MiG-29 Fulcrum

I bought this game just to tell you that if you like this game, it's officially available for FREE on Novalogic:

http://www.novaworld2.com/index.php?do=/public/forums/display_topic/id_12122/

Enjoy!

Great game, if you want to play F16 MRF you should probably check MIG29 first. This one is easier (due to MIG manouverability), simpler and there is less variety of weapons.

Recommended only because it works. The late 90s was a transitional period between bare metal coding and driver standartization so the games from that era a currently the biggest pain to make working on modern systems. This one works out of the box.
As for the game itself, it's only really good for nostalgia value. It was mediocre even for its time. It's not a bad game and it can provide some fun times, but nothing about it stands out or grips you. I guess it could also be interesting to those who want to learn the history of gaming as an example of a middle ground between a flight sim and action, a type of game that is nearly extinct nowadays.
UPD. Forgot to mention it's quite playable with just the keyboard, which is the reason I'm playing it now. Also, don't forget to look for the PDF files in the installation directory.

The simulation level. The realism. The soundtrack. The plot, rivaling some of my fav military movies. The voice acting. Back in my childhood it looked like a piece of pure happiness, a wonderful window to a dream that's never to come true. A perfect game.

You know what? It still is in 2024.

I mean yes there're Skies Unknown and DCS.

But they were only after.

Only the first kiss you never forget.

Played from keyboard back then, in 1998, I swear I can still feel the stick in my hand. I remember how heavy a helmet can be on 5 Gs. I still smell jet fuel.

I'm still there, 3000 feet above the Kuril Islands, fighting for a country that's no more.

And I could use your help.

Ok hear me out.

I know we have other games nowadays and that DCS basically dominates the space of the flight sims, but how about giving the old sims a chance? I am saying this because of course this game cannot compete with DCS at all, being extremely focused on one aircraft and the simulation could be better, I admit, but I think it still is a good addition to your flight sims library.

Ok, having said that.

The devs did not make it easy in the way they created the controls of the aircraft and the view. it feels completely wrong when you always have full screen and sometimes it goes into a crazy windowed mode. Furthermore, stopping you from having long and mid range AAMs as you progress through the campaign is also a cheap trick to increase the difficulty artificially.

Immersion is a bit complicated because at times the simulation is limited to a point you think you are in an arcade flight sim, and it looks weird at times. Contrarily to some other games, missiles hit you a lot in here, as do yours, but if you are limited to short range missiles (hint: the opponent does NOT have the restriction) then you will be really hard pressed to actually manage to get close enough to get a kill.

Still it is a good sim, limited to the abilities of the aircrarft, but I would give it a 6.5 / 10. this is still positive, but in steam is either a yes or no so: yes.

Was very difficult for me to play as a child. So only now managed to finish it. A very good game, I miss midcore simulators like this, where your wingman and friendly squadrons actually do something, and now only chat endlessly, like in Ace Combat 7.
Of course, it shows its age. Graphics are dated (nglide did not work for me), missions start to feel repetative, there were a few I could not complete seemingly because of bugs and had to skip, playing as Ru Air Force did not age well at all. I also hoped the persistent elements in the campaign to be more developed. The manuals says that, for instance, losing a friendly cargo plane would limit the number of missiles you could use. I wish by taking initiative in the campaign we could do the same to enemies: like downing their AWACS or destroying sam sites to make the following missions earlier.
Overall, it was a nice memory trip.

Old school game with no microtransactions or pay for new mission stuff, and the mission editor is great for unlimited novelty in gameplay

Works on Windows 11. Software rendering works fine (no tweaks required).

Or install nGlide to run in 3dfx Glide mode (and play in higher resolutions and full hardware 3d rendering - 3D hardware acceleration with SLI) and enable Windows XP Compatibility Mode for M29.exe. Be sure to configure nGlide through nGlide Configurator to run at whatever resolution you want.

