Page 2
DOWN AND DIRTY
MPS has a new slant on the ground war with Squad Leader. You command an American or German squad ala Private Ryan. It is in its very early development stages but is a sim I, a dyed in the wool flight sim guy, will try it. There will be 300 individual personalities in your choose-able men. Their A.I. will be sophisticated enough that letters from home, or the loss of a buddy will affect their future performance.
BILL'S WARAll the correct weapons can be chosen for combat use equipping your squad. You will run into some armor foes but no aircraft will be present. I categorize this as a great cross between first person shooter and board-style strategy games.
SHOOT AND SCOOT
Microsoft will soon debut Combat Flight Sim II. Seven flyable planes don't sound like much but all the add-ons and existing down-loadable stuff will integrate. Freeing the code has produced a timeless sim that evolves and improves with hacker and software company add-ons. CFSII should be a worthwhile purchase.
Fig. 4. Japanese Zero in CFS2
RED TAILED MUSTANGS
A pure fun flight sim called Crimson Skies by Microsoft was seen ate E3. It is total escapism at its best. You fly a maneuverable little stunt plane with guns. There's no realism to like or complain about. Its feature is that you are dogfighting close to the ground, which is filled with familiar landmarks like the Empire State Building, Chrysler Tower, and other notable buildings. It see it as an escape for us historical nits that want as much as possible accurate and, more importantly, a first sim for the shoot-'em-up gaming crowd. It just might cause some of them to purchase Flanker or CFS II and help increase and perpetuate a base for further "real" flight sims. Sometimes you just want to mindlessly shoot the hell out of everything.
Fig. 5. Action shot in Crimson Skies
BIG IRON
Abacus has made a CFS add-on that portrays the Tuskeegee Airmans' history in WWII. You will fly all the planes they did, even the P-40 and AT-6. There will be no learning curve if you fly CFS now. Just climb in and emulate the historical missions of the group that NEVER lost a bomber they escorted.
Fig. 6. CFS Add-on Tuskeegee Arimen
Mattel has a departure simulation called Reno Air Racing, which allows you to commence a seasonal career or single races flying detailed Bearcats, Bf 109s, Mustangs or Formula planes. There are 60 courses around the world and 70 aircraft in four classes to fly. The planes are modify-able in performance by the user as are a variety of paint schemes. Multi player will support up to eight online racers. We fighter pilots will long for the ability to pull the trigger, no doubt.
Fig. 7. Reno Air Racing
