under the same strict conditions the player does. You can also set it so that only you and your current target fly at maximum realism - this frees up valuable CPU capacity. You can expect to stall, spin and be buffetted by the turbelence of your target's wake. But the same is true of your opponent, though he doesn't give you that delight all too often. You can lose parts of your airframe under stress or due to gunfire and this will affect your aircraft's handling.

The challenging nature of the flight model means that you quickly learn not to pull too tight a turn for long, except in one-on-ones. In a furball you keep your eyes open and swoop down on the enemy when you have a good chance of success.

The flight model is occasionally strange - difficult to quantify but you sometimes get the feeling that something isn't quite right. However it very rarely intrudes, except on the ground. As one would expect in a game engine originating with WW1 biplanes, landing and taking off in jets is very unconvincing indeed. It is simpler just to bypass the whole take-off by going straight to accelerated time.

The Opposition

The Reds have one major weakness - their armament, consisting of 23mm and 37mm cannon, has a very low rate of fire, making it harder for them to achieve that vital snap shot of jet dogfighting. But if you are hit by the cannon rounds they may well take your tail off in a single burst. The AI Pilots are pretty good and you are normally faced with a very high deflection shot. Get on their tail and they can throw a quick reverse to throw you off. But they are not superhuman. You can get pretty close to some before they spot you, as long as you restrain your trigger finger. I have the impression that the AI reflects the skill level pretty well.

Graphics and Framerate

The screenshots give a pretty good idea of what to expect. But there are a few points to note:

• Ground units are very hard indeed to spot. So you need to link up with a Forward Air Controller who will mark the target with smoke. This looks good!
• Framerate is pretty high and there is an auto-minimum, which means that if the framerate drops below the minimum you set (which can be up to 34 frames per second) the simulation will scale down 3D detail to keep above this minimum. This works well and I can stay above 20 fps.
• Aircraft are not the smoothest or most detailed out there. However they aren't bad and the sim can support at least 30 on the screen at once. This looks good when a whole flight of Migs sweeps in behind the fighter-bombers you are tasked with protecting!
• Aircraft (as in the above screenshot) have good damage graphics and can lose parts of their structure.
• There is a small amount of warping on occasion. The reason for this is unclear, but the Mig you are chasing can appear to accelerate or shift a fraction. This is NOT a game killer, nor is it frequent - the experience of air-to-air combat is one of the most thrilling out there.

The sound in the game is excellent - jets, gunfire and radio. The radio system is full but not too complicated, a maximum of the radio key then two keystrokes. Radio chatter is convincing and goes well beyond the minimum. Other pilots offer encouragement and shout warnings. You have a number of options including some not seen before, such as ordering your wingmen to test guns.

The only downside here is that you can hear radio for all the flights in the game, not awfully realistic when one is up near the Chinese border and those F-51s are down near Pusan.

Missions and Campaigns

Missions range from the instant no option Hot Shot furball through a variety of single missions up to two different types of campaign. The first of these is squadron based, allowing you to fly the four basic aircraft types in four campaigns. The Spring Offensive Campaign places you in the role of Supreme Air Commander, with a whole range of bombers and fighters at your command, from F-86s to B-29s. Targets, priorities, waypoints and missions can be set automatically, or you can create missions by hand, choosing targets and allocating Strike flights, followed by AAA suppression and escort flights. Armament, waypoints, altitude and timings can all be set by hand. Mig Alley offers a campaign management structure that can be as simple or detailed as you want it to be and will set the standard for the future. Falcon 4, F-15 and other hard-core competitors have a lot to learn. It isn't perfect - there are no other non-US UN aircraft and the UN had more than 7 squadrons, but it does the job it sets out to do just right. If there is a complaint, it is that there can be too many options, but I know we all complain when anything is left out!

The Single Missions offer the chance to fly the two Mig-15 variants.

Conclusion

Mig Alley - get it! Great dogfights, good atmosphere, something different, marvellous campaigns.