Battle of Britain Preview - By Todd "Stargog" Garner - Page 2 of 2
Game Play:
The game play in BoB can be summed up in one word, "Deep" This sim has
got to be one of the best recreations of an actual historical air battle
that has ever been produced. My time in the campaigns has been limited
up till now due to the fact that I am on the beta team for "Quick Action"
and "Options/Menu" testing. However it doesn't take much time to get
a feel for just how involved and deep this sim can be if you choose to
take that route. Like I mentioned in the intro, the amount of planning
and strategizing one can do in the Campaign is mind-boggling. This should
add a great deal to the replayability and make this sim a real classic
among propheads.
One thing that really impressed me is the variety of training missions
that BoB has. They cover everything from simple follow the leader to
actually landing with an engine failure or heavy damage, a very nice
change from the norm in my opinion. The quick missions are equally as
interesting as they have included a group of historical recreations of
actual events within The Battle of Britain. These missions are very challenging
and a big breath of fresh air that hasn't been exploited in many Sims
to date.
The UI is somewhat cumbersome and at times and not the most intuitive
that I have seen but serves the purpose and is not too bad once you get
used to it. It resembles that of Mig Alley but with more options and
more control over the graphics and game play.
Lastly I have to comment on the feel and the size of the dogfights that
you will encounter in BoB. These are two of the things that really stand
out about this sim and when added to the puzzle makes for a very pleasing
and realistic experience. The dogfights in BoB are very chaotic and on
a scale that I have not seen in a WWII sim to date besides maybe EAW
with the "Extra Squads" option turned on but with a much better and more
deadly AI. Once while flying a bomber intercept with a squadron of Hurricanes,
I was totally amazed by the number of bombers that filled the sky out
over the channel. They must have numbered 50 or so at least, thinking
to myself "Wow what a target rich environment we have here" Not long
after that thought crossed my mind the little black specs that made up
the escorts started popping up on the horizon. With 3 full groups of
escort fighters, numbering at least 30 or 40 the skies soon turned into
a wild churning mess of fighters going in all directions, breaking up
into small groups of individual fights. When combined with the sounds
of the planes flying all around you this goes a long way to making BoB
a must have when it comes out.
Conclusion: The game play in BoB, while having its issues due
to the fact that it is still in early beta has a very good feel to it
and does a wonderful job of putting you right smack in the middle of
one of the greatest air battles ever to be fought.
Flight Model and Physics:
Finally we come to the most important part of a sim to almost all simmers
that I know. The flight model and physics in a sim can make it or break
it like no other aspect of the game. So saying that let me start off
by saying this, I am not a pilot as of yet and I hold no physics degree
at this time so I will not try to come across here as if I am an expert.
What I can give you is the opinion of someone who does have a good understanding
of said physics and has flown just about every WWII sim that has ever
been sold. This part of the preview is one that I have had mixed feelings
about writing ever since I was asked to write it.
The feel of this flight model is something that is very hard to determine
at this point in development as many of you can imagine. BoB feels very
believable in this category and in some ways has a feel that I have never
felt in a sim before. Inertia in this sim is very evident and at first
makes you step back and rethink the way you fly. The planes feel like
they have mass to them and when rolling through a series of maneuvers
it can cause you real problems if your used to flying a sim that has
a very simple flight model. The time between when you change direction
with your stick or rudder and when the craft actually reacts to the input
is measurable. Now like I said I am not a pilot but to me that seems
very realistic. On the other hand there are things at this stage of testing
that can really make it hard to tell what the flight model will feel
like in the finished product. BoB gives you a very good feeling of flying
and when flying it with a heavy hand it will make you pay the price.
The different feel of the different planes is also very evident and seems
from what I have ever read about the planes of this time very accurate.
The Spit turns noticeably better then the 109's but will get chewed up
in a dive to the deck or a boom and zoom situation.
During takeoff, torque seems to be modeled well and makes something as
simple as taking off challenging at times but really adds to the overall
realism of the sim. Also adding to this realism is the creaks and groans
of your aircraft during extreme maneuvering. This was done well in Mig
Alley and BoB is no different in this category. Damage is another thing
that will drastically change the performance of an aircraft in BoB and
can make limping back to base a real undertaking after a long flight
in which you have taken on some damage. This also adds greatly to the
realism and will make the pilot think a little more before getting himself
in a bad situation. So getting shot down is not the only problem, just
taking a few shells from a 109 can leave your plane almost impossible
to fly home.
Conclusion: For the most part the flight model and physics in
BoB feel very good and maybe even groundbreaking in some aspects if this
continues to be improved throughout the beta process. Of course that
is a big "IF" and we all know that a lot can change between the start
of beta testing and the release of the final product. Saying that I am
going to leave the discussion of flight model and physics here and revisit
it as we get closer to release and make my final judgement then. But
it certainly feels like they are very much on the right track and I can't
wait to see how this aspect of the sim evolves as we move along.
The Bottom Line:
I am very impressed by a lot of what this sim has to offer and am very
excited to see how it evolves as we get closer to release. If Rowan takes
the time to fix the problems that have been found to this point and continues
to dial in the flight model this sim could be one the most realistic
sims that has graced the propsim market in a long long time.
Multiplay is another thing that can make or break a sim for the online
crowd and is taken very serious by this previewer. I have not forgotten
to comment on this aspect of the game but cannot since we have not gotten
to that part of the testing as of yet. But you can count on a very in
depth look at the multiplay capabilities of BoB at a later date.
Overall I definately give this sim huge thumbs up at this point of development
and would say that this is one to really keep your eye on over the next
couple months.
Note: The screenshots were taken at 1600x1280 32bit and reduced in PhotoShop
for faster loading.
System Specs:
Pentium III 450
Asus P2B Motherboard
384 Meg PC133 Ram
Asus v6800 Geforce 256 DDR
Soundblaster Live Value
Viewsonic G790 19" Monitor
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