Stormovik: SU-25 Soviet Attack Fighter

The Good
SU-25 Stormovik is an amazingly detailed flight sim, considering its 1990 vintage. It will run acceptably on an 8MHz 286 but really shines on 10MHz and faster PCs (you can even run it on a PC as "fast" as a Pentium 133 if you use this undocumented trick: when taking off, use the "T" key to accelerate time while taking off...otherwise you won't lift off the runway).

Graphics: Very nice representations, especially when in High Detail modes. TGA (Tandy 16-color Graphics) or VGA are my favorite graphic modes, and the combatant planes and choppers are easily recognizable. One of the best features is practically every "viewpoint" imaginable is just a key-click away during your flight! For example, there's a viewpoint from your target to your plane, a satellite viewpoint, ones from both sides of your plane, etc, etc.

Sound: Options available include the rare Creative Music System, but also the more common Ad Lib standard. There's an appropriate Soviet-themed beginning tune, and it has adequate in-game sound effects including some "bassy" effects during the game that shake your bones making you feel like you've really been hit if you have a subwoofer!

Gameplay and AI: In this sim, you are flying in the Soviet air force, and you rise (or fall) in rank based upon your success in completing several missions centering around dealing with a disruptive anti-government terrorist organization. The AI is good, and you will be challenged to deal with each mission. You can fly with just the keyboard, but for real effectiveness you will want to use a well-tuned joystick to take advantage of a fun flight model that is realistic enough to satisfy. If you have one, it's best to use a programmable joystick to take advantage of all the different "views" and defensive/offensive measures without needing to hunt the correct keys to peck.

The Bad
An option for some in-game music would have added to the drama, especially since the opening music was so enjoyable. Also, a longer list of missions would have helped the replayability. Lastly, more variety in the landscape scenery would have been great. These are just "wish list" items, though -- since I really couldn't have expected much more, considering the early systems this game was designed to run well on.

The Bottom Line
This game proves that there was a sophisticated and fun DOS flight sim to play...even if your fastest computer ran at 8MHz!