Combat Air Patrol

STORY / GAMEPLAY:
Single missions range from providing air cover for the fleet, to Scud busting, to destroying supply depots and command centers. Missions begin with briefing, including reconnaissance films, weather reports, and intelligence estimates of enemy defenses. After arming accordingly your bird, you are placed in the cockpit of either an F/A-18 Hornet or F-14 Tomcat at the end of the catapult of the USS Theodore Roosvelt during Desert Storm campaign, sitting with the engines at maximum afterburner waiting for launch clearance. During the mission, you follow the directional headings displayed on your head-up display and MFDs, and you will be directed to the target. Fortunately, you can always get back to the aircraft carrier and refuel or re-arm too. All of the targets are strategic military objectives so you are not allowed to inflict heavy civilian casualties by blowing up hotels and hospitals. You will be required to fly to the targets, take them out, and fly back to the carrier. But most likely you will come into conflict with Iraqi MIGs and heavy anti-aircraft fire!
The game includes all the standard exterior views available via the Function keys.
Combat Air Patrol is fast, fun and lethal, although the technical superiority which was so telling in the real Gulf War will also stand you in good stead here. Note that, whilst the Amiga version received generally positive reviews back in the days, the PC version (although superior in graphics and speed) was not met with such enthusiasm.

GRAPHICS / SOUND:
Although, in the original (Amiga) version, a lot of attention has been paid to details based on the Amiga hardware limitations, apparently that is not the case with the PC (DOS) version. Although the action is surely faster due to faster CPU clocks and graphics adapters, the flight model is not more realistic now, while terrain visuals and sky-views could have been way better.
The game offers some really nice touches such as the illumination of the cockpit. As you fly missions that begin in late afternoon, the sun sinks, the sky darkens, and as night falls, and your cockpit instruments disappear until you turn on their illumination. Also, returning to the carrier for a night landing gives some small appreciation of why naval aviators refer to this as their single most difficult task. Details are apparent again in the row of landing lights that flash sequentially down the length of the flight deck as you approach.
The sound is on the negative side, offering only sample explosions sounds (when something is hit), and missing engine throttles etc. Note that, the original version offered full of digitized sounds and speech (a total of 44 samples!).