F-22 (series)

F-22 is a series of combat flight simulation computer games from NovaLogic, produced only for the PC. It is based on the F-22 Raptor produced by Lockheed Martin. The third game of the series was released on May 25, 1999 and was successor of earlier game F-22 Lightning II (released in 1996), for the time, both games displayed very realistic graphics and some physics of flying a plane. The makers gained legitimacy by Lockheed Martin sanctioning their product, the actual makers of the real-life F-22 fighter.

Predecessor F-22 Lightning II was released in September 30, 1996. Its minimum requirements were 486/100 MHz or equivalent CPU, 8 MB RAM and 35 MB hard drive space. It was released for DOS and was much more detailed in comparison to contemporary combat flight simulators like Jane's US Navy Fighters.

In Lightning 2 and Lightning 3, the aircraft is named Lightning II instead of the correct designation Raptor. By 1999, the games release date, the USAF had officially called the F22 the Raptor. F-22 Lightning 3 also failed to come close to the physics modeling shown in DiD's F-22 ADF released 2 years earlier. This has later been explained by NovaLogic since they never intended a 'hard core' military flight simulator, but an easily approachable multiplayer software.

The third game itself is not so much an all-out simulation but a combat flying game for the masses whose gameplay is easier to access than some of its rivals such as the Falcon series or games from Digital Integration. F-22 Lightning 3 features a host of real life weaponry such as AMRAAM missiles, Sidewinders, 20 mm Vulcan Gatling gun, HARMs, JDAMs, various types of iron bombs, and the B61 10-kiloton tactical thermonuclear free-fall bomb. Due to the stealth capabilities of the F-22, the player rarely needs to worry about their plane's radar signature.

While the game is not developed as a full-fledged simulator, it has included the "emcon" issues. For example, mounting weapons externally will cause the SAM radars to track the plane more easily, with switching the radar on will significantly increase the ground radar's tracking range.

There are six campaigns, with a total of 46 missions split between them (each campaign features either seven or eight missions, which must be played in order). The campaigns cover various hot spots around the world (Libya, Chad, Indonesia, Syria, the Kola Peninsula, and so forth). The game can be played online with a host of other NovaLogic games at NovaLogic.net or on a network. As of March 25, 2007, the game requires a patch to play online, which can be downloaded via the NovaLogic website.