Fighter Pilot

No, this isn't a remake of the old ZX Spectrum flight sim. It isn't even a flight sim. Pure action is on the menu here, highlighted by the fact that you always start in the air, with a view just behind your aircraft. It's a flight sim for people who don't like flight sims. With a decent joystick hooked up, journeys to the keyboard are thankfully few. And even though the game lacks any of the high-end features of, say F-22 TAW, you're somehow fooled into thinking you're playing an intelligent game.

Having said that, the enemy pilots tend to be happy to get themselves killed, only using countermeasures later in the game. This suggests the developers want to gradually ease you into being a flight sim fan. Play Fighter Pilot for any length of time and you could end up looking at that redundant copy of F-22 in a whole new light.

Four planes are featured: the F/A-18 Hornet, the F-22, the F-117A Stealth Fighter and the Russian Su-35. With realism left out of the box, each aircraft feels distinct enough to spice up the rather pedestrian missions. Of course, blowing up air and ground targets is what this game is all about, occasionally escorting friendly aircraft across the battlefield. Between-mission briefings are pretty naff and it's unusual, for EA, not to be treated to any FMV.

The graphics are good, but not great. Explosions pixellate close-up, but the engine is pretty smooth if you've got a 3D card, and the interface is easy to grasp. The sound is fine, but the pilot's Duke Nukem-style voice-overs tend to get on your nerves.

Fighter Pilot is an instantly appealing diversion that plays very well, but it may be too slow for some and too simple for others.