Product Description

FLIGHT SIM 2004 CENT/FIT WIN32 EN DVD BOX CD ... Read more

Features

• Dynamic weather system based on realistic atmospheric physics, with true three-dimensional clouds that form and dissipate, and automatic real-world weather updates when you're connected to the Internet.
• Weather "themes" that generate a wide variety of stunningand challengingflying conditions with just a few clicks of a mouse
• Enhanced interactive air traffic control (ATC), including traffic at all airports around the world (including non-towered airports), altitude changes en route, pop-up IFR clearances, and precision and non-precision approaches to multiple runways
• Interactive 3D "virtual" cockpitstune radios and operate key aircraft controls and avionics by pointing and clicking in the virtual cockpit view.
• Scenery improvements, including taxiway and runway signs, enhanced auto-gen 3D objects, more high-detail airports, and improved lighting and sky effects

Reviews (101)

The best FS till date!
I've had MSFS2004 for the last 3 months and there's not a single day that I haven't played it. Its just that absorbing! Some reasons for this are much improved GPS navigation, more interactive ATC and ofcourse, the new airplanes.

But I'm not a huge fan of classic aircraft, and I fly my favourite plane, the 737, all the time and it is an absolute joy to fly it on MSFS2004 with the new GPS system. Its accurate to the T for precision landings. The detail paid to accuracy is mindblowing, specially runways and airport layouts. I live in a relatively smaller city of India and I was stunned to find that the airport layout is almost exactly the same as the real one here!

I do face some problems with the game, mainly with screen resolution which flickers when I have the game on high or ultra-high display settings. Also, external scenery transition isn't smooth with high display settings. Microsoft could also have done a better job with the aircraft paint jobs - the orange scheme of Soar Airlines is disgusting.

PROS:

- New additions like GPS and interactive ATC are excellent
- Airports are accurately detailed (there are almost 25,000 of them!)
- Good value for money

CONS:

- Doesn't work smoothly with high display settings. Images are not crisp
- Cockpit graphics are substandard

TIPS:

- If you're looking for some real challenge alongwith great scenery, try flying the ILS approaches into Princess Juliana Airport in St. Maarten, Madeira in Portugal, Male in the Maldives and Osaka Kansai Airport in Japan (built on an artificial island)
- Try flying the polar route and check out the Northern Lights at night! Eg: Taipei-Anchorage, Moscow-New York etc.

Also, I have a question which I hope readers can help me with. I'm unable to turn the aircraft left or right while on pushback. I've tried using the numbers 1 and 2 key as mentioned in the handbook, but it doesn't work. Can somebody help me with this? I would really appreciate the help.

Enjoy this game!

Item Good Seller NOT
I don't have a problem with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004. As expected it's good. The store that is selling this particular item is the problem!

I've seen where many customers have had good experiences when they get what they ordered from this company but those of us that didn't get what we ordered have had nothing but problems.

Don't believe the advertised Limited Edition Tin box. It isn't! When trying to contact customer service: The first time the gentleman on the phone was nice and said a manager would reply the next day. The manager didn't. After a week I called, waited on hold for 22 minutes, the lady on the phone argued with me that the manager did reply by e-mail, although my inbox showed nothing from this company other than the original purchase verification. When I asked if it could be re-sent she said no. When I asked to speak to a manager, she said he was in a meeting. Her overall tone was rude and not at all helpful!

When I finally received a return authorization number, I prepared the item for return and then wanted to make sure shipping would be reimbursed also. After e-mailing Gamestop 3 times, I finally got a reply and stated only the price of the item would be refunded. (Wow their e-mail actually reached me this time!)

This company has no customer service as demonstrated by the false advertising, the rude associates, the difficult customer-company communication, and the fact that when they advertised a product and didn't deliver it as advertised, they feel that they are the ones who shouldn't live up to their promises. The $29.99 price is higher than even Amazon because you think they are selling the Limited Edition. Don't be fooled, save $5 and buy somewhere else.

Bottom line: DON'T SUPPORT GAMESTOP OR PURCHASE FROM THEM AT YOUR OWN RISK! I know I'll never buy anything from them ever again!

best sim so far
I OWN TWO PREVIOUS VESIONS MICROSOFT FLIGHT SIMULATOR 95,98 AND NOW 2004 A CENTURY OF FLIGHT.IN MY OPINION MICROSFT HAS DONE A BETTER JOB WITH THE 2004 VERSION,MORE AIRCRAFT TO FLY A REALY GREAT FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR ROD ,IMPROVED ATC,ONE THING THOUGH LETS HOPE THAT WHEN 2006 COMES OUT(IT'S ALL HUSH HUSH AT MICROSOFT HQ)THAT THEY WILL AT LEADT ADD NEWER AIRCRAFT MY FAVORITE BIENG THE AIRBUS A321 WHICH I FLEW TO EUROPE ON,AND THE CITATION X BY CESSNA.

Good Sim, But Remember the "Sim" Part!
I have been using flight simulators since MS Flight Simulator 4.0, and have more diverse experience than only Microsoft's offering to call upon.While any simulator can be made quite realistic with the latest hardware and enough money, it is important to note that Microsoft's offering is no different - you cannot, as they say, make a silk purse out of a pig's ear.This means that if you're running an underpowered system, you will not be able to run the simulation optimally.

Published system requirements:
* Pentium 450 or greater processor
* 64 MB RAM for 98/Me, 128 MB RAM for 2000/XP
* 8 MB/3-D with DirectX 7.0 or later videocard
* 1.8 GB hard drive space

My recommendation:
* P4 2.x GHz processor; the faster, the better
* 512MB RAM, with ideally 1GB under the hood
* 128MB / 256MB AGP video card that pushes TONS of pixels - the more, the better
* At least 5GB free hard drive space - You'll want to do a full install, and that comes in just under 3GB (2.88GB, I think)

I run on:
* P4 3.0GHz processor
* 1GB RAM
* Windows XP PRO (SP1)
* 256MB 8xAGP GeForce 5700 series NVidia video card
* Sidewinder joystick (soon to go, thanks to some pedals and a yoke I ordered!)
* On-board surround sound processor

The software itself is practically infinitely extendable, with software and hardware add-ons supported.A quick look around in the flightsim community will support my assertion that the software is CHEAP compared to what can be done to augment it.Add-on packages are available to augment FS2004's admitidedly weak "ground mesh" mapping - flying through Norway's waterways and coasts with the default scenery is nothing next to the real thing, and pales in comparison to some of the add-on packages (both for photo-texturing and mesh-building) out there.But of course, these things cost money (sometimes), as does building and maintaining a system that can fully take advantage of the software.

This is a SIMULATOR, remember - a dozen years ago something like this with a set of pedals and yoke would have been a BIG deal and far out of the reach of the home consumer.Now, as the bar of admission lowers, it is important to realize just how MANY numbers are being crunched every second (most of those in graphics routines), and spec a system appropriately.It might not be a multi-million dollar prospect to own any longer, but to adaquately run the simulator and get something "real" out of it, it is certainly not unheard of to run multi-head (throwing many monitors onto a machine) for a partial panoramic view - but, of course, realism comes at its price.

Excellent tool
This verison is better than ever and a great tool for learing to fly IFR. The dynamic weather is amazing to say the least.

For fans of the other versions this is a must have. ... Read more

Product Description

X-Plane is the most comprehensive and powerful flight simulator available for the personal computer. X-Plane simulates anything that flies: single-engine fixed wing props to multi-engine jets; gliders to dirigibles; helicopters to spacecraft to VTOLs such as the V-22 Osprey and AV8-B Harrier.

Features

• The most realistic flight model available for personal computers. It comes with subsonic and supersonic flight dynamics, simulating aircraft from the Bell 206 Jet-Ranger helicopter and Cessna 172 light plane to the supersonic SR-71.
• 29 aircraft spanning the aviation industry (and history), and several hundred more are freely downloadable from the Internet.
• Scenery that spans the Globe. You can land at any of thousands of airports, as well as test your mettle on aircraft carriers, helipads on building tops, frigates that pitch and roll in the waves, and oil rigs. Weather is variable from clear skies and high visibility to thunderstorms with controllable wind, wind shear, turbulence, and microbursts. Rain, snow and clouds are available for an instrument flying challenge, and thermals are available for the gliders! X-Plane can download real weather data from the Internet, allowing you to fly in actual current conditions!
• Detailed failure-modeling, with 35 systems that can be failed manually, or randomly when you least expect it! You can fail instruments, engines, flight controls, and landing gear at any moment.
• Includes Plane-Maker which allows you to create your own airplanes, and World-Maker which lets you create your own scenery. Also included is Weather Briefer which produces a weather briefing based on actual weather conditions downloaded from the net.
• Extremely customizable, allowing you to easily create textures, sounds, and instrument panels for your own airplanes that you design.

Features

• 35 systems can be failed manually or randomly
• Comprehensive and powerful flight simulator
• 29 aircraft spanning the aviation industry and history
• Scenery spans the globe; easily customize your own airplanes
• Variable weather; fly actual current conditions with Internet downloads

Reviews (2)

X-plane 8.0 - Rule the world with it
When I got it from the factory.All I got it the DVD in a plastic holder and that's it.No box, no instruction book.Nothing.

I had to get into the program and find out how to fly planes (X and otherwise) on my own.All I got this game for wa to train actor on Boeing 777 on a Mac, before we got them in flight simulators up in Seattle.But this game turned into much more.

If you can run up a B-52, take-off, circle and land; you can fly anything.I've landed a B-52G twice.But think crash.Not don't crash.What does the load vectors do.Will it take-off with four engines.What if all engines shut do on take-off?Crash land.Anyway.That's $100,000+ flight training at Alteon in Seattle (a private flight training company) for $50.Which you want to pay?

Some of the flight sims are a pain, like the X-15.Even if you load Edwards AFB or even Denver, you end up over water or desert that I have no idea where I am.The Space Shuttle is even worst.

But the MOST DIFFICULT plane to fly is the Cessna 172.You end up side ways, when you an at V1.And by the time you at V2, you're screwed.Commit, pull up and take-off.You're in the air or you've crashed.

Mike Rossi

Have fun!!!!

Xplane is great!
X-Plane 8 is the latest and greatest in the long-venerable series of what is arguably the worldÕs best flight simulator.X-Plane is not really a ÒgameÓ, so to speak. It is a very realistic flight simulator with all sorts of bells and whistles and more aircraft, airports, scenery, and scenarios than you could ever ask for.

After opening the box, one is greeted with a DVD-ROM and a manual about 200 pages in length.For those who have never flown a real airplane or a flight sim, the manual devotes quite a bit of time to introducing the controls and terminology of the simulator.One minor annoyance is that in the lead tutorial for new users, the aircraft discussed in the manual is not included in the actual sim, at least not that I could find in version 8.I made do with a different craft, though.But the manual is otherwise a very welcome addition in this world of software that generally comes with little useful documentation.

Once you get through the tutorials and the terminology and you are ready to fly, navigating the sim is quite easy, though not entirely Mac-like.The dialog boxes and menus look different than a Mac user may be used to.That might be expected for a cross-platform game such as this, though.Even so, it is extremely easy to load your chosen aircraft (You want to fly a Hindenburg?Sure, why not!), pick your airport, file your flight plan, and then be on your way. You may configure weather conditions and daylight to your liking.X-Plane 8 even gives you a chance to fly the space shuttle and to fly several planes on Mars, using real-life conditions (though not real life aircraft, since those do not quite exist yet, nor do airports exist on Mars in real life).

