At the beginning of the game, the player is given a number of options that determine the experience. The game offers nine difficulty levels to choose from, including a tutorial in which enemy forces do not return fire. Among the options, the player can choose to play in summer or winter, and during the day or night, changing the scenery. The player must choose from a range of weapons to be mounted on his AWAT aircraft, including air-to-air, air-to-ground, air-to-sea and multi-purpose missiles, depending on which enemies the player chooses to fight. Additionally, the plane is equipped with a machine gun and decoy flares against enemy projectiles.
The in-game screen shows a cockpit view split into the upper half for the front view of the plane and the lower half for the aircraft instrumentation. The control panel shows key aircraft data including speed, altitude, thrust, fuel roll / pitch indicators and a compass. The panel also includes a radar that provides an overview of important nearby objects. The on-board screen displays various flight information and warning messages, and features a speech synthesizer that occasionally announces dangers such as approaching enemies or rocket attacks. Finally, a small rear-view camera allows the player to observe the enemies and the projectiles on their tail. The game also includes a two-player mode where one player flies in a plane and the other takes aim and fires pistols.
At the start of the game, the player must take off from the runway at an Allied base, then fly around and look for enemies to attack. The player can open his Satellite Intelligence Map, which shows a live map of the nearest coastline with interesting objects such as friendly bases, enemy positions and refueling locations. The player can perform various maneuvers in the air and acrobatics in the air, such as loops, rolls or dummy stunts. Flying, especially at high altitudes, consumes the aircraft's fuel, and the player must either return to their base or perform an airborne refuel. To refuel in the air, the player must meet the refueling plane in the indicated coordinates and perform the probe and refueling maneuver.
The game is a failure if the player crashes, runs out of fuel, or is shot down for taking too much damage. The player can also eject, but can only do so safely over allied territory.
