Of course, don't expect to have an easy time of it. While the game's basic "Arcade" setting is pretty straightforward, it also comes with additional "Realistic" and "Simulation" difficulty settings which gradually introduce more variables the player has to cope with. Once you hit the Realistic difficulty setting, you suddenly need to deal with your plane kicking like a mule and jumping all over the place if you pull the stick just a bit too hard when lining up that perfect shot, or having it spin out of control just from turning too aggressively. This game definitely seems to take advantage of all the fancy pants aerodynamic modeling its PC counterpart has had so much effort put into.
Things just get even more nutty when you crank it up to the full "Simulation" mode, which made me all the more happy to have a chance to check out Saitek's Aviator flightstick. While the standard-issue Xbox 360 controller might work pretty well for most common gaming tasks, trying to fly an unstable aircraft with any measure of precision calls for something a bit more heavy-duty. After trying a few missions with the gamepad and then switching over to the flightstick, there was a tremendous world of difference - and not just because I no longer had to fear breaking my gamepad from the sheer amount of stress I was putting on the analogue sticks. Having a dedicated throttle apparatus makes managing your speed in the game much easier than having to work a pair of analogue sticks, and the wide range of motion afforded by the joystick offers much more precise control.
The Aviator has a few gimmicks to its name, but is otherwise a fairly straightforward joystick. It comes with three buttons on the top of the stick itself (one of which is covered by a little safety tab that can easily be flipped up by one's thumb for that extra-cool touch before dropping a payload of bombs) and an analogue hat switch and trigger, along with six additional buttons (including the Start and Back inputs), a Guide button, and D-Pad control on the base unit. The throttle is positioned on the opposite side of the base (away from the player), and has a pretty solid feel to it. Of final interest is a mode switch along the right side of the base, which adjusts the method the joystick uses for processing inputs. Since it's designed to work with a variety of games in mind (all with their own unique control scheme), installing a switch like this was a wise move on Saitek's part. Switching the joystick to its second mode is also necessary for proper functionality if you expect to use it on your PC.
There's no question that this flightstick is a superior alternative to using a standard gamepad for games like this, but there is admittedly some room for improvement. Perhaps I've just been spoiled by using my X52 all these years, but the joystick unit itself is just a basic no-frills shaft, which means the lack of ergonomic support makes it a bit uncomfortable to use over extended durations of time. The joystick's button layout also didn't quite work as well as it could have when tested with Ace Combat 6 (the 'covered' button I'd normally expect to use to launch missiles is instead a minimap control toggle), but all technical details considered, I can't really fault the joystick for this.
What is impressive is that Saitek took the extra leap to get it working effectively for all these different console games - they boast compatibility with not only the games I've already discussed, but Blazing Angels, HAWX, and future titles as well. On top of that, you can easily pop the stick into your PC's USB port, grab Saitek's driver bundle from their website, and have a fully-featured flightstick ready for use with just about any game. Lump in the $50 street price, and you've really got an appealing case to grab a solid controller that can be effectively used on both PC and consoles; a true rarity.