The graphics in X-Plane 8 are truly beautiful.Scenery comes in two versions: one version for older, slower computers, and one version for those with better hardware set ups.The minimum specs call for a machine with 400 MHz processor and 32MB VRAM.I found that to be slightly unrealistic.Sure, you can run X-Plane on such a set up, but the graphics will be low-res and the experience will not be as pleasurable.This sim just about screams out for a system like the new iMac G5, with its 1.8+ GHz processors and 64MB of VRAM.Indeed, it plays smoothly and comfortably on such a system or on the PowerMac G5 as well.

Game play would probably be best with a real joystick, but I was able to use a small game pad or my mouse quite well.If you really get into the simulator, purchasing a suitable joystick would be a worthwhile investment.

X-Plane has FAA certification and is used in many training environments.That we hobbyists get to use it just for fun is a real treat.This is a world-class, top-notch flight sim, and it is bound to thrill anyone with a sense of adventure and a desire to explore the world through flying. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Despite the Red Baron, the Sopwith Camel, zeppelins, and otherfamous reminders of the oft romanticized aerial battles of World War I,the conflict has been grossly underrepresented in the gaming world.That's a shame, because when a game as fun as Red Baron 3-Dcomes along it only leaves us wanting more. This upgraded version ofRed Baron 2 is vastly better than the game that preceded it,from the improved 3-D graphics (if you have a 3-D accelerator thatsupports the Glide API) to the new flight models.

Flight simulator fans used to screaming around the sky at mach 2 willbe in for a bit of a shock. Few of the planes exceed 150 mph, and mostof your time will be spent at double-digit speeds. However, the slowspeeds do not make for a boring game. Thanks to a handy timecompression feature, climbing to a reasonable altitude doesn't take toolong, and the inherent instability of these crates means activehandling is required at all times.

Many of the 22 flyable planes in the game are extremely fragile. Youcan actually hear the wing spars creak and groan as you pull tightturns, often followed by a sickening "snap!" when novices are at thecontrols. Players can fly a variety of single scenarios or participatein complete campaigns, but the real fun of Red Baron 3-D is theonline play. No matter how good you are at the single-player game, anexperienced human player will pull off moves that make your head spin.Fortunately this is one of those games where practicing is actuallyfun, and the game's low price (and free multiplayer component) onlyadds to the appeal. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Much improved flight model
• Graphics look great (if you have a Glide-compatible 3-D videoaccelerator)
• Online multiplayer battles are a blast

• Players without a Glide-compatible video card will have to make dowith older graphics
• Fragility of aircraft and lack of radar and advanced weapons makethe game difficult for beginners

Reviews (26)

Best All Around WW1 Combat Flight Sim
Yes it is true! Dispite being released way back in, what was it, 1998? Red Baron 3D remains among the top of tier of combat flight sims.

If you are looking for this classic sim the bad news is that all origional published copies are sold out. The good news is that used copies are not hard to find. Shop around and try to get the actual Red Baron 3D game and not the upgradable Red Baron 2. Also, try and find a copy that includes the Red Baron 3D manual. This manual is chock full of everything you need to know about every aspect of the sim. There is a large section devoted to the pilots and aircraft of the period covered in the sim and lots of period photos. It resembles a paperback novel more than manuals found with PC games these days.

Other good news is that although the game/sim is old it has been lovingly modded and kept up to date by a large community of artists and programers. The game in its current state of modification hardly resembles the game as it was origionally shipped.

The Campaign in RB3D remains to this day the standard to which all others are held. Really, there is nothing else in the world of 3D flight sims that can compare to it. It is the key reason why so many have been flying and modding this sim over the years. Very little about the campaign is scripted. Once you take off from your aerodome how events unfold from then on depends largely on the decisions you make while in the air. While flying a mission there is a real sense of a war going on all around you. Looking off into the distance dogfights and ground fire that have nothing to do with your mission can be seen unfolding. I have seen planes little more than spects in the distance spinning out of control towards theearth shot down out of the sky, trailing smoke.

The game was programed to run on the now extinct 3dfx Voodoocards and Glide graphics. The game can be run in Direct Draw with modern video cards but it looks [...]. In order to run the game in Glide with a Nvidia or ATI card a Glide wrapper or simulator is used. The latest is called dgVoodoo and works great!

Anyway, I wanted to write up this review because the sim is still in use and message boards with enthuiastic modders and simmers from all over the world are currently active and they are a great place to getstarted and ask Qs about anything having to do withRed Baron 3D or any of its many mods and patches.

Here is a good place to start if you are ready to take the plunge!http://forums.delphiforums.com/swwisa/start

Huge five stars for this awsome game!
A huge five stars: Still my favorite game after five years and three upgrades, Red Baron 3D continues to be addictive in 2004. Unfortunately, the company that made the game is defunct, but there is a huge online community keeping the game alive with lots of awesome upgrades and options.I hope some rich guy, or perhaps a savvy game company resurrects this awesome game someday. I'm a huge fan of combat flight simulators, so I routinely buy all the new games. Nothing comes close to Red Baron for the sheer joy of dog fighting, the thrill of the hunt, and the fear of flaming death. The campaigns are virtually unlimited in their variety. The missions vary from routine to absolutely terrifying, requiring you to `bug out' or die plummeting in a flaming wreck. Even at the height of your skill, the lifespan of your pilots can be very short, or perhaps you will survive the war captured in a POW camp, maimed in a hospital, or victorious with a chest full of medals. A player has to be cunning and skilled to play this game and survive, but with some training, a bit of practice and some luck, you can become a canvas falcon and rule the skies as the Ace of Aces!

Red Baron 3D, More Than Just a Flight Simulator
Red Baron 3D is not your ordinary flight simulator program.Red Baron 3D is a highly interactive WWI flight simulation where you can immerse yourself in honorable combat in the skies above France.Red Baron 3D can be played in a wide variety of ways.You can choose your aircraft and fly against any one of many enemy aircraft flown by an AI pilot in whats called the "Fly Now" mode.You can create a pilot and fly from the beginning of WWI, flying realistic computer generated missions in the "Campain Mode".As your pilot gains experience and as the War progresses, your pilot will advance in rank and responsibility. In "Single Mission" mode, you can fly your choice of a number of missions that will test your skills as a WWI fighter ace.You can even generate your own missions to fly, such asbomber escort or intercept, offensive patrols, even balloon busting.You can also play via the internet and pit your skills against other players in real time from all over the world.To play via the internet, you will need to download and install an official Sierra patch called RB3D1078.EXE.This patch will allow you to see and play in the many game servers devoted to Red Baron 3D since WON.NET no longer supports internet play.There are numerous Web Sites devoted to Red Baron 3D where you can get information on how to play the game.

Regards;
JGS4SparksJ79bCO
Commanding Officer JGS4 Jasta79b, Red Baron 3D On-line squadron

Red Baron 3-D
I purchased this game via Amazon.com after playing Red Baron-2. Installed it and had nothing but problems. My system met the requirements to run it but the Campaign portion of the game refused to work. I contacted Sold Out for tech assistance but they were unable to solve the problem. They requested I return the game so they could check it for flaws. I plan to return the game to them(at my cost)and see what they come up with.
I was able to play Red Baron-2,by Sierra, and really liked it. This version is less than I expected and unless the flaws can be addressed, I wont purchase another game via Sold Out.

3-D not much improvement to an already great game.
Red Baron is easily the most challenging game i've ever played. It continues to confound me after years of play. I've never been able to get the online version to work, but that's OK because the "campaign" level is great. You must master the controls and be able to look off into one direction, while flying in another. You will build your pilot up while fighting in the Great War. If you see a red Fokker triplane come after you and you're flying for the French or British, get outta there! ... Read more

Reviews (19)

Great Game
It's a great game, great graphics, works great even with DirectX 9.0, the only thing I can complain about the install code, if you lose it, you have to e-mail NovaLogic and wait for an e-mail with the code, personally, I prefer getting the code off of Google search. All in all great game, now you may be wondering "if it's such a great game, why only 4 stars?" well thats because I find it can get boring after you play it for a while, it's not one of those games with infinite re-play-ability, but don't let this scare you off, it's just the single player missions that I find boring after 4-5 times, and, it's a looong time before you exhaust all missions, plus their is always multi-player mode, which I have yet to find boring.

WARNING!!!!!!!READ THIS BEFORE YOU BUY
This game is LOADS of fun Awsome graphics, easy controls,cool music,fun missions,and virtualy bug free,(plus nukes,lots of fun)

So why one star you ask?INSTALLATION CODE

this game comes with a long code of number/letter mix DO NOT LOSE THIS!!!!!!! I just did and now i can't play the game.

I don't even know why NovaLogic made this dumb code.

Bottom line - buy this game save the jumble of numbers and letters on the lower left hand corner of the jewl-case

this game rocks
the graphics are near real. the weapons are near real. you can have your autopilot take off, land, follow a target, and fly to your next waypoint. the opposition is very good (MIG 29, MIG 31, SU 28, F4 Fantoms, TU T160 Blackjacks). you can drop nuclear bombs. You can use joysticks. the missions are great (you can escort B2 Spirit bombers)THIS GAME ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I compared this game to others
I bought Lightning 3 and loved the game the first time I played it. I have lots of flight sims but this one is my favorite. I was looking for a newf-22 game and checked the reviews for all on Amazon. I found that the reviewers thought that TAW was the best F-22 flight sim. I don't know what game these guys are playing. I bought TAW and I am very disappointed in it. The graphics are that of Jane's flight sims. So far nothing I have ever played beats the realism of Lightning 3. However, it could use a few extra features, but let's hope for better. In the mean time, I can't stop playing this game.

F-22 Raptor 3
I realy like this game. I like playing others online. I think it could be better and a bit more realistic. It is user friendly. It needs better graphics and the plane has very few wepons to use.The camera views are awsome! I would recommend buying it because for the price you get what you pay for. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Jane's Combat Simulations continues their tradition of highly detailed air combat simulators with USAF--United States Air Force. USAF strikes a welcome balance between dogfighting action and precise realism by allowing players to customize gameplay settings such as artificial intelligence levels and difficulty of landings, aiming, and targeting.

You'll first notice, especially if you're new to the air combat simulation genre, the beefy manual packed with information for both beginners, such as explanations on the basics of flight, and hardcore flight enthusiasts, such as pages of historical information about the U.S. Air Force and its operations. Thankfully there's as much depth in the game as found in the manual--USAF offers computer pilots over 60 missions.

Computer pilots can select to fly through the training missions, engage a pre-scripted single mission, begin a full campaign game, create and fly a customized mission, or compete with others on Jane's online multiplayer service. Eight flyable aircraft, including the A-10, F-15, F-16, F-117, and MiG-29, are offered.

The visual effects impress, but require a powerful computer (and a Direct 3D accelerator) to maximize terrain and plane detail. Whether you're new to air combat sims or a veteran, USAF's diverse missions, plentiful options, and mix of action and realism provide hours of flight and combat enjoyment.--Doug Radcliffe ... Read more

Reviews (23)

A Must BUY for any flight simulator lovers...
i have has this game for about a year and i still love it!!!... this game is one of those games that you never get tired of.Further more the models of the plane are very acurate.In short buy a good joystick and get this game.

