Jane’s Combat Simulations: USAF – United States Air Force is a multi-
aircraft simulator that is built upon the engine of its predecessor, Israeli
Air Force. As with other titles using the Jane’s license, the focus of the
game is in creating a realistic and believable military aircraft simulation.
Hence, the game’s controls and mechanics are elaborate, while all controls can
be mapped to a voice command. It is also possible to give basic commands to
wingmen, if they are present. While waypoints and refueling can be managed by
the aircraft’s autopilot, all such maneuvers can be done manually.

USAF is based on 8 different fighters and bombers of the United States Air
Force: the F-4E Phantom II, F-105D Thunderchief, A-10A Thunderbolt II, F-15C
Eagle, F-15E Strike Eagle, F-16C Fighting Falcon, F-117A Nighthawk, and the
F-22A Raptor. In game modes other than the campaign, the MiG-29 is also
available to the player. Each aircraft performs differently and is meant for
different tasks, and can be seen from the cockpit (with 2D and 3D views
available, and the possibility to look around from the pilot’s perspective),
from the outside (in a behind view or one of the cinematic views), or with
just the HUD visible.

The game has four campaigns, two of which are historical (Vietnam War and
Desert Storm), and the other two (Red Arrow and Sleeping Giant) being
fictional and set in a hypothetical future. Tutorials are extensive, while
separate tutorials exist under the umbrella term “Red Flag”, which note more
demanding tasks and can not be reached at the lowest rank. The player’s
progress and rank is recorded in their profile, with each mission’s success or
failure affecting their score. Scoring itself can be changed by setting
various difficulties and “aids”, with AI help removing score percentages but
making the game easier for newcomers.

Aside from the campaigns, there are preset single scenarios, as well as a
quick mission editor which the player can use to manually set the parameters
of a desired air-to-air skirmish (whereas the campaigns have both air-to-
ground and air-to-air missions). There is also a Fly Now! button in the main
menu, which randomly picks a mission from a small mission pool and puts the
player in a random plane. These missions can have the same settings/landscapes
as the missions in the campaigns: United States (Nellis Air Force base),
Germany, Vietnam, and Iraq. The game comes bundled with a User Mission Editor
application as well. USAF has a multiplayer mode available via LAN and
JanesCombat.Net (which has since been discontinued).

Finally, the signature feature of Jane’s -licensed games is the in-game
encyclopaedia, which is present in USAF and lists and describes in detail
not only the aircraft the player can pilot or shoot at, but also all other
objects that can be encountered in the game, as well as missiles that aircraft
can be armed with.

Jane’s Combat Simulations: USAF