Something is very wrong. Not only is the sky overcast, not only are you harnessed to a jet engine about to land, but the landing strip is not staying in place. Oh-oh, that’s an aircraft carrier you are supposed to land on! Not only that, but the weather that you have been rough-riding through is affecting your runway.

Welcome to the wonderful world of the newest release from Jane’s Combat Simulations - F/A-18. Yep, the people at Electronic Arts and Jane’s (the definitive authority in military hardware) have teamed up once again to put you in the driver’s seat of a powerful machine with a whole lot to accomplish.

The F/A-18 is known as the Hornet, and is a smaller decedent of the YF-16 Fighting Falcon. But it packs a wallop, is highly equipped, and though it does have limited range, can punch out the bad guys just as successfully as any of its relatives. The Hornet belongs to the Navy, and as such is assigned to a carrier. That means you have to take off and land on a ship. And that is, by no means, easy. Sure, you can put the thing on auto-pilot, and let the controls do the work; but in bad weather, or even at night, the sheer enjoyment of this game rides on testing your ability to fly right and “call the ball.”

Unless you decide to jump into the game editor and rename the pilot, you are James Toth, pilot, in charge of flying missions that are both dangerous and challenging. There are 20 single missions you can fly, some alone, some with a wingman (and give credit to Jane’s/EA for allowing you a female wingman).

In previous incarnations of the Jane’s programs - such as USAF - you really needed to learn the mechanics of flying to enjoy the program. Not so with F/A-18. Yes, you will need to master a keyboard, but the actual flying is relatively simple. Obey the instructions and learn through the single mission play. After you have mastered that, then launch yourself into the campaign mode, challenging Russian rebels in a series of NATO sorties.

If fighting Russians is not your cup of jet fuel, then enter the editor portion and design your own missions. In either case, this program will test, intrigue and delight.

The graphics are stunning. From snow-capped mountains, to the seeming unending ripple of ocean, F/A-18 encompasses all that is great about modern-day air combat vehicles. See those tiny streaks in the ocean, as you soar up through the wisp of clouds on the way to your first way point - well, that is your ship support.

Though it has been stated many times by those who find modern warfare impersonal, the only drawback to this program is that, often, those you battle are miles away. You launch a missile - and you can switch to the weapon’s camera to see what havoc you have wrought - and it blasts away, then you hear that impersonal voice state that your target has been destroyed.

And sometimes the mission only calls for you to fly targeting missions - which means you try to get enemy radar to lock on you so that intel can spot the enemy’s radar installations. Oh joy! If you want a more personal combat scenario, better stick to World War II or before programs, such as SSI’s Luftwaffe Commander, or Activision’s Fighter Squadron. As far as this program is concerned, the action is terrific and can be edited in any number of ways. Edit your squadron, pick the number of enemies, or even enable the cheats through the options’ menu.

The game board encompasses miles of ocean, great terrain and any number of installations to bomb into oblivion. The sound quality is terrific - from the sound of rockets flaring away, to the instructions given to your squadron and the back-chat on your radio.

F/A-18 is a solid program, with an easy player interface (warning, don’t rely that much on the manual - as with most Jane’s games, it is very in-depth and can be overwhelming, but don’t lose that reference card and learn how to pause the game while you are learning), and a great selection of single and campaign missions.

Oh, and about landing on that carrier - you had better either learn to do it, or figure out a way to tread air!

This game supports multiplayer modes through a LAN line, or the Internet. It is rated T for animated violence and mild realistic violence.

Installation: 6 The full install is 580 megabytes, but this happens relatively quickly, which means you can jump into the fray faster.

Gameplay: 9. This program not only looks great, but offers a wide range of action-tempered enjoyment.

Graphics: 9. Jane’s Combat Simulations could borrow a line from another famous EA line - if it’s in the action, it’s in the program.

Sound: 9. The radio back-chat is wonderful, the sound effects add a full measure to this program.

Concept: 6. So many simulations, what can be improved upon - except the pure enjoyment of the program. Still nothing much new here.

Difficulty: 9. The technicality of flying a high-powered jet has been removed; however, the missions are tough and this program is a challenge.

Value: 9. Simply wonderful.

Overall: 8.1