European Air War

by Atari

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00000K4LL
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: June 8, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,461 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Edition: Standard

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

Cons:

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

Product Description

Take to the skies over Europe during the most dangerous days of World War II. Pilot 20 authentic fighter aircraft from America, Britain, and Germany. Plus, Pilot Career mode enables you to improve your skills over time!

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Sim is a Landmark, the Gaming Press & Sim Fans Agreed, November 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: European Air War (CD-ROM)

The above review, (while the reviewer is entitled to his own opinions of course,) does not reflect the critical acclaim won by this simulation generally. To me, and many others, It still stands unchallenged as the best WWII air combat simulation to date. With a second patch (V 1.2) available which improves it even further, plus the two excellent freeware programs ('Enemy Coast Ahead!' and 'Meatwater's Sound pack,') readily available for download on the internet, I am still playing this sim over a year after its release. It is vastly superior to its competition, and one of the finest simulations ever made.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars European Air War, June 19, 2001

By 

Rob C. (northglenn, co United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: European Air War (CD-ROM)

I played this game for the first time last night and I found that this is a fun and very beautiful game to play. With the patch, the game play is very nice and the graphics are great. The only problem that I have found with the game is that it seems to be too easy to shoot down enemy planes.

On my very first mission I (along with 8 or so other spitfires) attacked a German bomber formation of over 20 planes. The excitement of seeing so many targets in the sky at once is awsome! But, on my first pass through the german formation I was able to down 4 HE-111's which seemed way too easy. I may have the realism settings for the weapons or the planes set too easy and this may fix the problem, but it seemed that I only had to barely hit the bomber and it would explode into 1000 pieces. So, in my first mission I downed a total of 7 He-111's and was an ace right off the bat.

Otherwise, the excitement of the game was great and the graphics are stunning, I just need to fix the gun problem and set the target strength up higher (if I can).

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great game, but starting to show it's age, December 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: European Air War (CD-ROM)

This is a very entertaining game, but with Jane's and Microsoft combat sims on the shelves you'll have to get this game based on it's admittedly superior campaign missions. While the others give you a player to create and follow with promotions and medals and such, it's a lot more fun to follow your pilot with European Air War. The only gripe I have is that technology seems to be leaving this otherwise fine game behind. The scenery in other sims is making this one seem dull. Also while this seems to work fine using an older Pentium with an ATI rage card, a newer Pentium III with a SR9 card (allegedly better) gave enough weird results for me to set the machine to software rendering-which by the way worked just fine. Oh, and the answer is "no"-updated drivers and the patch did nothing. All in all a superior story line, a more entertaining feel, but let's you wish for a little more eye candy.

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