Combat Flight Simulator 2 Review - By William "BBall" Ball Page 1 of 3
To start this review, I'm
going to set the mood a bit. This quote comes from James Bradley's superb
book concerning the flag raising on Iwo Jima, and it explains the difference
between the conflicts in Europe and the Pacific. The book is entitled,
"Flags of our Fathers", and if you're a student of WWII history, I consider
it a must read.
"Before Pearl Harbor America looked across the Atlantic for an enemy.
Adolph Hitler was the enemy we feared and Japan was dismissed as only
a threat. But after the "day of infamy", newspaper maps of the Pacific
and Asia were scrutinized at the kitchen tables of America.
Now America was in a World War, a "two ocean war". Across the Atlantic,
in Europe, the U.S. would be fighting in support of and with an allied
force. But for years, Russian, English, and French troops would do most
of the fighting and take the brunt of the beating. And it would be Stalin's
troops who would really beat Hitler: seventy-five percent of the German
troops who died fighting in World War II were killed by Russian troops.
Against Japan, however, America would stand virtually alone in the Pacific.
Japan had violated American soil, and the first and last American battles
of World War II would be fought there. The Pacific War would be "America's
War". ….America's War in the Pacific would be a war without quarter,
fought with no rules. It would be a primitive battle, a fight to extinction."
If that doesn't make you want to jump into your Zeke or Wildcat, then
you better have your pulse checked. For the next several pages, I'll
be reflecting on the latest in Microsoft's Combat Flight Simulator series.
The first effort almost two years ago showcased the airwar in the European
theater, and quite frankly, I was less than impressed. Lovely cockpits,
nice scenery for doing the "free flight" thing, but the "atmosphere"
of actually being in a combat environment just wasn't there for me. There
seemed to be a plethora of unconnected mission thrown at you, absent
wingman commands, and more than anything I felt that it just lacked that
special "something" that separates the good simulations from the great
ones. I of course, would wonder if those statements would apply here
For this installment, "Bill's gang" pulled all the plugs and really seemed
intent on doing their homework. They visited the U. S. Naval Historical
Center, and the National Air and Space Museum library and archive in
Washington, D.C. They also drew on the resources of the Confederate Air
Force's archive, the American Airpower Heritage Museum in Texas, the
Champlin Fighter Museum and finally the New Zealand Fighter Pilot's Museum.
If this sounds like a ton of research, it's only because it is. But did
they stop here? Nope. Someone in the bowels of Microsoft (wonder if it
was king Bill?) had a brainstorm…. and it paid off pretty big. They approached
some of the gentlemen that actually did the flying during those fateful
days, and used them as a fountain of information. They recruited veteran
naval aviators Bob Campbell and Mike Wiede to share their wartime photos,
records and recollections, but the gem of their research can be summed
up in two names… Joe Foss and Saburo Sakai. Mr. Foss flew for the USMC,
scoring 26 victories, and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Mr. Sakai was Japan's top surviving ace with an astounding total of 64
victories. Both of these heroes were interviewed at length, and one can
definitely see that their influence left its mark on the finished product.
All right, they did their all the research; let's see how this brainstorming
comes together when we open the box. In true Microsoft form, out tumbles
a manual, an advertisement for some of their other products, and a CD.
What, no keycard? No, I suppose they figure that printing a "Quick Reference"
rundown on the back cover, and lacing the insides (and the game itself)
with tons of "help" is enough (maybe the battle with the Justice Dept.
left them short on cash…yeah, right). I've never been a big fan of this
approach, for I REALLY like having a keycard to prop up (tape, hammer,
weld, etc.) against my monitor. They do offer you a HUGE amount of information
from lots of sources (I'll cover that later), but it's just not staring
back at you like I'm used to.
So speaking of the manual, let's break it down and see just what we shelled
out our hard earned money for. In my opinion, what you get is a veritable
gold mine! That's quite a statement coming from this reviewer, for I'm
routinely disappointed by what flight sim publishers give us in the way
of documentation (probably with the exception of the ex-Jane's teams).
This one, however, shines like the top Jesse Ventura's head. Counting
the appendix and all, we get 310 pages of good to great information.
