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Airport 2000: Volume 3

Score: 95%
ESRB: NA
Publisher: Wilco Publishing
Developer: Wilco Publishing
Media: CD/1
Players: 1
Genre: Miscellaneous


Graphics & Sound:

If you like Microsoft Flight Simulator, but you find yourself a little disappointed with the graphics, you need to get some scenery upgrade packs. However, when you think about it, the most time that you'll usually spend close to the ground is near airports.

The folks at Wilco realize this and answer the problem with Airport 2000. Volume 3 provides seven interesting airports; four from Europe and three from the USA. These include Berlin Tegel, Copenhagen Kastrup, London Gatwick, Paris Orly, Denver International (my favorite), San Francisco International and Seattle Tacoma International. These airports really are unique and interesting airports, and are nicely detailed in this expansion. As for the sounds, there are some pretty good vocals in the adventures, including crew announcements and cabin calls, as well as all communication from tower to ground control to departure control, including instructions from multiple air traffic control centers, vocal captain calls and readbacks. Talk about some busy airwaves!


Gameplay:

The gameplay is only enhanced by the amount of realism that is added. Your skill will be the same as it ever has, and flying isn't radically changed. On the other hand, it does look a lot better now, and it sounds more realistic, so it can be more submersive. However, if you like MS Flight Simulator without Airport 2000: Volume 3, you'll probably like it much more with it. As an added perk, three of the ten adventures that are included with Volume 3 link airports between Volume 3 and Volumes 1 and 2.

Difficulty:

Installation of Airport 2000: Volume 3 is a snap. Using the different elements of Airport 2000 is simple; just select them in the drop down menus in MS Flight Simulator. (They're easy to spot - their names all start with 'A2V3'.) The instruction manual is rather thin, but straightforward. It offers tips on setup as well as providing some interesting backgrounds on the seven included airports. The only place that 'difficulty' would truly come into play is in the adventures. The adventures provided in Airport 2000: Volume 3 include flights for beginners, intermediate or advanced pilots, and are clearly labeled as such. Also... there are some birds to watch out for at Paris Orly Airport, at the start of runways 07and 26...

Game Mechanics:

The main enhancement offered by Airport 2000: Volume 3 is the detailed graphics of the airports themselves. The extensive vocal communication (chatter and internal announcements) help to enhance the realism of the simulation. Volume 3 is designed to integrate with Volume 1 and Volume 2, but can be fully enjoyed without them as well. There are some technical aspects of the simulation such as settings, that can be tweaked to ensure that you get the best possible results - these are detailed in the manual that comes with the game.

-Geck0, GameVortex Communications
AKA Robert Perkins

Minimum System Requirements:



Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000, Pentium 400 MHz, 64MB RAM.

(Recommended: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000 - Pentium 600 MHz - 128 MB RAM, 3D graphics accelerator card.)

 

Test System:



AMD K6 II 400mhz, Windows 98, DirectX 6.1, 64MB Ram, Voodoo 3 2000 video card, 56k V90 modem, Saitek's ST50

Sony PSOne Vanishing Point Sega Dreamcast Coaster Works

 
Game Vortex :: PSIllustrated