Great When It Works, Maybe My PC Is Junk...
Seems cool, graphics were very nice. Although I experienced MASSIVE load time. Consequently, I lost interest. Control is pretty much the same as Israeli Air Force, but everything is MUCH better looking. Again, I can't say much, as my low-budget, no-name, brand-goes-out-of-business-as-soon-as-I-buy-it computer is too s--l--o--w when it comes to this one. Although, I must say the Vietnam missions in the F-105 Thunderchief were a gas, and blasting the poop out of Iraqi armor in A-10 Warthogs gave me a giggle or two.

Great game!
USAF is one of the best Jane's/EA games.There are some shortcomings though.

The Good:Excellent graphics (maybe not as good as Free Space 2), AI is pretty good, awsome explosions and smoke, very realistic cockpits.

The Not-So-Good:The User Mission Editor mission builder is great, but you can't choose where the airfields are.It's a leap forward from the F-15 builder, but it doesn't have some of the nice features such as the abillity to put down jets ANYWHERe on the airfields.

great game
this is the best air force game there is.Great graphics and eight hot planes.This game lets you be two stealth planes, the f-22 and the f-117.With training modes ,missions ,and instant action where you hop right in to war this is the best game.I play it every day.This lets you create missions and has a refference. Now to tell you whats wrong with the game NOTHING the best game you can getbuy it

THE BEST GAME EVER
THIS GAME I LIKE BECOUSE OF THE REALISTIC SCENERYS. AND THE BEST ARE THE PLANES IT FLYES SO REAL SMOOTH AND NOT FAKE BUT JUST REAL. AND THE CAMPAIGNS AND MISSIONS ARE ALSO VERY REAL. AND I LIKE TO LOADE THE WEAPONS,AND MAKE MY OWN MISSION. I COMPLETED THE GAME AND I AM NOT BOARD OF IT.AND I GOT OTHER GAMES AND EVEN THOW THIS IS HARD BUT I STILL LIKE THIS BETTER THAN THOSE EASY GAMES. I PLAYED A LOT OF AIR SIMS LIKE ISRAEL AIR FORCE F15 MIG 29 F18 AND THIS IS THE BEST.BUT I STILL DONT SAY THE OTHERS ARE TERIBLE GAMES JUST THIS IS MORE EXSITING GAME. I JUST FEEL ITBUT I DONT LIKE OTHER GAMES THAT THAY SAY IT IS REAL AND WHEN U GET IT IT IS STUPID BUT THIS GAME WAS WIRTH IT A LOT. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

For more than 17 years, Microsoft's Flight Simulator series has provided hours of enjoyment for veteran pilots and aviation amateurs everywhere. Although the past few versions disappointed hard-core fans, Microsoft's latest, Flight Simulator 2000 looks to reinvent itself with a host of new and improved features. With overhauled terrain graphics, a revamped flight model, and more than 20,000 worldwide airports, this edition is one of the most feature-packed flight simulations on the market.

Though Flight Simulation 2000 is compatible with all aircraft, scenery, and adventures from Flight Simulator 98, the new simulation features plenty of additions, including new aircraft, the Concorde and Boeing 777-300, and six new and graphically improved cities to explore: London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago. Vastly improved weather effects complement the highly detailed terrain; Flight Simulator 2000 allows players to download current real-world weather conditions off Microsoft's online gaming service.

Microsoft also offers a slightly higher-priced Flight Simulator 2000 Professional Edition that includes even more features, such as two additional aircraft, six additional detailed cities, and a flight dynamics editor. With either simulator, you're guaranteed a much better simulation than its predecessors and one that performs admirably against the current aviation sim crop. --Doug Radcliffe ... Read more

Reviews (47)

Not a review - just a heads-up
I got this game a few years back as a steal, thinking that my P4 wouldn't satisfactorily run "FS 2002", or that the differences between the two were minor enough to obviate the higher price of the "newer" game.With the release of the even newer version (ACOF), I got a bargain price on '02, and found it ran at least as nice as FS 2000, and had more fluid atmospheric effects (including - at last - movable waves).Add-On aircraft are more easily sorted on 2002 than 2000, and the old game gains less in of an edge in framerate on 2002 than it lost over FS 98.In short, by now any decent machine will run 2002 without hiccups.You don't need FS 2000 anymore.

An exciting, learning experience
I have long wanted to get into the left hand seat of an airplane, and MS FS does an excellent job of that. With even a rudimentary understanding of flight principals, I can get off the ground andget back down again. I find the tutorials are thorough and easy to understand. Like my son's and their games, I keep bypassing the tutorials and going right for the "fun" elements: flying a 737 into my home airport, attempting takeoff in the Concorde.THere are tremendous online resources where you can download additional aircraft, paint schemes, etc.

My only complaint so far: the Help section is absolutely the least intuitive and help-oriented I have ever seen for a MS product. Very little detail and drill down available.I guess I'll have to fork out the [money]and get the 3rd party guide.

Advice: get a joystick! A mouse or key commands are poor substitutes for a control yoke

Honestly, THE BEST OF THE BEST
I have just bought this game for only 30 dollars! and i get a $20 mail in rebate! what could be better than this. I started downloading and it took me about 10 minutes since the game has 2 disks. I went to start flying a plane and the graphics were ok. The beginning was a little tough since you have to get to know the game but after only 15 minutes it was pretty easy. You need a 500mhz computer or better to play the game.I have tried playing X plane and it wasnt better than FS200. So i strongly recommend Fs 2000 because its cheap and it teaches you like you were a real pilot. Did you know that pilots train with this game sometimes. And also i strongly also recommend a joystick.

Cool game but your alone.
Flight simulator 2000 is a very detailed game. The only things I don't like about are,

You are alone in the air, Theirs Very rarely any air traffic, and if their is it's only a plane or two.

Also if you plan your own flight by wsing the flight planner mode, don't even bother going through all the trouble finding the right nav, com, and transponder code because it's no use. The radios don't work at all in flight plan mode.

Also, I strongly recommend getting a joystick if you decide to get this game. Knowing from my experiences it is very hard to fly a plane yust using the arrow keys.

Don't get me wrong, this is a pretty cool game if your into flight sims.

Where is the Mississippi River?
I give Flight Simulator 2000 one star because it works.It only crashes my system after I exit the game and try to play something else.I am outraged at the poor quality of the game.Realism?Who ever heard of flying anything with the fuel pump turned off and instruments working with the Pitot Heat switch in off position?Graphics detail?Where is the Mississippi River? I can't find it and it should be 3 miles from the main runway at St. Charles County Smartt Field.It's trash and I am going to mutilate the CDs and ship the game box back to Bill Gates.I have my pride.

Sierra Software pioneered the flight simulator and for many years was quite successful with it.It's unbelievable that this product put Sierra out of the flight simulator business.Sierra's Pro Pilot 98 is miles ahead of Flight Simulator 2000.If you can find a copy of Pro Pilot 98, Pro Pilot 99 or any flight simulator other than this one, buy it. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

IL-2 Sturmovik takes you to the war-torn skies over Germany and Russia during World War II, where you fly accurately designed and realistically modeled aircraft in stunning 3-D environments. The numerous action-packed single-player missions involve air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, as well as search, destroy, and escort objectives. Up to 32 human opponents can experience multiplayer action over the Internet or a LAN. ... Read more

Reviews (85)

Why did I wait?
I have seen this game out for awhile now. I really dont know why I waited. Well I bought the CH Fighter stick, and USB Throttle controller. This game runs great with them. The graphics in this game kick on anything I have. It runs great too. I also got the Forgotten Battles and Ace expansion pack. I total enjoy playing this game. Very realistic, and sounds great. It now my favorite flight sims, next to Microsoft 2004. Combat or noncombat I am flying. My only regret is why did I wait. UBI Soft did it right on this game. I have other product from UBI Soft but this game is #1. I wont wait so long next time. If you are in to Flight Sims like me dont pass this one up.

Awesome Game
Damn, this game is incredible.Even if you rev your engine, the plane will rotate a bit from the torque.Try to learn how to recover from stalls on all the different models, then learn to recover the ME-109.It ain't easy but once you recognize how your plane of choice acts when it's about to stall, you can pull aerial maneuvers that really ride the edge of the aircraft's ability.I guess that's where 'flying by the seat of your pants' comes from.This game is just overall unbelievable.It's hard to imagine how people used to actually fly and fight in these things considering the difficulty of just getting up and landing, nevermind combat.

Its almost real.....
This is a true combat flight sim. If you have the ram and the video card for this game it will feel and look real. This has some fantasic weather too. I have a very fast computer with the top Gforce card and I run it on XP home. It is a great game to play.

Error. Error & Error
I installed and reinstalled this program. It takes forever to losd and then fails to load the Humans. Microsoft combat sims are much more reliable.

Can't load it
I have a Pentium III 700 mhz and XP operating system with an ATI rage 3D card..
I can't get this sim to run at all....CFS II and Strike Fighters run great on my computer. Microsoft makes the best flight sims. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

The next generation in jet combat from Jane's, with the most realistic graphics, physics, avionics, and gameplay in the sky. All the incredible speed and firepower of the world's deadliest strike fighter is now at your command with F-15. Produced by Andy Hollis (F15 Strike Eagle series, AH-64D Longbow) with cooperation from Jane's top military analysts, F-15 is the next-generation jet-combat sim from Jane's Combat Simulations. Presenting the most realistic graphics, physics, avionics, and gameplay ever designed for thePC, F-15 delivers the blood-pounding thrill of high-speed air combat--the way it was meant to be. Whether your mission is intercepting bandits or stamping a tank convoy, F-15 packs enough punch to handle every situation. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

is very good game
iam very sorry to talk bad about this store it was my mistake i take back whatI ever said they really took care off my problem and ill recoment any one to buy anything fron this store thank you again and sorry for the bad remarks i said before i recomented to any one ill give 5 stars

good game buy it
alot of people on here whine about big manuals but I actually wish the manual was more indepth and would specify all the possibilities of the game you can create. Ive played this game for a long time and just discovered a whole new scenario by downloading someones mission off the net and playing it. now Im wondering what else does this game do that I dont know about, and the manual mentions nothing about it descriptively, not good.

it has the F-117A stealth fighter but when you include one in a mission there's nothing stealth about it because bogeys and sams both shoot them right down. where's the stealth bomber, and carriers for that matter? if you include cruise missles they come out of nowhere, not a B52 or ship as in real life. the B52 in the game only carries dumb bombs, no choice for cruise missiles or guided bombs for it.not realistic as it could be.

the AC-130 does not cannon fire on ground targets and it should. any CAS you include is not efficient or intelligent in approach, they often fly right over target without dropping a bomb, and they dont keep their distance from target even when loaded with glide bombs.

still, its a fun game, you just have to work and work on customizing missions to work like theyre supposed to, it should be alot easier and would be if there werent as many bugs in the game. its not aggrevating enough to want to stop playing though, its a good game overall. I do wish bogeys and ground target would be visible further away instead of appearing out of thin air all the sudden, then vanishing too quickly even though youre right near them. but radar does show them though once you learn how to use its systems.

