Lock on is very good if you're looking for a modern jet fighter. It doesn't have the realism falcon 4 has in that you can control cockpit buttons,but is still realistic in terms of flight models, and you take off and land, even on carriers.
It would have been better with a dynamic campaign engine,cause u can only go to the next mission if u complete the previous one.And your log book..If you die,you die.U'll have to start a new one to be able to track your fligh hours and kills, and have to start all over earning medals.Other than that it compares to il2, only with modern jets.
And yes, it's a great game, i still enjoy playing it. I'm playing v1.02. but you can buy the flaming cliffs addon as well wich will make it v1.1, wich I think about 98% of lock on players play.And i'm burning to get 1.2 black shark, but it's not available in my country in retail version, So i don't bother with FDlaming cliffs(maybe later.)
It's definitely worth the buy I'd say, if you're into jet fighters and cas aircraft, and you don't mind the campaign engine and the logbook, which is basically my two biggest crits.
Having said that, IL-2 is the game I keep goming back to.I love the in-your face fighting and hell's gate bomb runs.
Ad welcome to the forum.