What ho, Algy. Bandits at three o'clock!' called Biggles as he ran across the tarmac and, placing one hand lightly on the side of his cockpit, leapt into his seat. Then he sat there bewildered, as the realisation dawned that he couldn't start the engines, let alone get his crate off the ground.

The manual for F22-ADF is 176 pages long, and it's complemented by a full-colour book describing all the other planes you'll be up against.

If you try flying without giving it your full attention you'll crash - we hit the hangar twice before even getting off the ground.

Add to this the complexity of the weapons systems - there are five different Head Up Displays, all of which you need to master before you can destroy the enemy with ease - and you've got a game that's really a simulator, only with added guns. Even the Quick Combat mission lasts five hours - if you survive that long - so you'll need to master in-flight refuelling.

As with all the best flying games, there are training missions and then Tours of Duty to complete. These get away from the old Cold War models (in fact, a lot of the time you're flying UN missions), but F22 can still largely be summed up as 'take off, then shoot people'. Mind you, you've got to shoot the right people. Your mission objectives usually consist of destroying particular aircraft, or missile batteries, or oil tanks, and if you miss these, then no matter how many others you've hit, your mission is a complete failure.

Extra interest comes from the inclusion of AWACS planes. If you're bored with flying (or you've been shot down once too often) then you can switch to controlling the air battles on a radar screen, and send other fighters to intercept the enemy.

Manufacturer DID appears to have concentrated on the F22 Raptor's behaviour in flight. It seems realistic (though we've never flown a jet fighter) - manoeuvres are a lot faster when you've fired all your heavy cannon ammunition, for example.

Unfortunately, the weapons aren't convincing, only causing damage from a direct hit, and we weren't overly impressed by the graphics.

We'd expect one bit of sky to look much like another, but were disappointed with the look of the buildings. Even with all the options turned on, surely they should be more than just squarish blocks? Granted, the graphics are optimised for a 3Dfx video card, but our PII should have produced good results all the same.

Unless you're a real fan of flight combat sims, F22 is just too complex.

It's wonderfully detailed - except for the graphics - but it's no good for a spot of relaxing blasting.

- #34.99

- DID, distributed by Ocean: 0161 827 8000

www.did.com

F22 AIR DOMINANCE FIGHTER

Overall: ***

Minimum requirements: Windows 95, P133, 16Mb of RAM, 70Mb hard disk space (20Mb for the installation & 50Mb free space), 2x CD-ROM drive, SB16 or Windows Sound compatible sound card.