Im now interested in finding a good realistic stealth bomber game that allows making your own missions like this game does. I dont mind its complicated, I'd like something more user friendly though.

Nice game.Very realistic.
EXTREAMLY REALISTIC!!!But the graphics don't compare to USAF or MS Combat Flight Sim 1,2,3.Very good mission builder, in some ways better than the newer USAF UME.Very realistic combat.Fight in historic Gulf War or made up Iran conflicts.Unlimited make-it-yourself Instant Action missions.Some bad language from the back-seater.Pilot screams when you crash or blow up.

Hardcore sim!!
"Jane's F-15" answers the ages-old question of "what if my new computer becomes too obsolete to fly the hot new games?"If you manage to overcome a murderous learning curve and a textbook sized manual, you'll quickly find yourself so engrossed in this game that you'll never have to worry about newer and possibly better (though not necessarily more realistic) games.

In short, "Jane's F-15" is probably one of the most complex sims ever published.Though called F-15, this sim zeros on the F-15E, the so-called "Strike Eagle" built for ground-target attack missions.Unlike air-superiority (which the F-15E is capable of in both real life and this game, but not ideally suited for it in either) ground attack missions are more complex, requiring the player-pilot to navigate at low altitude and deal with a myriad of different threats from above and below.That is, you'll not only have to deal with swarms of MiG fighters, but also with clouds of enemy missiles and hostile terrain.

If that sounds like a single-plane version of the survey sims published in the "Jane's Fighters" Franchise -i.e. ATF, IAF and USNF '97 to name a few - forget it."F-15"'s emphasis on this single airplane is comprehensive.Instead of a generic and non-functioning cockpit with common pop-up windows as in those other titles, "F-15" has a fully functioning cockpit with a mouse-click interface and an extremely complex sensor/weapons suite.Tired of radars that come in only one mode for ground or air attack?(I'm sure real pilots would appreciate the simplicity) "F-15" has numerous sub-modes for either counter-air or ground-strike sensors, including one based on the Strike Eagle's famous SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) in which a high-frequency beam almost draws a radar-photographic of ground targets.As for the flight model - forget about "Fighters Anthology". Stalls are nasty, directional coupling (in which clutzy control inputs on one directional axis destabilize your control on another) is common and the default setting is Hi-Fi.

On the minus end, the game lacks a training module - which would be okay for a sim with as undemanding as "F-22 Raptor" or "iF-22" or "F-22 Lightning 3" or some WWII sim.Instead, F-15 offers a few single "training" missions which look like watered down versions of the game's real missions.Ofcourse you can look at the single missions and instant action as training-simulation, but that only waters down the sim as a whole - it's all a simulation when you come right down to it.Instead, the game could have offered some state-side training on conspicuously mock-targets using practice weaponry and in planes with high-viz skins, something that would have made the "real missions" stand out.By limiting your options to the traditional "single missions, instant action, campaign and MP", "F-15" unnecessarily steepens the learning curve and dumbs down the game's premise of being a higher-minded sim.That is, on the one hand, it beats down on you relentlessly with its realism, and then gives you nothing better to do than blast something.

PROS - Incredibly realistic and engrossing.
CONS - a high-maintenance sim that will monopolize your computer time; lack of a training module deprives game of substance to back its complexity; Jane's manual is in depth but, on this edition, on-disc rather than paper - you can print it out, but hopefully you've got a friend at Kinko's or otherwise get your ink cartridges at cost.

System issues: F-15 ran well on my P200MMX (with 32mb RAM and a 12mb Voodoo2 card).Moving up to my newer machine, I found no compatibility issues with WinXP

IN SHORT: If you want the most complex sim of a modern jet fighter, but your system can't run "Jane's F/A-18", the this is the game for you.

Best Game Ever But Complex
F-15 is the Best Fighter Jet Simulator in the World. It Has a training mode that is very easy!!! The good part about it's realisim is that it makes it fun, but the bad part is that you have to memorise all the knobs, dials, and switiches to be an effective player. Maybe the only very bad thing about it though is that the multiplayer mode is hard to use. But the game is still really fun without Multiplayer!! (I never thought I would say that about any game)Like there is a single mission made where you can acually make your own mission or edit the others, But if you don't care (that's me) or like complex games. Buy this game Now! ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Many collections of older games are unquestionably worth the price, butthe quality of the offerings in the Ultimate Wargame WWII Collection Volume2 is so spotty we'd pause before spending $20 on it. Sure you get a greatgame like Silent Hunter: Commander's Edition, but then you're also payingfor the laughably bad Luftwaffe Commander. This package still representsa significant value over buying the games separately, so WWII buffs may want tojust go ahead and take the good with the bad.

Luftwaffe Commander is the biggest stinker in the bunch, and we can'tcome up with a single reason it was even released in the first place. Thegraphics are bad, the flight models are abysmal, and that about sums things up.Worst of all, it was released after several vastly superior WWII flightsimulations came out, and you'd be better off spending money on any of thosegames than this tragically flawed coaster.

Fighting Steel simulates the naval battles of the period and isn't nearlyas bad. Here you become admiral of a virtual fleet of WWII battleships,destroyers, and other surface vessels, all rendered in full 3-D (although thegame runs at a low resolution). Battling with the big guns is fun for a while,but we soon were longing for aircraft carriers, submarines, or anything elsethat could add some variety and complexity to the gameplay.

Panzer Commander puts you in charge of a squad of tanks. Gameplay is alittle too simplistic, and the other members of your squad are complete idiots(they get stuck on walls and buildings all the time), but it's still a greatdeal of fun. The game models lots of different tanks, and their varying weaponssystems require vastly different tactics for effective use. Half the fun is inwatching your tanks bounce around from an outside view, as their suspensions aremodeled in terrific detail.

Finally there is Silent Hunter, which is probably the best WWII submarine simulator of all time. The game is aging well, since its crispgraphics were good to begin with, and the tense gameplay never loses any of itscharm. There are enough difficulty settings to satisfy both novices and die-hards,and the historical information included on the disc gave us a fascinatinglook at the troubles real-world submarine crews faced in the Pacific theater ofWWII. Don't miss this one if submarine simulations interest you. --T. ByrlBaker

Pros:

• Silent Hunter is perhaps the best WWII submarine simulation everreleased
• Fighting Steel is fun--while it lasts
• One of the few collections that gives players air, land, and sea simulations

• Luftwaffe Commander is one of the worst flight simulators everreleased
• Panzer Commander has infuriating flaws that put an enormous dent inits fun factor

Reviews (3)

What editor reveiwed this????
Silent Hunter- The best sub sim around, except for SH2.

Luftwaffe Commander- A very playable WW2 flight sim, with a realistic time line. Alot of fun.

Panzer Commander- OK, but it gets boring. The graphics leave something to be desired.

Fighting Steel- Lack luster graphics, and slow.

Over all, this game pack is well worth the money, a must for those who like historical military sims.

Unfair editorial review
The amazon.com editorial review of Luftwaffe Commander is VERY unfair. Although the rest of the games included in Ultimate WWII Game Colection 2are accurately and fairly portrayed, the longer I've played LuftwaffeCommander, the better I have learned to appreciate the game. I have alsoextensively played WWII Fighters -which is visually a better game-, and LCis graphically poorer, but LC is more realistic and fun as far as flightmodels and variety of planes are concerned. True, most reviews haveshattered LC, but most reviews were (are) written by guys who play it acouple of times at best. Believe me, the more you play it, the more youappreciate it. It's a pitty SSI discontinued it or ceased improving awould-have-been classic game. Sure as hell LC is far from being the worsecombat simulator ever released. Ask any hard core sim pilot who has flownit.

5 Star Entertainment
This Game-pack Rules!

There are 4-games

"Luftwaffe Commander" which is a simulator where you go back to the days where the Me-109 ruled the sky.

"Fighting Steel" where you go back to the days of the big guns.

"Panzer commander" where you cancontrol 24 WW2 tanks from 4 countries (Germany, Russia, UK, USA) in 8campaigns and single player missions.

AND MY FAVORITE "SilentHunter, Commanders edition" It is a WW2 Pacific submarine Simulatorwith the 3 extra patrol disks, you get to dive the sub patrol around andsink those japanese supply ships and Waeships, a little old but stillgreat.

... an excellentdeal.

Buy this. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Top Gun Hornet's Nest puts you in the cockpit of a screaming F/A-18 with the attitude and guts to take out any enemy foolish enough to take you on. You rule the sky in a fast-paced battle-to-the-death game based on the classic motion picture. Thirty intense missions and 3-D flying in 3 theaters provide you with a mix of air-to-air and air-to-ground action every time you climb into the cockpit. Receive your precampaign briefings from Commander Hondo (James Tolkan) himself. For the ultimate in multiplayer dogfights, you and up to seven of your buddies can engage in play over the Internet or a local area network. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Can't even install it!!!!!!!!
I Had this game for 5 years and I still can't figure out whats wrong. Whenever I Insert the CD in its drive, The drive detects a I/O error. so I can't install the software. Hasbro Should of made this easier.

TGHN
Hi, TGHN is a great game, we all know its unrealistic, but its still fun, the graphics are extreamlly good, especially the lighting effects, the missions are easy, i have clocked hte game before, by the way, i am ranked number #1 in the world in the game, noone on the Zone could beat me, i could take on the hole server easy, carrier landing is the hardest form of landing and i could do it with my eyes shut, manually of coursem not the bull$hit ILS lol!
by the way, my name in the game was Movallin!

TGHN
Hi, TGHN is a great game, we all know its unrealistic, but its still fun, the graphics are extreamlly good, especially the lighting effects, the missions are easy, i have clocked hte game before, by the way, i am ranked number #1 in the world in the game, noone on the Zone could beat me, i could take on the hole server easy, carrier landing is the hardest form of landing and i could do it with my eyes shut, manually of coursem not the bull$hit ILS lol!
by the way, my name in the game was Movallin!

I'd give it half a star but i cant
It's extremely unrealistic and makes enemies 1000 times weaker than theyshould be, not only that after a while it becomes to hard! ie Columbiamission 8. (land on an enemy airfield come on people think!) Whatever youdont buy this if you want to buy a flight sim buy Falcon 4.0 an excellentsim.

