Any PC owner that enjoys a good dogfight has, more then likely, had one of Sierra On-Line's first generation flight sims residing on their hard drive for quite some time now. We have all enjoyed the bi-plane battles in Red Baron, the mud-moving missions in A-10 Tank Killer, or the deadly dogfighting and nail-biting torpedo runs in the Aces series. But, since the last Aces add-on came out a few years ago, we've all been wondering if Sierra would ever do another flight sim.
The answer is a definitive yes. Silent Thunder: A-10 Tank Killer 2 is winging its way to store shelves and should arrive very soon. As other company's sims have created a dramatic acceleration in graphics and flight modeling, Sierra felt that the time was right to update a classic. Let's take a look at what we can expect from this long-awaited flight sim.
Silent Thunder is produced by Frank Evers. Evers, a Harvard University graduate, came to Sierra via Hollywood where he was a partner in an independent film house which produced a series of award-winning films. During his Hollywood days, Evers also produced "The Mask: The Origin" CD-ROM, an interactive comic book based upon the character from the hit film by the same name. Since joining Sierra, Evers has produced Command: Aces of the Deep" which was the company's first simulation title for the Win95 platform. The storyline, characters and the unique design approach to Silent Thunder were also created by Evers in an effort to enhance the traditional combat flight simulation experience. Evers is also producing EarthSiege 2, the sequel to last year's highly successful EarthSiege. Looking forward, Frank is producing Cyber Gladiators (an action fighting game) and Earthsiege 3, both of which will be released no earlier than Christmas 1996.
All our material came from an alpha version so you'll need to keep in mind that some features will change in the time until the game is released. Sierra has always felt that the most important quality in any computer software must be playability. Therefore, this sim is concentrating on story, looks, sound and action. Before we examine these four aspects of Silent Thunder, I must mention that as of this time, Silent Thunder will be a Windows 95 game. Whether that changes and Sierra adds a DOS version is not known presently.
The story goes that at the end of 1996 the U.S. Air Force will completely eliminate the A-10 from it's inventory. All, that is, except for a new and top secret flying unit called Silent Thunder. The organization's specific mission is covert support of vital U.S. policy in nations that are unable to acknowledge open U.S. involvement. Unlike other U.S. Air Force units, Silent Thunder's A-10s operate alone. Thus, you will not have wingmen to help you or any control over the 10 different aircraft contained in the sim. The unit has heavy support from friendly elements such as AWACS, satellite imaging systems, and tactical operations. This support allows a pilot to receive real-time theater intelligence and unlimited weapon supplies and fuel availability. These add up to very limited strategic planning in a campaign mode. Sierra puts you in the role of a hotshot pilot by the name of Jack Haggart.
Sierra will be using their new 3Space technology in Silent Thunder and in all their new sim titles for 1996. By far, Silent Thunder's strong suit is its graphics. 3Space creates beautiful texture-mapped terrain that is almost photo-realistic. Using a Pentium 100 machine, the frame rate was so fast that at times the game appeared to be full motion video rather then a computer sim. An example of the breath taking graphics are the dirt roads that you'll find throughout the different theaters in Silent Thunder. They are not only realistic in appearance, but they actually wind around mountains and over hills. Enemies emerge from over a ridge or around a corner, they hide in valleys and use objects as cover. We have never seen such ground detail at these frame rates.
The sound track in Silent Thunder will knock you out of your seat. It's hard rock, and lots of it. Unlike the studio bands and commercial groups that seem to be doing more background music for CD games today then ever before, Sierra has decided to keep all the sound tracks for Silent Thunder in-house. We think you will agree that it was a good choice. As for digitized speech, you will receive your direction from two sources: first your commander who will explain your mission goals before take-off and dissect the results afterward you return. Second, you will be kept up to date by the AWACS operations. You will be directed and coaxed along during your flight until you receive a congratulatory comment when completed, or a nasty little tongue lashing when you fail.
The game takes place in three major arenas, Columbia, North Korea, and the Middle East. Each campaign will have 8 separate missions. Mission are dynamic. That is, if you lose one mission the next one will become harder to complete. If you lose too many missions, you will lose the campaign and subsequently must restart it from the beginning. Silent Thunder gives you the choice to play single missions from any of the theaters, or several training missions that are not found in any of the campaigns. Before each mission you are given the opportunity to chose between four pre-set weapon payloads or you can set-up your personal preference. It's worth the effort to set up your own weapon payload just once in order to appreciate the versatility and power of an A-10 Warthog.
Rather than stalk the hardcore flight simmer, y'know, those of you who've been immersed in SSI's SU-27 or Ocean's EF:2000 (who may feel Silent Thunder's flight modeling and characteristics have been over-simplified), Sierra is creating a product with great graphics, dynamite sound, an exciting plot, and plenty of action. If this sounds like your cup of tea, check back with us when we review the final version of Silent Thunder: A-10 Tank Killer 2. We'll let you know then how well they pulled it off.