It would take a "War and Peace" effort to tell you about everything you'll
get in this publication, so here's just a quick breakdown of the chapters:
Ch 1; Before You Fly (settings, what's new, etc), Ch 2; Getting Started
(GUI, controllers, joystick and keyboard commands, in-flight menus),
Ch 3; Flight School ( IMHO, a great chapter dealing with everything from
how to start the engines, to getting the crate back on the carrier),
Ch 4; Combat Operations ( comms, flying in different types of weather,
differences in IJN (Imperial Japanese Navy) and U.S. fighter ops, overwater
navigation, etc), Ch 5; Emergency Procedures (different kinds of damage,
different kinds of engine failures, etc.), Ch 6; Air Combat (using the
different views, HUD usage, weapons, IJN fighter tactics, American fighter
tactics, the different combat maneuvers, tips, etc), Ch 7; The Missions
(types of missions, how the briefing & debriefings work, training missions,
and the mission builder), Ch 8; The Campaigns (the pilot's career, strategies,
and a breakdown of the various battles), Ch 9; For Exceptional Service
(promotions, medals, etc), Ch 10; Hall of Fame (short bios of 8 of the
IJN's aces, and 9 of the American aces, some of the admirals, and the
four advisors listed above), Ch 11; Machines of War (good info on the
flyable and non-flyable aircraft, the warships, vehicles and different
armaments), and we end with chapters concerning Joystick and Keyboard
Commands, Recommended Reading, Glossary, Technical Support and the Index.
Roughly the last third of the book is more background and "interesting
to know" information, but I found it wonderful reading. Also, interspersed
throughout the book you have some great vintage photos, good quotes,
and lots of fascinating stuff. Again I really liked the manual, it's
well laid out and full of good stuff.
Let's slap in the CDs and see what it's like. When you first fire this
thing up, you're going to notice something VERY different from the run-of-the-mill
flight sim. The opening scenes and the GUI look funny, in fact that look
almost comical, in fact they ARE comical. That's right, it's all done
in the form of "pulp fiction" if you will. There's no question that some
won't like it, and at first I was a bit unsure of it, but you know what?
I've found that it grows on you; and now I would call it (as my 13 yr
old says) "sweet". It's actually quite easy to navigate around in, the
cut scenes are voiced over comic book scenarios, and I think it all works
out quite well. It as much as shows one right out of the chute, just
how different (read fresh) this thing is going to be from most other
combat flight sims (including their first title in this series). Installation
from the double CD arrangement went without a hitch, and after clicking
on the CFS II icon; you are treated to the opening animation. Again,
it's a score of superb background music, and a series of "comic book"
like scenes. I think it works nicely to set the tone, and (in my opinion)
give us the subtle message that the business of war is, and always will
be, a young man's game.
At the opening scene, you see seven buttons that determine your flying
fate. They are labeled "Free Flight", "Quick Combat", "Single Missions",
"Campaigns", "Multiplayer", and "Training Missions". You can also wander
off into the "Settings" world, and even access the library of information
called "Pilot's Help". A HUGE amount of information here, and it can
be accessed anytime in the sim. (I know it's a bit unrealistic to hit
"Help" in the middle of a dive-bombing run, but if there's something
you just HAVE to know…it's there for you). In fact, if you've never flown
a Microsoft flight sim before, you're going to be pretty amazed at how
much information you have available while in the cockpit, as opposed
to only being able to get it from the GUI or manual. While we're on the
subject of doing things other than flying from the cockpit, let's see
what they are. Upon hitting the "Alt" key, the sim pauses and navigation
bar appears at the top of the screen. The choices read: Flight, Aircraft,
World, Options, Views, Wingmen and (the afore mentioned) Help. Without
going into all of them, suffice to say that you can do a ton from this
nav. bar (lots of these can also be done with keyboard commands). Again,
for the soul not used to MS flight sims, it's a bit weird, but I found
that I'm pretty neutral about it (still I would like a printed keycard
though).
Before we get into the six "big" buttons, let's dissect the "Settings"
a little. You're going to notice right away that there are LOTS of things
to adjust if you like. The sound volumes are sliders, and they are right
there on the first "Settings" page. Upon hitting the "Realism settings",
you can select the "cheats" as it were. They include: Flight Model realism
(easy, medium and hard…more on this later), unlimited ammo, unlimited
fuel and/or auto fuel management, the player's weapon effectiveness,
whether or not you want to be invincible, and lastly you have options
to turn on sun glare and G effects. When all is said and done, you get
an "Overall realism rating", i.e., 100%, 95 %, etc. Under "Controls"
you're given selections for force feedback, auto-mixture, auto-rudder,
and the decision to enable your joystick or not. You also see buttons
for "Controller sensitivities", "Calibrate joystick" and the biggie…"Controller
assignments". Yep you can reconfigure the joystick buttons and/or keyboard
commands to your hearts content. And lastly, we see the settings for
"Display", where you decide just how beautiful you're going to make all
this. Under the "Hardware" page, you get to see your "Device" being recognized
by the sim, set your resolution, enable hardware acceleration, check
some goodies like T and L, anti-alias, mip mapping, and the different
filtering options. Sliding over one button to "Image Quality" you can
move sliders and check boxes on everything from Max visibility level,
to Effects quality. The last button is labeled "Scenery library", and
if you've flown any of Mr. Bill's flight sims before, you know of what
I speak. This thing can import more things than a South American drug
dealer. Aircraft and scenery to be specific, and when the third party
add-ons, and the homebuilders get at this thing…. literally, the sky
is the limit.