I would have enjoyed it ........ if i was three years old
I was extremely dissapointed with this game it's an unrealistic game withsituations that are dumber than hiting a real hornets nest with a stick. Itis to easy at the begining but then to hard 75% into the game I'm stillstuck in Columbia mission 8. (I mean landing on occupied enemy airbase,come on!) The way you are 40 times stronger than the other jets with unrealistic weapon effects (ie Destroying a building with guns) will leavededicated flight sim players so dissapointed they'll cry. If your going tobuy a flight sim buy Falcon 4.0 and dont buy Top Gun. (Trust me) ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Don't turn it down just cuz it's a jewel case....
I've got the first 2 entries in the CFS series, and have mixed feelings about each of them.I suspect that the series takes a radically new turn in CFS3, but I can't be sure.CFS1 and CFS2 look and fly pretty much the same - building a military flight sim out of the tried and true MS Flight Simulator engine (which has the double benefit of feeling and looking real AND the ability to add-on 3rd party aircraft).Unfortunately, the developers took the concept of "MS Flight Simulator with guns" too seriously and never craft much of a military sim to go with the engine - the missions are canned and the campaigns are not only scripted, but short. In CFS: Europe, you can fly allied or axis missions in one of two campaigns - the Battle of Britain (mostly over southern UK, summer-early fall, 1940) or the one for western Europe, 1943.Though the lack of American missions are understandable for the first campaign (Pearl Harbor was still over a year away when the "Battle of Britain" came to an end) the lack of flyable British missions in the second campaign is odd.As a yankee, you'll start out flying the not-very-spritely P-47, before progressing to the faster and more nimble Mustang (and boy, will you feel the difference).Bombers appear in the game, but CFS is strictly a fighter-flyable affair.Ofcourse, if you want to tweak the game yourself, you can find scenery, aircraft and missions to suit your tastes, but that still doesn't excuse how bare a sim CFS is - it's almost as if the programmers decided that there was no point to adding in a wider variety of planes, weapons, scenery or campaigns since they knew that serious users would do it themselves.The game engine is pretty, and allows hardcore users to take real control of their planes (start-up, manifold pressure, mixture, et. al.), but it's nothing spectacular.Ground modeling looks pretty, but there's little complexity to it - bit-mapped images (and not much variety to them) "painted" on naturally irregular topography.Ground targets have very basic damage modeling - hit them enough and they just disappear in unconvincing, "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" style fireballs.Some of the missions seem a tad unrealistic - sending short-ranged Spitfires on strafing missions across the channel when the RAF had barely enough fighters of any kind to stem the tide of Luftwaffe bombers?The missions are also repetitive, though real WWII pilots probably flew an even lower variety of missions than you'll find flying a single tour here.Still, your American bomber formations always meet a small number of the same kinds of fighters - FW-190's and Me-109's.The early German jets appear - but only as ground targets in a late-war mission.You can add AI (that is, non-flyable) aircraft as well, but not as easily.The variety of add-on planes is as limitless as the imagination of the flight-sim community, but is otherwise constrained by the fact that this is a WWII sim. That means that you can fly F-14's against Mitsubishi A6M's ("Splash the Zeros, I say again, SPLASH the Zeroes!"), but you can forget about using the complex sensor suites and sophisticated weapons of modern aircraft on this game (and, as with all entries of the MS Flight Sim series, vertical movers like helos or Harriers are limited in terms of simulating hover-flight).Flight is challenging, but slidable realism allows newbies a softer learning curve.The fluid sense of flight is lacking though - with cloud effects looking less convincing than those used on "EF2000" from 1996.Better effects were found in "Jane's WWII Fighters" which also had more compelling enemies, and a more dynamic campaign (if a more prosaic flight engine).

In short, this is a basic game - good for those who want a simple and fun WWII sim, but can't run the Jane's game. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Great flight-simulation visuals and white-knuckled air combat are featured in WWII Fighters by Electronic Arts. Fierce dogfighting action, an intense combat environment, and realistic flight models make this game thrilling and challenging. WWII Fighters offers detailed damage models, flaming debris, swarms of aircraft, desperate radio chatter, and more to put you right in the action. Play a full campaign on either the Axis or Allied side. There are up to eight pilots in multiplayer mode for both cooperative and competitive missions, and 40 single missions with a full mission editor and quick mission creator. Custom tune the game options to increase or decrease difficulty, letting you fine-tune your game experience to meet your desired level of challenge. Take a tour of the interactive museum before flight. Walk around each exquisitely rendered aircraft and hear the curator narrate references from Jane's Information Group Ltd. See video interviews with WWII aces and newsreel footage of combat, all composed in a high-poly count, 3-D environment with a swing-music soundtrack. Beautiful graphic detail takes full advantage of the 3-D technology of today and tomorrow. Effects bring the action to life with clouds, explosions, smoke, fire, muzzle flash, shadows, cockpit damage, 3-D in-game cockpits, time of day, flak, lens flare, and extraordinary terrain and cultural object detail. There's a flight school for novices, featuring training missions for takeoff, landing, bombing targets, shooting, rocket firing, dive-bombing, and strafing. New players can adjust the difficulty level in the game options to meet their own requirements. ... Read more

Features

• For 1 player
• Combat flight simulator set in WWII
• Great graphics and sound
• Custom challenge levels and multiple gameplay modes
• Lots of extras

Reviews (33)

Read This before you buy it, please!
I have come to expect realism from Jane's.I own three games, and take great pride in knowing that I could virtually fly the real thing by the time I am done learning to play.However WWII Fighters is lacking in realism, excitement and playability.TRUST ME: if you enjoyed LB1 & 2, F-15, Fighter's-Anthology and F/A-18...steer clear of this one.

The first problem with the game that I noticed was its extreme difficulty to navigate.The features should be more centralized and easier to find.Second, after completing my training missions, I realized that besides a few pop-up guages, the virtual cockpit guages exists for aesthetic appeal ONLY--you can but blurrily see your fuel guage and others, and I don't even know whether or not they represent the actual status of your plane.You can barely see the sky and ground with your cockpit view activated anyway.

In combat, I was P.O.'d when I discovered no wingman commands existed.My wingmen would happily "do their own thing" and go AWOL on insane rampages of destruction without my permission.Then, when a FW-190 engaged their tails they would cry out to me for help.Alas!I did not know where they were or how to coordinate my attacks with them, i.e., telling them to rejoin my wing and capping the poor Kraut chasing him as he comes near.This makes it VERY hard to kill aircraft, as they will most likely do sommersaults into the clouds or run until you get bored, run out of gas, or just level out of frustration and allow them to perform a coup de grace with a 20mm cannon to your hinney.The targeting system is such that you must cycle through several targets before locating the right one.

The campaign is most dissapointing.You cannot choose what you fly, what you bring, or where you start in any given campaign mission.There are no awards or promotions--so feel free to set your ammo to unlimited wihtout any adverse consequences.There is no dynamic campaign system like in Longbow 2--you can blow up a million targets and it will have 0 affect on the remaining campaign.You do not have to return home--you can quit in midflight and you will safely teleported back to your base--cool. ^_^

Last, but not least, are the bleeding graphics and flight model.The model is pretty real, but your enemy always seems to be able to climb like a rocket into clouds while you stall back to earth--this exercise goes on until you crash or give up, and he will happily take advantage of your frustration.Nazi motto: Run like a punk for hours and then shoot em' when he stops chasing you.The graphics, CONTRARY TO WHAT EVERYONE TELLS YOU, are only mediocre.The plane will have many jagged edges, your pilot's form resembles a Lego's play-figure, and many times have I crashed to see half of my aircraft "melding" into the hillside.

Moral of the story...if you like pointing and shooting and moving on to the next mission--this is a good game for you.You can turn all the expert play down and have jolly good fun.But if you are a traditional Jane's fan, this isn't a good investment.Every morning I wake up and grit at the WWII Fighter's box that I acquried a few weeks ago, and think about how well F/A-18 would look in it's place. ~_~

The Bomber crews called them,"Little Friends".
This is a great game. My thoughts are everywhere on this,,,,,so bear with me.
Played on a 733mhz system, you can keep it going well, with very very little problems.
If the creators of this game had insight for education, its with the crucial video interviews and clips of the real-life Aces of that time; Anderson, Rall, Rupinski!!!! HOLY COW!!! these insights and words are history of both sides. I'd like to have had perhaps a 2nd disc of just these guys talking about their aircraft, encounters and tactics alone! Please make a part 2 of this game! You can easily broaden the spectrum of theater of operations, aircraft and adversary.
I concur with some feedback about the vocal inflight statements, it does get boring, but thats the limit of the disc.
Sometimes, in single mission scenarios, you think you've gotten all the bombers, only to return home and get a failure rating. When replayed, you realize that there might be some aircraft on the ground, somehow the props still turning on one or two engines, but still considered not killed for your credit.....well, just strafe the heck out of them, if you can find them on the ground.
The enemy AA-fire on mobile systems is deadly.
Troops don't shoot at you.........they should give some small-arms fire for defence.
Theres not alot of Heavy AA-fire against bombers until they get over target area.....take for example, when you play the newest games version of "B-17:Flying Fortress".......thats serious enemy territory AA-fire in sound and graphic, when played on a serious sound system, it takes you by surprise and plants your seat in the middle of the scene.
It would be nice to stay with one squadron the entire campaign, and only upgrade your aircraft if you wish;why change planes for the sake of change?
Some other simulations years ago,(Fighters over Europe/Fighters over Pacific) let you stay with a factual fighter squadron, that left you in a strategic or tactical role.
Counter-strikes on V-rocket sites, interdiction on D-Day?

Id also like to have seen more aircraft types: ME-410, ME-210, Mosquito(variant types!!), Tempest, Stuka, ME-163, HE-162. What about Night-Fighters???!!! German OWL's were very formidable!
How about commanding a C-47 with Troopers dropping in Normandy?
Target Recon missions in Mosquitos or the variant of the Mustang/Spitfires?
Are you guys Hiring??? Let me at'em!

You could spin off the Eastern Front, Pacific Theater, Battle of Britain, Midway, Pearl Harbor, Coral Sea, the Med, fly supplies thru the Hump of Burma/India, it goes on and on.......C'mon Janes......run with it, make it strong,,,and we the gamers will eat it up!
OK, now, back to this one......
The first time you get seriously taken out of the sky.........you wont forget it; "Abshuss" ='s Kill! as its said in the Luftwaffee.
I think the Fw-190 should have at least 4 of the variants,(a1,a8,D9 and G models)
I think the ME-109's should have the E, G, and especially(!!!) the -K models, for the faster -51 encounters.
P-51B,C and D's.

The only thing I found a problem with is this. Say you've completed a ground attack.....you've got extra goodies to deliver; rockets, bombs, bullets. You find other ground targets on the way back, in local area, and hit them.........your success has no influence on the games outcome with going out and finding more than the mission asked. Hmphf.

The graphics are good, the play is good...you will enjoy this game.....even if its exploring the museums, listening to the music.
Flight is solid....and as said before.....you may find yourself bored in some moments on the path, but thats always the case....."hours of boredom sometimes followed by frenzied moments of panic".

The WWII Fighter game Ever
If you have a slow comp It will work fast also it does not look bad. It comes with many more things to.

Excellent Game...got me interested in WWII
Janes World War II Fighters is a great game. It includes 7 planes -- 4 from the Allies (USA and Britain), and, of course, 3 from the Axis (Germany only). All of these planes are a joy to fly, once you get used to their diverse handling methods. All aspects of the game are high quality, and really give you the feeling that you are in the cockpit of a World War II era plane. After all, that's what sims are for.

The game is really fun to play. It offers a little something for everyone...if you are a flight sim fanatic, you can turn realism settings on high. If you are an arcade fan, you can turn them down. The game also offers training missions which include such things as how to take off, how to land, how to dive bomb...etc. They're really helpful! Also, there are a bunch of play modes. Single Mission -- which lets you pick pre-existing missions. My favorite was an allied mission, in which you were a German fighter who realized Germany was going to be beaten, so you steal a Me 262 and fly it to an Allied base...with two other 262's on your tail! Anyway, Campaign -- lets you fly in a Campaign for either the Allies or the Axis powers...which is really fun. The only problem with that is that you don't get to pick a particular plane and fly it every time...for instance, I really suck with a P-38J...and I'd like to fly a Mustang every mission, if for nothing more than the fact that I'd get really good with it. Mission builder -- is pretty fun, but it takes a while to get used to. The readme on triggers is really helpful for that, though.Quick Mission -- lets you pick what plane you want to fly in, how many wingman you have, how many enemies you have (and you can even have Axis Fighters versus Axis. It's pretty cool seeing 109's fight each other) time of day, weapon loadout, and many other things. Overall, great gameplay!

