A flight simulator developed by Argonaut Software and published by Electronic Arts in 1991. This video features an unboxing of the Amiga version, a review and CRT capture of one mission on a real Amiga 1200 (CPU 68030) with a 1084 CRT Monitor.
Birds of Prey is most memorable for its impressive intro and the no less than 40 military airplanes it lets you fly.
So, you could finally fly almost any aircraft you'd ever wanted on your computer, or even put yourself in the shoes of the enemy, as Soviet ones were also included.
It's got nice graphics with filled, light sourced 3D models and good sound effects, but there's only one generic cockpit for all aircraft, though it's got all the necessary instruments often absent in other simulators of the time.
Aircraft systems are common to all airplanes and weapon loadouts and delivery can be unrealistic, especially the gun tracking.
Ground model sizes and some distances seem a bit exaggerated, but there's real time alternation between day and night and you can change the terrain colour to simulate green fields, desert and snow.
The flight model is quite good for the time period with different characteristics for each airplane, giving you a sense of flight, though it's got its quirks leading to some odd handling.
Furthermore, the game features an East vs West dynamic campaign, meaning that the results of each mission type you fly have an effect on resources available for you and the enemy, in subsequent flights.
Summing up, it's an adequate sim with a plethora of nice features which was quite popular on the Amiga.
REM *** You can also watch this in High Definition on my Youtube channel ***
GOTO https://youtu.be/UXunysV8CeQ
REM *** Note ***
I recorded two missions, the first one played a bit rushed to get the hang of it, but it's less than 10 minutes long, and the second one in a more realistic way, but it was over 15.
So, I had a hard time deciding which one to include in the video. A flip of the coin decided that you'd get the short version, both times, so here it is.
REM *** User's memories ***
I'd never read any review of the game back in the day, but the box caught my attention at a computer store. It was there every time I entered to buy something else, so one day I gave in and finally bought it.
I liked the intro, but thought that there's no way that the game actually looks like that, which of course it didn't. When I played it, I liked the cockpit featuring many instruments missing from other sims, but was a bit disappointed that it was generic. That's all I can remember at the moment.
I'm not sure if the box shown in the video is mine or a replacement from ebay, as I lost some of my originals in 1997 (eventually replaced most of them), but the last time I bought anything retro related was in 2010, so I can't recall.
REM *** Contents ***
00:00 Introduction
00:11 Box overview
00:58 Unboxing and review
12:14 Birds of Prey Intro
13:09 Title Screen, Mission selection and Arming
14:36 Gameplay - Blizzard 68030
23:23 Debriefing and ending
REM *** MORE ON THIS CHANNEL***
REM * Unboxing the games I bought between the late 80s and 2010 *
REM * There's approximately 200 of them, so it'll take a while to complete *
GOTO https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4lNmaj7owmB5cmFIJVH7MYkJVi1tPPiX
REM * Unboxing the Computers & peripherals I bought between late 80s and 2010 (the ones for which I still have the boxes at least) *
GOTO https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4lNmaj7owmC5O_9dNiQiOmb_OPff1Z4z
REM * The Internet of the past with trips to the old Internet*
GOTO https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4lNmaj7owmBEMQU7O-iUlciao25Z9NXS
REM * Tips & Tutorials *
GOTO https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4lNmaj7owmCDFYi3eqxaXtbqC2l1RT64
REM * My game patches and translations *
GOTO https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4lNmaj7owmALnq34lhu7ra-BnSTKOT64
GOTO My channel for more videos!