Mig-29 Fulcrum is really similar to both F-16 Multirole Fighter and F-22 Lightning 3 games all made by the same company. All 3 games look and play well, use the same keybinds and they are incredibly easy to learn, they all have a nice balance of realism and fast arcadey fun. In both F-16 and F-22 you used American planes to fight against Russian planes but in here you use Russian planes to fight against... More Russian planes. I kinda like it. The cockpit is a lot different compared to both F-16 and F-22 which just makes the plane look cooler honestly. If you enjoyed those 2 games then you'll enjoy this as well.

+The game looks, plays and sounds good.
+The Mig-29 is a really cool plane. Its really different then both the F-16 and the F-22 we used before. The F-16 and 22 had a lot more computers and screens in their cockpits you don't have that here. The cockpit was a lot more open and easier to see out of in both the F-16 and 22 thats not the case here. Its not hard but its not as clean thats for sure. The plane doesn't necessarily feel different but it looks different.
+This time we use Russian weapons. Guided air-to-air missiles, guided air-to-ground missiles, bombs, guns whatever its all Russian now.
+Russian voice acting was cool to see. You can turn it off in the settings if you wish.
+The plane, just like the other 2 games, is really fun to fly.

+/- you still have to play in a windowed mode because of the resolution issues.

If you liked the F-16 and F-22 games then you'll enjoy this as well.

Really makes you feel like The Ghost of Kiev a.k.a. Samuyil Haydenko
The way you keep getting away with it really immerses you.

This game has had so many memories attached, used to play it as a kid way back in 2005. Even though I had no idea as to what i was doing I absolutely loved this game, it got me hooked on to combat flight sims.

Now in 2021 I realised that i had to get it again and being more mature/understanding I could finally play the game to it's full potential (minus the online multiplayer which is shame).

I'm absolutely satisfied with this purchase as it happens to be the kind of sim that is relaxing, challanging and not too stressful at the same time. The internet says that it has atleast 40 offline campaign missions which is quite respectable. Enemy AI ain't bad either, infact they don't go easy on you. Even a potato computer can handle this; Saying this plus what was mentioned above previously, there should be more games like this which are similar and of the same calibre (apart from Nova Logic's F16 game).

If you can't afford a decent pc for dcs or even buying it's MiG 29 dlc, this game is your answer.





Some recommendations while playing this game:

1) Play with a joystick

2) Memorise the key bindings.

3) Play with the lock on camera (F5) especially when you are tailiing an enemy, it makes the cockpit seem more alive.

4) Use the mini map, so that you can see the incoming missles.

5) Zoom in on the map inside the cockpit, the game is basically almost impossible without that.





Things that I wish were in this game....

Rocket pods... The MiG 29 is known for its two kind of rocket pods which is unfortunately not included.

To find working mods for this (won't mind any help)

The game should be at a lower price coz of its age.

Multiplayer servers to be online once again.




Overall if you don't mind retro graphics and awesome game play, this arcade/sim is up your alley.

it's a perfectly cromulent flight game. Some missions can feel a bit comically stacked against you which is a tad frustrating but otherwise it's fun. that said, my one major gripe is how the situational awareness radar (f11) is damn near required for missile evasion because of how not very good the mig-29's RWR is. probably accurate to the actual plane but it does not make for a very fun gameplay experience.

I have always wanted one of these when I was younger.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to buy the CD bundle back then.
I bought this now and took it for a spin.
The graphics are really dated so this is not for those looking for an eye candy; but the game engine is still OK.
Even the modelling flight dynamics of the game will hold up to today's standards.

Great combat flight sim. It's quite old, and the multiplayer servers are down, but quite enjoyable as a single player experience. The Machines of War bundle is quite good imo, more so on sale.

The game on Linux

The game runs perfect on Linux, you can even install nGlide using a wineprefix for better graphics, this step is really recommended. Xbox controller detected flawlessly.

During the Cold War in 1998 (time not accurate) Russia made some extreme plane for no reason and shot some people in Chechnya and America didn't care tbh.

