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Every combat simulator features a backstory that revolves around a current political hotspot. In the past these have included coups in Russia, revolutions in the Commonwealth of Independent States, military uprisings in the Middle East and POW extractions in Vietnam. Falcon 4.0 examines the possibility of an all too realistic scenario. Hunger and famine in North Korea, caused by a shattered economy, devastating floods and stifling UN sanctions have forced the government to take drastic actions. Ground forces have crossed the DMZ (De-Militarized Zone, or the 38th Parallel) into South Korea and are rapidly closing in on the capital city of Seoul. If Seoul falls, then the rest of the South falls. These ground units are the basis of the North Korean invasion and thus have a significant amount of ground support.
As a Viper Driver based in South Korea, you've been called into action to knock out ground support, cripple the invading forces and handicap North Korea's ability to repeat such an offensive. Why not just nuke them to hell and back? Ah, if it was only that simple. Even though it's no longer a Communist state, Russia still holds a good deal of interest in North Korea's sovereignty, and will intervene in a war to protect these interests. The fear of Russian (or Soviet as it were) intervention has always shaped US foreign policy ever since World War II, and Korea is no different. If Russia enters the war alongside the North Koreans then things would look pretty bleak for the US. Thus, the US military has to tread lightly… that's where the F-16C comes in. The Fighting Falcon can immobilize both air and ground targets with surgical precision making it a perfect candidate for this fragile scenario.
In the past we've downplayed the importance of visual splendor. We've pretended that pretty graphics don't affect our judgement. We've turned a blind eye to eye-candy (no pun intended). After all, graphics don't make the game, gameplay does, right? Wrong. Sorry to disappoint folks, but sweet graphics turn us on… in a completely plutonic way of course. When going after the maximum amount of realism possible, everything within the game has to be accurately represented: physics, story, depth and, like it or not, graphics. Shoddy graphics break the fluidity and separate the gamer from the on-screen action, no matter how otherwise "realistic" the game is.
So what exactly are graphics to be judged by? In today's 3D generation, we can safely and simply break down graphics into 4 aspects: model complexity and/or accuracy, level design complexity and/or accuracy, special effects and texture quality. For the most part, flight simulators are spared the necessity of delivering the level design aspect: The view from 50,000 feet hasn't dramatically changed across flight sims throughout the years. Accurate object models, believable special effects and crisp texture quality are the first steps in producing a realistic experience. Coincidentally, Falcon 4.0 delivers on all 3 accounts.
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