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Freeware Garden: RADE

A simple flight sim.

RADE, the Radically Authentic Dogfighting Experience, is most assuredly not the most realistic flight sim I have ever played. Then again and despite appearances it isn't much of rail-shooter either. It's simply exhilarating, action packed and brilliantly fun.

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From its supper cluttered, wildly spinning HUD, the gloriously wild rotating dials and the spectacular explosions filled sky, everything in RADE tries to make confusion more confusing. So, yes, in this particular respect, everything is so very authentic indeed and this comes from someone who may have never seen the inside of a cockpit, but did once help camouflage a probably decommissioned warplane.

I am about to digress though.

More authenticity!

I adored RADE's flat-shaded polygons -- they reminded me of those retro flight sims of yesteryear I loved despite never really being able to enjoy them as a kid. Thankfully, the controls are way simpler here and the focus is on flying and frantically shooting everything that moves. It's like an arcade-y Red Baron only with crisp, colourful graphics and a ton of things to bomb and shoot at.

The more you play, the more crowded things will get as dozens of zeppelins, bases, ships, missiles and explosions create an orgy of pyrotechnics.

RADE can be played online (also on Kongregate) and downloaded for Windows, Mac and Linux. Keep in mind that the downloadable version is much better, what with it being playable in full screen and high def where those flat-colour polygons can truly shine.

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