Showing posts with label Combat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Combat. Show all posts

Friday, May 22, 2015

Saitek PRO Flight Combat Rudder Pedals





Great rudder pedals
I have used several different brands and styles of rudder pedals over the years. I first started out with a bulky set of Thrustmaster pedals. These were okay, but the scissors action and nearly flat footed position was clunky and uncomfortable. I next tried the CH Products pedals. This first pair I had was the type that had the joystick plug and did not have the toe brake feature. I next bought the USB version of the CH Products Pro Pedals. These had the toe brake feature which was excellent for differential braking. However, both of these pedals are very close together and seem to be an unrealistic foot position. I decided to splurge the extra amount and purchased the Saitek Pro Flight Combat pedals for their design and flexibility to adjust the ange of the pedals. I am glad I did!! They are a lot more expensive than the competition, but you do get what you pay for in some cases. The base is strong plastic and the pedals are metal. Setup was a cinch, plug and play!! I...

Exceptional Addition for Virtually Any Flight Simulator
An admission. I have been an avid simulation fanatic ever since the first wire frame, vector based flight simulator appeared for the Apple II--and that's going back aways. I've owned various incarnations of Microsoft's Flight Simulator. I've owned Fly! and X Plane and simulators that I don't even recall. But I've never, ever owned a rudder pedal.

After all, why invest my dollars in a rudder pedal when I can just as easily maneuver the aircraft in the ground and in the air with a yoke?

Why? Because "real" aircraft aren't maneuvered on the ground like a car using a yoke as a defacto steering wheel. Real pilots maneuver their aircraft with their feet while taxing on the ground. And even though they do handle turns in the air using their hand on the joystick or yoke, their feet are very much in the picture operating the rudder during turns and for crabbing the aircraft.

If I am to be a "true" sim pilot, then it follows that I should have something under my...

pilot approved!
I thought these were pretty cool, but I'm only a weekend "pilot". So I tried these on my brother-in-law who is a pilot in real life. He one of those pilots who just loves flying. He flies for a company during the day, and he flies on his computer at night.

He did says that they're not just like airplane rudders--but they're awesome for computer rudders. He likes how you can lean your foot against the rudders and then move your foot up to press the break (says that's a realism improvement over game pedals that make you put your whole foot on the pedal). He said they do work just like he would expect them to and that they would add to his game experience (I think he was hinting here).

We both agreed that they slip way too easily on carpet. I stick something heavy behind the pedals and the problem is solved.

Other than that, they just work. I didn't even need to install a driver. They're super sturdy, and pretty heavy!

I used these pedals in...

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Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary





At last, the Halo series has come full circle.
It seems these days we gamers get inundated with HD remakes and remasters all the time, most of which amount to nothing more than bare-boned ports slapped with some up-rez paint and stretched to widescreen and, most importantly, the price of a brand new game. Until now, those seemed like adequate, maybe even "good" efforts. Not anymore. Developers of the world, start taking notes; THIS is how you do a truly awesome, worthwhile remake. 343 Industries was not content to lazily shove a ten-year-old game into your face with no substantial updates and call it a remake, using manipulative, fancy terms like "HD" and "remastered." No, instead they opted for something much more grand, and much more glorious. There's a lot to cover here about Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, so I'll get right to the campaign. If you don't like long reviews, tough, don't read this one. Halo CE is too great to be confined to a short, anemic review, and this version deserves a lot of detail. I make no apologies...

A remake worth making
Usually I don't get excited for remakes. This one, in fact, I ordered simply so I could run the original Halo on a 360 without emulation. I honestly wasn't expecting a lot--but I sure got it!

The campaign is, simply put, awesome. It looks SO much better than the original, but at the same time it plays just the same. This isn't just some half-baked 'slap some new paint on it' project--it feels like a brand new game. In addition to the makeover, Halo CE now includes skulls, which I like--especially the infinite ammo skull for those times when you just want to shoot stuff without worrying about conserving ammunition.

Multiplayer was a little bit of a disappointment for me, mostly for two reasons: my favorite multiplayer maps didn't make the cut, and I was hoping for the original Halo multiplayer experience instead of just Reach multiplayer on remastered CE maps. But that's not enough to dampen the experience. As I said, the multiplayer is with the Reach engine (you...

This is the future of Halo...
I've not written a game review before, but I felt I had to this time because I really think this game is not only being underrated because of the multiplayer uproar, but a major factor for it being released in the first place is being completely overlooked. More on that below. I am a software engineer who has been playing computer/video games for 40+ years now (Pong, anyone?), and yes, I am that old. Of the hundreds of games I have played, the Halo series, and Halo CE in particular, easily ranks in my Top 10, probably Top 5. The reason? Its campaign gameplay is virtually unmatched for depth of play, difficulty adjustment, engaging storyline, audio/visual presentation, and on and on. It's just plain fun! I've played Halo CE numerous times over the years, either the full campaign or individual levels. I like Halo multiplayer as well and have spent much time online, but that's not the reason I buy the Halo games. I don't want to repeat what other 5-star reviewers have said about this...

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