Falcon 3.0

Moby ID: 1629

Description official description

Another update of the hardcore simulation Falcon from Spectrum Holobyte with everything that fans of the game expect, while taking advantage of the latest computer technology. Better missions in this version, as well as being able to fly in an 8-plane force, which you can do while linked to another computer, either by dialup modem or the ever loveable null-modem!

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Credits (DOS version)

115 People (76 developers, 39 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 88% (based on 14 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.1 out of 5 (based on 18 ratings with 2 reviews)

The best flight combat sim of 1991

The Good
Great graphics. Easy to jump in and play.

The Bad
Forced me to upgrade to dos 5. No way around it at the time.

The Bottom Line
Hot combat sim for early VGA systems.

DOS · by gametrader (208) · 2000

Incredible flight simulator game for its time!

The Good
Really fantastic movies and menus screens leading to a great variety of missions and campaigns, get to manage your squadron logisitics and missions. This game goes beyond a simple flight sim to add a real war mentality to make your missions more believable and important. Most of the major and complex electronic systems of the F-16 are modelled...the manual is 300 pages long!

The Bad
This is a 1st generation 3D object game (NOT 3D texturing/acceleration), flat shading colours and simple polygonal models. Some of the weapon and radar modelling seems very simplified, but hey it runs on a 12MHZ PC!

The Bottom Line
This is a 386 game but if you can get past its dated appearance (and get it to run on your modern PC) it has great depth and realism for those wanting a whole flight sim experience.

DOS · by taly01 (6) · 2005

Trivia

Cancelled add-on

Spectrum Holobyte at one time planned an additional expansion pack for Falcon 3.0 in the same vein as MiG-29: Deadly Adversary of Falcon 3.0, Hornet: Naval Strike Fighter, and Falcon 3.0: Operation - Fighting Tiger that would let players fly an A-10 Warthog. Advertisements were even made and distributed with Falcon Gold (a CD-ROM version that boxed all of the above in a single set), but the game never saw the light of day.

Development

Falcon 3.0 was one of the few games released before 1995 that specifically utilized the optional add-in math coprocessor (now standard on everything made since the 80486) for additional functionality. With a math coprocessor, the game would give the player the option of using it to improve the accuracy of the flight model and increase detail, without slowing down the simulation.

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • November 1992 (Issue #100) – Simulation of the Year
    • March 1995 (Issue #128) – Introduced into the Hall of Fame
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) - #10 in the "150 Best Games of All Time” list
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #7 Most Innovative Computer Game
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #9 Hardest Computer Game
  • PC Powerplay (Germany)
    • Issue 07/2006 - #4 Best Packaging (together with Falcon 4.0)
  • PC Games (Germany)
    • Issue 01/1993– Best Simulation in 1992
  • Power Play
    • Issue 02/1992 – Best Simulation in 1991

Information also contributed by Adam Baratz, Andrew Grasmeder, Michael Palomino and PCGamer77.

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  • MobyGames ID: 1629
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Old man gamer.

Additional contributors: Trixter, Cantillon, Patrick Bregger, Victor Vance.

Game added June 17, 2000. Last modified January 18, 2024.