The graphics are good, but on my system, I experience a lot of slowdown...even with a lot of features turned down or off (like 3D clouds, detail, etc.) That would be so bad, but with the system I'm playing on...I expect a smooth framerate. That only occurs when a whole lot is going on though, like 16 planes on your side, tanks on both sides, and enemy fighters...all doing their own thing.

The graphics quality is excellent...when I was flying a night mission, I just couldn't believe it was a game and not a movie I was playing. It looked so good, in fact, I could see the moon glimmering off of the paint of my Focke-Wulf! Amazing! Like I said, graphics are amazing, I just wish the frame rate was a little better.

Overall I would recommend this game to most people interested in the flight genre.Be forewarned, however, if you are playing this game with a Logitech Wingman Force you may experience some problems with the controls.For instance, sometimes the force feedback will just "turn off" after a mission is over.Other times, it will occur when you go to the main menu and then come back into your game.However, this only happened every so often, and really didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the game too much.However, it was significant enough to knock a star off of the review for it.

Great WWII sim (circa 1999)
This sim came out in 1999 and, given the dearth of simulation/games devoted to WWII since then, it's still a near-cutting edge game.

Though its title makes it sound similar to other "Jane's Fighters" games like ATF or USNF '97 - and despite similar gameplay - the sound, graphics and organization of JWW2F put the game in a class by itself.You can probably guess the premise - fly single missions, campaigns or instant action in your choice of many WWII planes like the Mustang, Me-262 or Spitfire.If you've made short work of your computer's flying abilities, go on-line (though by the time you read this, Janes multi-player support will be long dead) and flame your best friends.The airplanes' exteriors look gorgeous - nowhere near as cartoonish as those on ATF/USNF.The interiors look pretty good to, really conveying the feeling of being inside a (likely) freezing P-51 flying against camouflaged Panzer tanks during the "Battle of the Bulge".If the effect isn't exactly spectacular, it's still an achievement considering that the interiors - like those on USNF/ATF - are really eye-candy: you can turn them on and off, so they're really extraneous.Despite their being unneccessary, EA deisgners decided against making the panels and frames of your cockpit look flat and unconvincing.Get a hit on your engine, and your plane will vibrate or spew oil - and boy will you notice that.Damage is also beefed up since ATF/USNF days, with damaged airplanes more prone to snap in two if forced to fly at the edge of their limits than undamaged airplanes.Different airplanes will fly different ways - I was able to outfly speedy Me-109 fighters as long as I could keep from flying the high-speed vertical maneauvers they favored.The tactic is harder to use against the Me-262, the Nazi's early jet (which will attack in pairs; the trick is to anticipate which of the jets is just leading you on, and which is really about to attack) but not impossible.If the sim has some realism flaws (mind you, I'm no pilot) some are likely unavoidable - like the fact that air combat was never a pure fighter war (for the allies over Europe, it may have been; the Germans contended, on the other hand, with bombers - both light and medium - tactical attack planes, recon fighters and other support craft; the Me-262 itself was never really contemplated as a fighter to fight other fighters, its acceleration and wing-loading made it best only for flying past escort screens and for being able to engage more waves of enemy bombers than older fighters).Velocity is modeled very well, as are the vaporous effects of clouds at different levels, and the fluidity of fire from stricken planes (I mostly saw my own).Ground detail was dissappointing, but this isn't a sim committed to low-level attack, so I was willing to overlook that.In short, sound and graphics make this a still superlative sim - not as demanding as UbiSoft's "IL-2".While you won't be able to import 3rd party airplanes or missions (as you may with Microsoft's CFS series, Janes offers more out of the box than that other game.

Performance:I ran this game with little problem on my Pentium IV, 2Ghz system using WinXP and a Geforce3 card.If you're looking for a great WWII game but feel intimidated by IL-2 (and have heard some bad news re: "Jane's Attack Squadron", I'd consider getting this game. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Good - but EF2000 and TAW are better
This pack contains Novalogic's MiG-29 and F-16 flight simulations, as well as its 2nd generation F-22 simulation, "F-22 Raptor".(You may remember "F-22, Lightning II" - that was the F-22 sim that Novalogic released prior to this one; Raptor was then followed by "Lightning III")These sims are okay for the light flight simmer - for people who remember flying easy-to-learn sims like those of the "Jetfighter" series.Because each sim is limited to a single aircraft (unlike multi-plane flight simulator games like those of the Jane's Fighters games), you won't be weighed down by tons of technical details.

Flight modeling is the sims' weak-point: they are pretty simple, perhaps too simple.On F-22, modeled after an airplane blessed with already stupendous flight performance, the simplified performance specs make that game seem less like a flight simulation and more like one of those sim-like arcade games of the early 1990's.On F-16 and MiG-29, handling is more down-to-earth, but still forgiving.

Flight systems, staying consistent to the overall simplicity of each title, is also simple - though this is also a weak point.The overall tactical picture is too generic - allowing for a radar picture, but not sufficiently giving you the threat picture (what other aircraft or enemy ground forces are scanning or shooting you with).Each game (though this is pronounced on F-22) creates separate screens for the displays that (on a real fighter, or at least a more comprehensive sim of one) would share a single multi-function display.The effect forces you to scan around your cockpit - probably with the idea of reminding you that you're supposed to be inside of one.If that's the idea, it backfires - only reminding you how far each sim is stretching itself to cover its simplicity (you don't need a screen that always shows your stores; instead of a separate MFD for the artificial horizon, why not just include one on each screen like EF2000 did?)The flight panel is okay on F-22 and F-16 (where you rely anyway on the HUD) but seems weak on the MiG-29.(You can rely on the MiG's HUD as well, but that only waters down the differences between this and the other games - the MiG is supposed to be about top performance and unsophisticated technology with conventional "steam gauges" to remind us f its backward Soviet pedigree; why remind us that we've spent top dollar three iterations of the same game?).Each game relies on Novalogic's "trademark" instrumentation (the letters F B G R for flaps, break, gear and radar projected in front of you on screen rather than somehow incorporating these functions into either the HUD or flight panel like most sims manage to) which only reminds you that this is a sim for any flier.Weapon symbiology (how digital information for various weapons is projected on your HUD) is simplified - the missile symbology all looks the same, regardless of which one you're using; gun symbiology is too simple, not giving enough info for tracking shots; free-fall bomb data is also too simple, but forgiving, giving each bomb the hit-coverage of a cluster bomb.

Performance: a big hit here.I flew MiG-29 on a Celeron system years ago, and found only marginal improvement when flying again on my P4 years later.The weak link here is graphics acceleration - these sims were "fielded" in the days when most high-performance games were written to use the "Glide" API used exclusively for 3d graphics acceleration cards designed for the 3dfx's Voodoo chipset.Now that OpenGL has overtaken Glide (I doubt that Glide will even run under WinXP) newer systems will be stuck in software-acceleration mode.While flying straight and level, graphics were acceptably smooth.In any kind of hard maneuvering (which is what you got the game for), framerate was reduced to the kind of herky-jerky stutter you'd expect flying a game at the limits of your computer's performance.Though hardly offering gameplay or graphics on the level of Il-2, these games otherwise act as if they required them.The graphics are otherwise very pretty - with cloud cover and terrain that conveys both a sense of flight and geography (missions can take place over jungles or snow-capped mountains).Your jets are fully animated (moving flaps, ailerons and rudders) and surface detail is almost lovingly accurate (esp on the MiG's low-tech riveted aluminum).

But is it worth your time?These games fill a niche for uncomplicated flight simming - though you can have more fun for the same system requirements using EF2000 (v 2.0) or any of DID's F-22 games (Total Air War or Air Defense Fighter).Those games, though supporting graphics acceleration only under "Glide", ran decently enough in software-graphics mode.But more to the point, they offer a broader experience - allowing for great gameplay for those looking for a simple sim, and even offering those players a way to learn what a more demanding game requires.

NovaLogic's Jet Pack
This combination pack produced for NovaLogic by Electronic Arts includes the CD-Rom's for F-16 Multi-Role Fighter, F-22 Raptor and Mig-29 Fulcrum.F-22 Raptor is a basic arcade type game which allows for lots of shooting and bombing with marginal realism. It's chief defect is clumsy throttle control that makes landing risky{although the game seems to be designed to end after the completion of mission objectives while still airborne).The other two are more realistic(although still arcade games rather than simulations) and lots of fun.Each game provides a series of training missions to familiarize the pilot with the aircraft and its systems, single missions to try out the skills learned and a series of campaigns in various parts of the world to provide combat experience.

The flight model is not overly demanding and can be quickly mastered.The joystick buttons are a little unrelistic but can be also mastered quickly.Graphic quality is fair on Raptor and good on Mig-29 and F-16 MRF.

In sum, these games are a lot of fun for the casual player and the beginner.The price is a great bargain, three full games for the price most single games sell for in stores after they have been on the shelf for a while.For the serious enthusiast, start here to learn, try Janes' USAF as your intermidiate training, and when you are ready to really fly, move up to MicroProse Falcon 4.0 which is a true aircraft simulation( and very challenging).

#1 Sim pack
I bought The Jet Pack becvause with the Flight Simulator add-on military planes you cant shoot ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Wings over China puts you in the cockpit of the Hell's Angel of World War II fighters--the fast, mean, and scary-looking P-40 Warhawk. This add-on for Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator brings you 12 new aircraft from the Pacific theater, new maps and background scenery for China, and 20 new missions. The shark-toothed P-40 flown by the Flying Tigers is the star of the show, roaring into combat in all but two of the missions. Unlike the original Combat Flight Simulator, Wings over China does not include missions from the Axis perspective--the six new Japanese planes can only be flown in Quick Combat mode or in multiplayer games on Microsoft's Game Zone.

If you play Combat Flight Simulator, you'll want this game. The aircraft paint jobs are beautiful, the Asian scenery looks jungle-riffic, and the new flight models force you to fight the way the Flying Tigers fought, especially at higher difficulty levels. Getting caught in a turning battle with the more maneuverable Japanese fighters is suicide--your P-40 is built for quick climbs, fast dives, and high-firepower kills delivered by the airborne equivalent of a drive-by shotgun blast.

The manual contains historical notes on the air war in China, technical specs for the new planes, and instructions for playing the new missions. These instructions are not complete--don't pay too much attention to them and miss the fact that Wings over China supports a Custom Campaign that allows you to play through the entire history of the Flying Tigers. --Rob Heinsoo

Pros:

• Sharp focus on an engaging subject, simulated with care and precision
• 12 new planes to fly against your friends
• Cool graphics

• Historical focus means that missions lack some variety

Reviews (4)

Review:Wings Over China
This title is 'the' reason to leave Microsoft's CFS on your hard drive!Aircraft details, flight modeling, Artificial Intelligence (AI), ground detail and damage modeling are all vastly improved over the original CFS.This review is based on approximately 15 hours with this simulation.

