This game is for all of you who like your hamburgers medium. Not medium rare, not medium well, not rare, and certainty not well done. This is for all of you average Joe's out there. All of you who like the looks of our Nation's deadly flying machines but don't have the patience nor the inclination to fly one, or even to attempt to play a hyper-realistic simulation of one.

This for all of you who like the sleek, sexy, fuselage… but hate the long, aloof manuals that usually accompany them. F-16 MultiRole Fighter from NovaLogic is the latest fruit of the partnership between NovaLogic and aircraft maker Lockheed Martin. Ironically, the pairing of those two companies was supposedly done in order for flight sims with daddy's stamp of approval to be released for the critical masses. Instead (Here is the irony: Get ready) the union has produced many an unrealistic, albeit enjoyable, game. Not really any simulations, just games, good ones.

Before mentioning anything else about this game, the graphics must get their due credit. F-16 MF is a gorgeous game. The texture maps on all of the planes are very highly detailed, the terrain is attractive and exaggerated in height so that its more fun to fly low on your ingress to target. Your own plane is a sight to see. I have not ever seen planes looking this good in a sim before. The texture mapping is damned near photorealistic.

The planes also feature little touches like the ability to see yourself through the canopy of the cockpit. Best off all, the inside of the F-16 features the most amazing 3-D virtual cockpit ever seen in a flight sim. It actually looks better than some 2-D cockpits in sims like Jane's F-15. F-16 MF even reflects the control panels on the canopy. In addition, the game runs at a very high framerate despite its beauty, seriously embarrassing CPU hogging sims like the aforementioned F-15, or Longbow 2. A 3DFX is close to a requirement for this one though.

Most avionics systems are controlled automatically. The plane automatically creates a shoot list for you that may be cycled through, you actually never have to use you radar for targeting or identification, its all done for you. Hell, your wheels even automatically retract after you take off. The designers of this game realized that they were making an arcadish "simulation" and designed missions that, assuming you succeed, would make you a triple ace after 20 minutes of game time.

So, in the overall estimation there isn't to much to scream in pain about, and certainly nothing to moan in pleasure about. The game simply elicits a pleasant grin. Basically it all comes down to this: F-16 MF is a good game for anyone who has never played a flight sim before but fancies themselves zipping along at mach 2.5 launching Sidewinders and preserving democracy. On the proverbial other hand, if you are a flight sim freak, you'd do better to look elsewhere for you hyper-realistic aerodynamic fix. F-16 Multirole is a solid game with great graphics, perfect for the Average Joe.

Sometimes in America, the public simply does something abhorrent. The most current example of this would be the massive support, at present time, of presidential candidate George W. Bush (a man who has nothing to recommend him besides good taste in cocaine). Two years ago, the example was the critically huddled masses' response to Battlezone, one of the most innovative and enjoyable action strategy games ever produced. Simply put, they didn't buy it, literally. Rave reviews, awards, and other accolades aside, Battlezone was not a commercial success.

Beyond the visual flair, and the same high level of quality in audio and music, Battlezone 2 is made, and broken, in its game design. At its core, Battlezone 2 sticks very close to the gameplay paradigm of Battlezone. However, it also takes away a few key features, restricts strategic freedom, and fails to fix some real annoying problems that plagued the other Battlezone.

In order to appease the masses, the learning curve (which in the first game was not exactly… nice) has been flattened. The designers at Pandemic Studios structured the first few missions to gradually give you more responsibility, so as to ease into the complex mechanisms of the full product. Not content, however, to stop there, they decided to remove a number of the first game's key strategic elements. For example, in Battlezone, you had to use Scavenger units to pick up scrap metal from destroyed craft in order to fuel you war effort. This made combat more closely tied to production and forced you to carefully watch after the vulnerable Scavengers. In Battlezone 2, although scrap metal may still be recycled from the battlefield, it is primarily taken from mysterious "scrap pools" (?), which allow for a steady, constant supply of metal. Granted, it makes things easier, but also less interesting.

Simplification is not the only problem. Artificial intelligence, which was passable at best in Battlezone, is utterly terrible in Battlezone 2. Although the enemies fight fairly well, the movement AI of the troops under your command is atrocious. Even your constructor units have trouble arriving at building destinations. This forces you into the unwanted role of wet-nurse to you incompetent units, which is frustrating to say the least.

Also, although level design is unique, varied, and engaging, there is far too much of a focus on scripting. There is really only one way to approach each mission. You must accomplish A, to get to B, to do C. Although this can force you into doing some interesting things, it works against the feeling of control that a strategy/action hybrid is supposed to instill. Battlezone 2 is subtitled Combat Commander, after all.

There are some other complaints. A few bugs, especially with the multiplayer code, made it onto the CD. And, unlike in Battlezone, there is a great focus on treaded units, which can be confusing to control and certainty not as smooth as a hovercraft during a fight.

Still, it is Battlezone. Despite the flaws, the same gameplay that made Battlezone so great is still at work here, and when you are not being annoyed, you are usually overjoyed. The plot is well paced and voice acting is good. The control is solid, the units and weapons are varied, the graphics are extraordinary, and the interface is actually an improvement over the already sublime. They added some additional ways to control your units though a satellite view and gave you more control over base function. Overall, things mostly feel right.

Take it for what it is; a good game that should have been great, a casualty of appeasement to bad taste and rushed production. The zone is still hot, the combat is still heavy, and the hours will still fly by unnoticed. Don't expect to be singing its praises in two year's time, but you might be infatuated for a month or two. Just one thing: if you've never played the first Battlezone, hunt it down in a game bargain bin somewhere and give it a home. It deserved better than to be thrown in with Extreme Paintbrawl, Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender, and Irritating Stick. Ouch.