Review by Dale Wilks Name: A10 CubaPublisher: Activision Format: CD Available: Out now Requires: O/S: Windows 95 Processor: 486DX2-66+ RAM: 8Mb+ Graphics: SVGA CD-Rom: X2 Soundcard: All major cards Tested on: O/S: Windows 95 Processor: 120Mhz Pentium RAM: 32Mb Graphics: 2Mb SVGA (Matrox Millenium) CD-ROM: x4 Soundcard: AWE32 & Yamaha DB50XG Controls: Keyboard, Analogue joystick (recommended!)
A10 Cuba
Those of you that read my review of Sierra's Silent Thunder a few issues
ago will remember that when it comes to attack planes, I particularly
favour the A10 'Warthog'; what I like about it is the fact that it's a
low down, rough 'n dirty mother of an aircraft that packs a real punch. 
I was rather pleased then, to hear that Activision had chosen the A10 to
base their new simulation on. I was even more chuffed when it arrived on
my doormat for review. I was as much curious as I was pleased; there had
been quite a few conflicting reports in the
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.flight-sim newsgroup, some people saying that they
hated the game (mostly American flight-simmers, as the game was released
there first), some loved it, and some claimed that it had more bugs than
an African jungle.
The first thing I noticed (and something that Activision have been panned for) is that the game comes with no manual. Included in the CDs sleeve are basic instructions for installing and running the game, and a rudimentary keyboard guide. This in itself is not much good, as it only lists SOME of the keys needed and at first the functions don't mean much either. The full gameplay guide can be found as a help file installed on your hard disk, which needs to be referred to in order to learn the cockpit layout, when to use the different weapons, etc. This wouldn't be such a bad thing (although a proper manual really should have been included), but to make matters worse YOU CAN'T LOOK AT IT WHILST PLAYING THE GAME! Arggh! Usually whilst playing flight sims, I have to pause mid-game and have a quick look at the manual, to check (for example) the maximum range of a certain weapon or remind myself of the keys to press for chaff and flares. As this can't be done in A10 Cuba, you will find that it's necessary to print some (or indeed all) of the help file, or write the important bits down. Or remember it all. Whether this was a cost-cutting exercise or not (I expect so), I'm not sure, but it's a pretty poor show all the same.
The game is subtitled "Missions at Guantanamo Bay", and there are 12
missions to fly (and 4 training missions) over the Guantanamo area of
Cuba, each one requiring that you destroy a certain target, provide an
escort (and I don't mean the dodgy adult rag, either!), or whatever. As
the A10 is primarily a ground assault aircraft, most of the targets take
the form of airstrips, ships, bridges and buildings. A lot of people 
have expressed the view that 12 missions (and no mission builder) aren't
really enough, and I tend to agree. Once you've finished them (which is
not going to take any self-respecting joystick jockey very long), the
game goes back on the shelf. Anyway, as I was saying, the targets are
mostly ground-based, but the Warthog does have some air-to-air
capability, so it's often best to take a couple of Sidewinders along just
in case.
From the menu, any of the missions are available, meaning they don't have to be played in order. Whilst this is a good thing (if you have several unsuccessful attempts at a mission you can try another one and come back to the first at a later date), it also means that you can see everything the game has to offer from quite an early point, and some players might find that there is little to keep them playing. The training missions are often a good place to start if you're unfamiliar with the plane, and here you can practise your ordinance control and get used to takeoff and landing the plane, which as I've said before can often take a while before you manage it. Many's the time (even now) I've returned from a successful bombing run, only to end up as a crater on the end of the runway!
When getting into the A10 cockpit and looking around, several things become apparent. Firstly, there's the fact that the graphics appear...well, less detailed than most sims. Everything is somewhat devoid of texture, meaning the game looks very much like flight sims of old, i.e. Cubic looking mountains and polygonal tanks and planes. I'll come back to this in a minute though. The next thing you'll notice in the cockpit; there are a multitude of button, dials and displays, which all look rather bewildering at first. It's at this point that you really wish you had a manual! The third thing (that adds tremendously to the atmosphere) is that as you sit in your hangar, friendly aircraft taxi onto the runway and take off and AWACS craft thunder overhead. It's not just you against the enemy you see; you are one part of a larger contingency, all with one thing in mind - complete the mission. (However, if you want to take all the glory of destroying the targets for yourself, you can get in the air before the other planes - heh heh!) Your plane actual sits in a hangar near the runway, meaning that you must taxi out yourself. This can be a job by itself (!), as you must make sure that you don't collide with other aircraft, and particularly don't overshoot the tarmac and end up on the grass. If you do this, the A10 suddenly becomes a real pig (Warthog?!) to control, and you have to wrestle with it in order to get back on the concrete. A nice touch.
What makes this game is that the A10 is an absolute joy to fly. Although
graphically the game may be a throwback to the 16 bit days, when Falcon
was considered to be the be-all and end-all of flight sims, the payoff is
speed. A10 Cuba is delightfully fast and smooth - I was able to play it 
1024 x 768 resolution perfectly well, and this would also signify that
you won't need to own a P200 in order to get the best from it. (Of
course, there are options that can be turned off, should you own a lesser
machine.) Added to this, the flight model is one of the best that I've
flown, my only concern being that the plane is rather quick to turn and
spin, and I'd question as to whether a real A10 would be quite so nimble.
To be honest, I wasn't as bothered about the lack of graphical detail as I thought I might be, and what it lacks in prettiness is made up for in detail. All of the A10s control surfaces (ailerons and rudder) move as they should; missiles and bombs are removed from the racks as they are released, and the landing gear functions properly. Little touches enhance the feeling of realism, such as steering the aircraft (when taxiing) with the nose wheel - when your airspeed gets above a certain level, it disengages and the rudder then changes the direction of the plane. The radar and weapons systems (you can change the ripple rate of the weapons, that is, how many weapons are released when you fire) take a bit of learning, but this just adds to the whole thing. The game sounds great too - just like an A10 should, with that high-pitched engine noise. Plenty of explosion effects too, and the cockpit give lots of audio cues (which are quite important actually).
This almost makes up for the lack of a manual and the fact that there are only 12 missions, but not quite. The absence of a manual is a heinous crime, and one that, judging by the feedback, Activision won't commit again. Whether there will be add-on missions I don't know, but the inclusion of a mission editor would have increased the value for money somewhat. The screenshots will no doubt put some people off too. (If I was in a shop and looking at A10 Cuba, EF2000 and F22 Lightning II I know which one would be put back on the shelf first.) Pity really, because with a bit more work this could have been a real winner.
=========================== Rating: 6/10 (fair effort!) ===========================