Installation was a snap:the cd automatically follows the path on your hard drive to CFS and you are up and running in approx. three minutes.The 20 missions included are well designed and although no 'campaign' is included the missions follow the exploits of the Flying Tigers.Further, these missions are based on historical accounts, not the foolish, unrelated canned missions in CFS.Note that all missions are from the US player perspective.

Since the software loads the additional aircraft into the CFS aircraft data base you can select any of the Abacus aircraft in Quick Combat to dogfight existing CFS aircraft.The only drawback is that you cannot select any of the additional aircraft as opponents - only the original CFS aircraft.

You still have the annoying 'trim' problems associated with CFS but this can be partially solved by using a quality joystick with adjustable tension (e.g., I use the Thrustmaster Afterburner with the tension set to max).

Wingman AI has been completely re-designed and allows for both realistic flight patterns and attacks on enemy aircraft.Radio chatter improves with messages from your wingman that allow you to make informed decisions during dogfights.

For those with new PC's who are concerned about compatability problems with XP:CFS and Wings over China run fine on my Dell 8100 with XP as the OS.I recommend that you have at least 32 Mb of ram (I run with 64) and a quality 3-D card (I'm using a Radeon 7500) to get the full benefit from this title.

Overall, this simulation is excellent and I hope that Abacus considers the European Campaign as a vehicle for additionaltitles like this one.

Best add on I`ve tried......more then worth the money
If I hadn`t found Abacus the Japanese would have won the war! Seriously it is an excellent, trouble free addon. I would also suggest some of their other aircraft which you can download(and try for free)at their web site.

A good simulator add-on

This is a good add-on to Microsoft's Combat Flight Simulator (The European Theater) by Abacus.It adds a dozen airplanes and China scenery, including the F2A Brewster "Buffalo," which was so maligned by Marine Corps pilots at the battle of Midway but was valued by the Finns against the Russians.Anyway, it was interesting to fly the game version.It snap rolls nicely.Last I heard there was a squadron of Buffalos flying on line, I think on Air Warriors.

The scenery and graphics are on a par with Microsoft's best--well, maybe CFS2 is better--but does not equal Jane's WWII Fighters.So far, in my experience, nothing equals the graphics and scenery of Jane's.Flight modeling is as good as most, and better than many.Altogether a good buy at the price.I wish I knew how to transport some of these airplanes from CFS to CFS2, but if there's a way I haven't heard of it.

The simulation runs well on my AMD-K6-2 (350 MHz) with 64 Mb of RAM.I'm running Windows ME for an Operating System, and have a Flightstick Pro with rudder pedals.Nothing fancy.No problem loading or running it.

Joseph Pierre, USN (Ret)

It's good
It's like Combat flight Simulator, only it's better. It's got new planes and better enemy pilots. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Combat Flight Simulator provides a set of authentic military scenarios in Pacific Theatre. This add-on is the first to include new classic aircraft, new scenery, and new missions based on historical fact. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Great cheap way to expand CFS1: Hawaii & Pearl!
I just bought the pkg, right now on Amazon it is a total steal! It's.. just to download a single nice F4U corsair from abacus internet...so this is good bang for the buck! It's worth it just for the Hawaii scenery, let alone for 12 new planes & new ship objects, plus missions in Pearl Harbor!! I'm ordering Battle of Midway also, to round it out & get more planes.

.., you get 6 US & 6 Japanese flyable planes, 6 missions (3 US, 3 japanese) re the attack on Pearl, and a whole bunch of "what-if" missions re further japanese attacks. The scenery is pretty detailed, but not photographic like CFS1 Europe- eg, better than FS98 level, esp. the mountains (guess that is the mesh 3D scenery.) This version is the "enhanced" version also, w/ fixed enemy planes & improved scenery, and has japanese accents for radio.

You get LOTS of ships in Pearl to blow up, the Japanese fleet incl. the carriers to blow up (or TRY to land on, good luck)... how can you lose for this price?

I only played briefly so far, but the planes look & fly well- they are partly animated (flaps, gear up/down, propellor speed- but no aileron/elevator control movement), have good exterior detail (the guns & cannons are there & match the muzzle flash). Cockpit detail seemed OK.

It's a lot of fun to have such a "target-rich" environment, eg playing Japanese and attacking Pearl, w/ all the battleships to strafe and bomb (or attack the Japanese fleet & carriers at sea). Playing over Hawaii coastline & mountains is more interesting for me than playing over generic scenery in Europe, but then, I was born in Hawaii so it's a bit nostalgic :-)

There are plenty of planes flying about in most of the missions, so it tends to be a "furball", w/ planes flying every which way, more realistic & chaotic than CFS1 Europe missions.

I wish they had included lots of US planes on the Pearl runways, to match history better, but there are already so many destroyable & flying scenery elements, more would probably slow the game too much.

On my PIII-800 & nVidia TNT2 system, it plays very smooth in fullscreen, though w/ the cockpit graphics on it gets a little choppy sometimes.

Probably is still faster than CFS2, just not as good graphics & missing the damage detail etc.

If you specifically want the better graphics & damage in CFS2, and are willing to pay much more for that, go ahead... but for someone already owning CFS1, and who wants to get Hawaii/Pearl scenery & objects...

Good buy...
After purchasing this add-on for CFS I got what I expected. Abacus is a great add-on for authenticity and will play well on the Zone. These planes are not mods but authentic styled and responding planes. The control panels were quite poorly designed and looked cheesy....

Not THAT bad
This product is ok. If you're like me, and got tired of the missions that came with CFS, then this is not a bad add-on for some variety. I fly these sims with the view maximized, the cockpit graphics are not great, so justturn them off!

The scenery is ok. The enemy planes seem harder to kill,the planes are authentic looking and fly as well as CFS types. The officialpacific theater is supposedly due "for the holidays", so, I didntwant to wait.

I will say, based on this, I would buy more of thiscompanies add-ons. Just don't expect everything to be up to CFS for$29.99.

PS- My program starts as any other CFS- they don't start inmid-stream, I can take off and (try) to land, as normal!

A Stinker !
I bought this game as an add on for my Combat Flight Simulator, and was really excited because of the Pacific Theater theme.

I found that this was a giant step backwards from CFS.The graphics were really cheesy, and--check this out--the Japanese pilots were speaking German! It may havebeen in the readme file where they said a patch was forthcoming to correctthe language problem.

The instrument panels for the aircraft werecartoonish, a real disappointment.

I immediately uninstalled this bombfrom my PC, and chalked it up to experience.

But there is good news.Ihave read that Microsoft will be coming out with CSF2 which will be set inthe Pacific Theater!

Robert Matthews

Fairly Good!
I would have givin it a three, but the other person gave it a one. If you are tight on money, don't get it! I you have plenty, if you want it, get it. This game doesn't have too much senery. It only has Oahu. It does have a coolJapannese fleet. The carriers are very hard to destroy. The other ships areeasy. There are a lot of cool planes and history. You only get sixmissions, but they are fun. If you want more planes and midway and thebattle of coral sea, you should get "The Battle of Midway" game.There are a lot of games at www.simmarket.com. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

It's a rare combat flight sim that can be all things to all people, butBattle of Britain comes close. The designers set out to model the entirepivotal WWII conflict and succeeded admirably, creating some of the best flightmodels and visuals this genre has ever seen. With all the realism options turnedoff, it's basically reduced to the level of an arcade game, but with those sameoptions enabled, even the most jaded virtual pilots will have their hands full.This is the kind of simulation that lets players manually tweak the pitch oftheir propellers, and makes players deal with issues like carbureted vs.fuel-injected engines, engine torque, and blackouts from pulling too many g's.

The designers certainly didn't focus on minute details at the expense ofBattle of Britain's strategic possibilities. The game engine is capableof throwing hundreds of planes in the air at once, and it simulates raidswhether they are part your particular mission or not. It's possible to take offwith the intention of intercepting a small flight of Stuka dive-bombers only toend up responding to a massive raid of heavy bombers attacking a town milesaway. Few games give the player such a sense of playing a bit part on the stageof battle.

That's not to say the gamers' actions and input are inconsequential. Battleof Britain also comes with a campaign mode that lets players make strategicdecisions as either the British or the Germans. As the British players, receivereports on incoming raids and apportion your meager resources to effectivelymeet each threat. German commanders get to deal with the problem of assigningfighter escorts to the bombers, knowing that the fighters can't spend more than20 minutes over enemy soil because of fuel limitations. Those are just a few ofthe situations players face. It's also possible to jump into any plane in thecampaign mode to play out a mission in the simulation mode. --T. ByrlBaker

Pros:

• Masterful combination of cerebral strategic campaign mode andadrenaline-charged simulation mode
• Excellent flight models
• Beautiful terrain and buildings

• High-quality visuals require a lot of computing horsepower
• Sound effects could be better
• Steep system requirments
• Some users report frequent system-crashing bugs

Reviews (32)

Be ready for the learning curve
First, the people who have this game at the bottom of their closets are right.Unless you have just the right vid card, monitor, and memory you can forget it. Second, what comes in the box is incomplete.You will need the version .973 from the Battle of Britain Developers Group.There is no key card (CFS@ comes from Amazon with no manual or card) so you will have to get on the forum there and ask where to download the most up to date, and then you will have to deal with the the fact that the European keyboard needs to be hand marked to match yours, if your from the USA.On the plus side the people on the forum are very helpful.

You will find the learning curve daunting.If you want to fly Spitfires and you start learning on them, you will probably fail.You need to master the Hurricane first.The flight sim is harder than CFS2 and IL-2. B-17 has a tough learning curve but that has to do with it's complexity and all its quirks.BoB has a tough curve because of the flight sim.I've been "flying" sims since Lucas Films BoB. Then the Dynamix trio and the stuff from Microprose (all DOS).Picking up again a few years ago in Windows I found that much has changed.But I have yet to meet a learning curve as steep as BoB.

My copy too sat at the bottom of the closet until my old machine fried and I had to get a new one.So far I haven't had the CtD problem, but if I do it will be back to the BoBDG forum.

You have to be really interested in the Battle of Britain to buy this one. So don't buy unless your frustration level is high.Of course the BoB add on for CFS2 is a joke (misnamed for one), and I don't know of any others.

30+ at angels ten bearing 261 degrees

Battle Of Britain
I own and play quite a few sims.I thought this would be a vast improvement over "European Air War" but I was wrong about this.Very, very disappointed

rare and hard to find. a great game
a little hard to install but a great flt sim

Hey, not so fast...
...It is still difficult to fly and even experienced simmers would be advised to start with the "novice" flight model. The AI is a lot better than in, say, CFS2 but it's not perfect. The best thing to do is to get the aftermarket patch form BDG (Battle of Britain Developers Group) which solves almost all the problems whilst improving the graphics and gameplay and is a free download. Check at SimHQ.com for details. The overall improvements to the game, along with the dynamic campaign, suddenly make this worth having...as long as you're prepared to spend a lot of time setting it up.

Waste of money!
I can't even review the game, because I never could get it to work properly on my computer.Even after receiving tech help.My mistake is not checking these reviews before purchasing. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

It isn't surprising that several computer games have attempted to capture the excitement of World War II's aerial battles. European Air War is one of the best such games, letting players climb into the cockpits of several American, British, and German fighters.

