Janes Advanced Strike Fighters
MiGMan’s Combat Diary, 2020-2022
I bought this on Steam in December 2020 and somehow got my HOTAS to work.
My first impression of this sim was positively coloured by the fact I was flying it on my new 85" monitor, ca. 2020. Anything and everything looks great on an 85" monitor and the scenery in this sim is crisp, detailed and fast.
The narrative driven campaign and a great sense of speed were definitely points in it's favour.
Cut to May 2021 and no joy. I spent several hours of trying every combination in the Steam settings and remapping my HOTAS to the most basic configuration.
Why so difficult? I appreciate that these games were dseigned for consoles. A clear how-to-guide from Steam is surely not too much to ask for? The same problem exists with Ace Combat 7.
On returning to the sim in for the last time in 2022 I found the difficulty of getting my HOTAS to work properly very frustrating. Why so difficult? I appreciate that this games was designed for consoles, but if you are going to port it to the PC and charge money for it, it should not be a nightmare to configure your PC controllers.
I appreciate it takes resources to code that, but (1) that is surely the price of entry to the PC market? and (2) EA is not a small time publisher/
The same problem exists with Ace Combat 7. A clear how-to-guide from Steam is surely not too much to ask for? Oh, and TrackIR is not supported.
And then came a sense of missed potential.
If EA/Janes had literally rebooted the mission content of their own US Navy Fighters sims into this game engine they would have had a blockbuster.
Instead we are left with arcade style scenarios with swarms of enemies and unlimited fictitious weapons.
What a missed opportunity. The PC sim crowd expects more, especially from a sim with the Janes name attached.
Undoubtably a good contender in the console arena, but I found it a disappointing end to the Janes Combat Simulations legacy.