MiG-29 Fulcrum war game

MiG-29 Fulcrum (1991)

Categories: flight simulatorsdogfight games

MiG-29 Fulcrum was developed by Soviets as answer to new F-15 Eagle Americans have introduced to their airforce - both were multi-role fighter that aimed to be an air superiority fighter capable of intercepting enemy planes as well as provide air support to land forces. While in 1980s American fighters were often present in the computer flight simulators the Soviet ones were usually absent or at best they were addition as counter-parts. The reason behind it is very simple - while Americans were bragging about their weapons being the best in the world Soviets kept the details of their weapons secret, because this was giving them the upper hand in case of the open conflict - NATO wasn’t sure what were their actual capabilities. Of course after the Cold War has ended it was obvious that Soviet military force was often just a mirage and MiG-29 was one of such examples - the plan had great maneuverability, but electronics were far from being perfect.

The 1991 game MiG-29 Fulcrum was first actual game dedicated to Soviet airplanes and at that point Fulcrum was the most widely used Soviet modern fighter in the world. But in 1991 the details of the plane were still very much hidden in the mist of the military secrets, so the game was based rather on the assumptions than facts. The game was unlike any other flight simulators of that era, f.e. mouse was used to control the plane, while in other usually it was joystick or keyboard. This actually gave the game a feeling of being completely different, but limited number of missions and visual side of the game left a lot to imagination. The game offered different surroundings that give an idea in how different conditions Fulcrums were used (Caspian Sea, far north, Siberia, Europe), but at the same time every terrain seemed the same and the mission were very similar.

Our plane is armed with cannon (that is useless really), AA-8 Aphid missiles, AS-7 Kerry missiles and the S-240 unguided rockets, so it is quite an arsenal, but the simplified target tracking system makes it not much of a challenge to destroy a target.

Overall just a simple flight simulator with not much realism nor much diversity.

MiG-29 Fulcrum videos