Straight out of the box, European Air War is a little rough around the edges. The low-resolution graphics are serviceable but by no means beautiful. A quick trip to the Microprose Web site (www.microprose.com) for the latest patch will fix all that. The patch lets players crank the maximum resolution up to 1,600 x 1,200, producing some of the cleanest graphics found in any flight simulator.

Battles in EAW are absolutely thrilling, and many times their resemblance to WWII footage is eerie. Bomber escort missions are among the most exhilarating we've ever played. Imagine a flight of 50 escort fighters picking their way through heavy flak puffs over Berlin as they protect over 50 friendly bombers from more than 100 marauding enemy aircraft. Stricken bombers are slowly peeling off from the main formation, grouping at low level for mutual protection as they limp home. Meanwhile, the bombers that successfully ran the gauntlet are churning an enemy rail yard into fine powder with their munitions as terrified citizens near the attack's epicenter flee from buildings and run through the streets. You scream down from altitude to help the chewed-up bombers, ordering the remainder of your squadron to guard the main attack force as the sun begins to set in the West, bathing the world in a pinkish-orange glow. Fights like this are common in EAW, since the game engine can support a few hundred planes in the air at once.

In fact, the game's authenticity is ultimately the only thing that stands in the way of unadulterated fun. Campaign missions sometimes are boring affairs where you don't even make contact with the enemy, while other times you'll be in a 12-plane flight tasked with taking out an overwhelming mixed force of bombers and fighters. Enabling unlimited ammo can help things, but many times we'd prefer balanced missions over utter realism. Regardless, once patched, EAW stands as perhaps the most authentic and fun WWII flight simulator on the market. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Amazing number of aircraft in the air at once
• Believable flight models for all planes
• Intense dogfights

• Needs the patch to truly shine
• Uses only 256-color graphics

Reviews (21)

Dissapointment runs riot
i live in the uk and when i looked on amazon.co.uk i found that this game was an extortionate amount of money, 30 pounds (about 60 dollars) so i looked at this site and lo and behold , there it is for $1.99 so imagine my disgust when i found that it couldn't be shipped overseas. i am very dissapointed

NB ratings are only filled in baceuse this review couldn't be sent without.

An excellent game
Since my earliest days I've had an amateurish facination with World War II aviation, and in particular that of the western European theater, and have always fantacized about what it must have been like to fly these warbirds.Not that one can compare the real thing to a computer simulation, but European Air War certainly gives one a fair impression.For me that's all I need, and am very content with this game even though it is getting somewhat dated.

EAW remains a brilliant immersive WWII flight sim
With the amount and quality of *freeware* addon theatres, aircraft, and graphical enhancements EAW remains a high quality immersive gaming experience. The EAW community have now completed out of the box complete addon theatres for the Pacific (Midway and Guadalcanal), North Africa/Malta, and France/Dunkirk 1940. The Battle of Britain 1940 and European 1942-45 campaigns have been thoroughly upgraded. New theatres are on the way for the Spanish Civil War, the Winter War in Finalnd, and China 1937-39.

EAW continues to inspire!
I have been around computers now for most of my adult life. I bought my first desk top computer in 1990 and my first lap top in 1996. But I never considerd playing games on them, I mean computers were only for work. Right?
I might also mention that I flew fighters,(F-18/F-4)for 12 years in the Marine Corps. Well, the other day I was at the store and saw a game that caught my eye. My former fighter pilot intrest got the best of me so I took a chance and bought "European Air War" by Infogrames. Keep in mind that I had never been much of a "gamer", but when I saw the capabilty within this game I bought a new joystick and began to play regularly. I became so involved with this one game I bought the best desk top computer with the most advanced graphics card that I could find.
I now enjoy other games about WWII, but I am greatful to this one game that reopened up my eyes to that razor sharp world of being a fighter pilot. The skills I once used Fly my F-18 are still viable in these games. Only now I get to fly really cool aircraft like the P-47!
I give this this game 5 stars because of the sheer enjoyment it has given me, by allowing me to revisit my fighter pilot roots.

EAW is still great!
This sim reached the stands in 1998 and it has aged very well.In concept, it is probably the finest since Lucas Arts "Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe" released in the early 1990's.EAW puts the sim pilot into the action quickly and with all of the action one would expect from an ETO based game.

Also, there is a large EAW group creating skins, sounds and new campaigns for the game so it is better now than when originally released.So, get it now and enjoy. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Israeli Air Force is what's known as a "survey sim." These gamesattempt to loosely model several aircraft instead of simulating a single planeas realistically as possible. Here players get a chance to fly Israeli versionsof the F-15, F-16D, Mirage III, Kfir, Lavi, and a few variants of the venerableF-4 Phantom. Most of the missions and campaigns in the game let players re-create famousbattles like the Six-Day War or play out hypothetical wars of thefuture.

This simulation has some of the most controversial terrain graphics ever. Uphigh, everything is breathtaking. The ground really looks like a 3-D version ofa detailed satellite map, and the game has more real-world terrain than any gamereleased around the same time. Move down low, however, and the visuals changeinto a muddy, pixelated eyesore. Elevation changes are modeled in great detail,letting players snake down canyons and weave between mountaintops, but it isn'tpretty.

Objects in the game--like the myriad planes, buildings, and ground vehicles--usea completely different graphics engine and look great, considering the game'srelatively low resolution. Those who can get past the graphics issues will findthat Israeli Air Force is an entertaining (if not utterly realistic) wayto relive some of the most intense real-life missions a modern air force hasever accomplished. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Models lots of planes
• Includes a CD-ROM containing the fascinating history of the Israeli AirForce
• Terrain looks great from on high

• Down low the terrain graphics really fall apart
• Lack of realism won't appeal to die-hard simulation fans

Reviews (11)

sim pilot
I like the historic cd that comes with it. The terrain down low looks like JetFighter 3. That is the only down fall I noticed. I use my CH Flight stick control. Most keyboard controls are like most other flight sims. This is an older game now. If you like easy to fly and land planes, this is for you.

Good Game
The last review is why 12 year olds should not be allowed on the i-net...stupid kid...probably thinks that pong is high tech...I don't have a problem using my Sidewinder joystick...someone should teach him how to plug it in....now for the game...I liked it overall...I do not understand the lack of flyable A-4 Skyhawks, and Dassault Mysteres...I have always read that these were major workhorses for the Israelis. I recommend buying it, don't expect USAF but you will get a good flight sim just the same..

NO JOYSTICK USAGE?WHATS UP WITH THAT??
NO JOYSTICK USAGE? WHAT'S UP WITH THAT.DON'T BE FOOLED BY THE BOX, THIS GAME STINKS!!THE SAME AIR CRAFT GRAPHICS AS USAF (WHICH I HAVE AND I'D GIVE IT 5 STARS!) FIRST OF ALL, YOU CAN'T USE A JOYSTIC(...) DON'T BUY THIS GAME IT'S GOT THE SAME PRICE AS USAF AND BY THE WAY DON'T BOTHER WITH F-15 EATHER!(I HAVE ALL THREE AND FROM BEST TO WORST IT'S:USAF,F-15,THEN FINALY IAF) (...)

NO JOYSTICK USAGE?WHATS UP WITH THAT??
NO JOYSTICK USAGE? WHAT'S UP WITH THAT.DON'T BE FOOLED BY THE BOX, THIS GAME STINKS!!THE SAME AIR CRAFT GRAPHICS AS USAF (WHICH I HAVE AND I'D GIVE IT 5 STARS!) FIRST OF ALL, YOU CAN'T USE A JOYSTIC, WHICH (IS REALLY ANNOYING).SECOND, THE LAND SCAPE (IS BAD), BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY THE COMANDS ARE (MESSED UP).DON'T BUY THIS GAME IT'S GOT THE SAME PRICE AS USAF AND BY THE WAY DON'T BOTHER WITH F-15 EATHER!(I HAVE ALL THREE AND FROM BEST TO WORST IT'S:USAF,F-15,THEN FINALY IAF) I'D DEFINETLY TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT: JET FIGHTER 4, F-22 LIGHTNING THREE, AND THE BEST COMBAT FLIGHT SIMULATOR OUT THERE, FALCON 4.0, IF YOU DECIDE TO LOOK FOR FALCON 4.0 GO TO ELECTRONIC BUTIC USAF RULES!!!!!!!!!

Could've been a contender....
With all the survey sims out there (flight sim programs that let you fly a bunch of planes rather than having to concentrate on one like "Flanker" or "Jane's F-15") somebody was bound to come out with one modeled against the legendary Israeli Air Force.(Alas, Iraqui Air Force fans will have to wait.)Unfortunately, the IAF isn't that well served by this title which improves on previous Jane's Fighters titles (like ATF and USNF) but not in ways that reflect how far sims have come since the mid 1990's.In IAF, you fly in one of seven IAF jets in air conflicts beginning with the now mythic Six Day War of 1967.The IAF Jets include the Mirage III (Israel's top fighter in '67), the Kfir C-7 (a low cost copy of the Mirage designed in Israel when the French cut off military ties), both the F-4E and its high-tech descendant, the Phantom 2000, the F-15 and F-16 (because, why not?) and the Lavi - Israel's aborted entry into the ATF game.Problems with this sim are the lackluster graphics which improve over ATF and USNF but not by that much.The terrain looks pretty realistic from high altitude but pixilates lower down where Israeli pilots probably do most of their work (whether in busting tanks or just to evade radar).Low-altitude pixilation has been a problem for sometime, and it's annoying that anybody can release a flight sim with that problem and a minumum stated hardware requirement of a 266 megahurtz.Low-level flight is handled better on Eidos' "Joint Strike Fighter", with less pixilation, consistently smooth frame-rate and more modest hardware requirements.You'll need pretty powerful hardware for this game.Most publishers understate the hardware you'll need to effectively run their games, though differing in the degree to which they understate.For Jane's titles, you'll probably want a system offering a healthy %150 over the minimum stated hardware requirements of their games.Why that much power is needed is something I stopped asking myself after playing Jane's ATF.

Another problem is the historical ground covered - as if the history of Israeli warfare began no earlier than 1967, and neglecting both the jury-rigged IAF of 1948 (with its WWII surplus planes and volunteer pilots) and the IAF of the '56 Sinai campaign, with its core pilots making their way through the transition to jets.Also underwhelming are the choice of aircraft - we have two versions of the Phantom, but not a single version of the "Skyhawk", Israel's workhorse bomber of the '73 war.While the game offers the player the chance to fly the '67 war, the only plane represented here is the Mirage III, forgetting that Mystere's and Ouragans that flew important missions in that war.You can fly MiGs in multiplayer, but only the MiG-23 and the MiG-29.The MiG-21, which was to the cold war skies what the Mustang or Spitfire were to WWII, is inexplicably absent.Also missing is the Su-7, the dedicated strike fighter of Isael's opponents.And, ofcourse, neglect of the War of Independence and the Sinai Campaign highlights the absence of the aircraft most closely identified with those conflicts (the Spitfire and Avia S-199 of the WOI and the Mustang and Mystere B2 of 1956).

In short, if IAF is at the edge of your computer's performance, and a survey sim is what you want, then stick with ATF (you can use the mission builder to recreate the Israeli air wars).If your computer is more powerful, you might want to consider the more expansive Jane's USAF. ... Read more