Pros:
Actually good fighter sim from 1998
You can play with a xbox controller which is great and I don't need to dust off my flightstick
Russian man speaks fluid english

Cons:
The steam overlay doesn't work


ign √64/10 it's good

Pacience is all you need here... lol
the triggers on xbox 360 controller doesn't work...

TL;DR: There is no difficulty level and it's difficult.

Main review

Excellent simulation; flies really smooth with keyboard as long as you don't use yaw function too often. All Novalogic flight sims are excellent. Still, there are a lot of keys to remember in order to master this. However you can get by using only the suggested keys in the tutorials. Not too complex as Falcon 4.0 or Janes F-15 in which both require the use of a joystick. I hate games that forces players to fork out additional money to use specialized hardware. I don't have time, nor money nor space for that so i KIV till last. I believe there's nothing those games can offer in which other games can do just as well with keyboard and mouse.

Graphics still hold-up to this day but only support up to 1024 x 768 resolution. Tutorials are well made with excellent voice-overs; choice of English or Russian radio chatter. Aircrafts look good and sound realistic. Plenty of camera controls and views to keep an eye on what's around you.

Definitely a flight simulation but intermediate level, not arcade like the recent Jane's Advance Strike Fighters or HAWX or HAWX2 with their ridiculous weapons loadout and many other gameplay methods that cater only for fun and not realism. If i just want fun, there's tons of space combat with spinning balls in space.

Correction: My bad. There's also a similar option here; it's called double loadout. That means that the Mig-29 can load twice as many weapons without any weight penalty. So that's like arcade or essentially cheating. Normally it can carry a pair on each pylon set, with double you can load 4 of each type of ordnance

Gameplay is similarly excellent because there are many tactical commands you can issue to your wingman. Here you need to learn to land not just shoot; an ace who can't land is just a joker right?

Correction again My bad. Landing is optional for most missions. This applies to both Quick Missions and Campaign mode but if you opt to land, you get a higher score which carries over to the next mission and gets you faster promotion. I'm not sure if the landing score applies to Quick Missions and Multiplayer mode though. So far it doesn't seem to add to the score in Quick Missions.

Update Jan 8, 2017 0329hrs - About landing
The manual states that landing in Quick Missions can get your plane rearmed and repaired but in Campaign mode only rearmed. Well that was obviously outdated. Your plane gets instant repairs in Campaign mode too. A bit of cheating yes? Wait Wut? Manual? lemme see that. Hahaha some peeps just can't be bothered it seems.
end of update

Not sure which sim came out first but of the 3 fixed-wing crafts in Machines of War, this one is based more on analog instruments, very retro, so i think i should complete this campaign first. Definitely a keeper since there aren't many new modern military sims in the market.

If you're even slightly serious about flying, you should give it a shot. Highly recommended 8/10.

https://youtu.be/kW3dVSqnp6M

Update 2 Jan 9 2017 0014hrs
Final mission of campaign 1. There are more campaigns but it has to be completed in sequence.
https://youtu.be/EIO9ErMzxsA

Definitely recommend this game even though you will only get software rendering out of it since it depends on Glide drivers. Keep in mind this game is from 1998, yet I can't really find a game today (other than IL-2 with mods) that comes close to the depth of this game.

The thing is...this is an older game. It runs fine on win8.1 64bit
Sure the graphics are dated but not bad at all for a game of this age.
Gameplay is kind of drawn out but you can use time compression to
get where you want to be. Hitting the ?/ key displays onscreen key assignments.
Got it on sale today for $3.39 and it is worth every penny of that.

Like most Novalogic flight sims. Brillaint and underated. If your into jet fighter sims, get it!
Always Loved Novalogics fighter games. It does seem a shame that games like this are not being made anymore. The worst example is as a Star Wars fan I loved the X-Wing series, XWA was made over a decade ago now and no signs of another fighter sim to come. Seems the same with novalogic and jet fighter games too :(