Red Baron 3-D

by Vivendi Universal

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00001LCDF
• Media: CD-ROM
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #28,831 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #75 in Video Games > PC Games > Simulation > Flight
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Despite the Red Baron, the Sopwith Camel, zeppelins, and other famous 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-D comes along it only leaves us wanting more. This upgraded version of Red Baron 2 is vastly better than the game that preceded it, from the improved 3-D graphics (if you have a 3-D accelerator that supports the Glide API) to the new flight models.

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

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

Pros:

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

Cons:

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

Amazon.com Product Description

The realistic graphics and effects of this game take you back to the early days of aviation, when daring pilots flew their dogfight missions on one part courage and one part technology. Red Baron 3-D excels in its attention to detail and use of innovative graphics technology. The game is suitable for all ages.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is what a combat flight simulator should be!, December 13, 1999

By 

DMF - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Baron 3-D (CD-ROM)

If you're like me then you've probably been suckered into buying simulators that are "realistic" and "like the real thing" only to find that they are slow, unplayable, and just plain boring. If so, try this, it's nothing like them. It's both fun and exciting, playable and at times fast. A lot of research went into the making of this game. Where others try to achieve total realism of flight (lets face it, you're sitting in front of a computer, it will never happen!) this game depends on the player being surrounded by the other experiences, like hoping to get back over your lines while your wing men are dead and your crate is losing oil. In short, the game achieves the right balance of realism and arcade fun to keep you playing. PS: I would have given it five stars but for two reasons: 1. For some reason the makers designed the planes to shoot rockets (! ) which is just too arcade like for me. 2. If you are in campaign mode and need to quit, you'll have to either end the game and hope you don't get penalized or just hit abort and have to restart that mission later.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Sequel to one of the best flight sims ever., June 22, 2000

By 

Jeff "filmfanman" (Kansas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Baron 3-D (CD-ROM)

Fantastic! But let me give you a warning first. I received this as a Christmas gift two years ago when I had a P133 with 48m of RAM and 4X CD-ROM. According to the system requirements on the box, I satisfied the MINIMUM requirements. Upon loading the game, I experienced extremely lengthy load times for missions, jerkiness, and jitter during combat (an enemy would be in my sights one second and then up above me the next second). Missions with over 4 planes in the air brought my machine to a near stand still and the time compression feature was useless as it would take sometimes ten to fifteen minutes to reach a waypoint or target, even with time compress set to 16X. These experiences occurred with the graphics settings set to their minimum. I even tried it on a P166 with little improvement. Frankly it was not very fun and I was relegated to the "Fly Now" missions only. Later I took advantage of the Red Baron 3D upgrade and rebate offer hoping for some operational improvement, but there was none. After several weeks I shelved the game and forgot about it thinking that I would soon upgrade my computer.

Well that time came two days ago. I upgraded to a P600 with 128M RAM and a 40X CD-ROM. I pulled Red-Baron 3D off the shelf, loaded it up, and the improvement is AMAZING!. At the highest graphics setting I have difficulty finding any flaws in performance. The frame rate is smooth, time compression is tremendously improved, the planes handle well, and the graphics are pretty sharp even without the 3DFX chip required for the 3D enhanced graphics (I'm running a 16m RIVA TNT, which is not supported for this game.)

The campaigns are very immersive although sometimes the AI seems to get a little stupid. I was able to shoot down Manfred Von Richthoven on my first mission! He was very passive, making no attempts to get away or to turn and attack me. Flying against him in the "Single Mission" scenarios he is very aggressive and difficult to pull into a turning duel. I would expect that same level of difficulty when meeting him in a campaign mission.

One of the things I love is the little touches included in the missions. During one combat I shot down an enemy plane and watched it hit the ground. As I circled the downed planes neighboring air field, an ambulance came out of one of the hangars and I was able to watch it go to the site where the plane crashed. Incredible! Little things like this really pull you into this game.

As it is, it is one of the most engrossing flight sims I have played and I don't see any chance of sleep for the next several nights. I recommend the game but only if you have at least a P300 with 64m RAM and a high speed CD-ROM. When game manufacturers determine minimum requiremnts I would like to think that this is a minimum requirement by which the game can still be enjoyed. So purchase wisely.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great facelift for one of the greatest PC games ever..., May 31, 2000

By 

Casey - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Baron 3-D (CD-ROM)

The first time I saw this game, way back in the early 90's, it looked interesting. What became of that was many years, even including last year, of playing it non-stop until I bought the 3D version.

The realism is powerful, and the improved 3D graphics make this one game that will no doubt live forever in the PC gaming hall of fame. What makes this game different from all other flight sims is the campaign mode. In the last decade and even now, nothing has even come close to the feeling of building your pilot up in rank, status, and medals. When your pilot dies, you feel awful, especially after days and even weeks, of intense combat and intrigue, (Sometimes other famous pilots, like the Red Baron, will write you a letter and challenge you to a duel!). The campaign doesn't drag on either, because the war ends as it did in real life in 1918, so you can retire your score to the hall of fame board and start over trying to beat your last pilot.

Who needs multiplayer? This game rocks, and I have never met a person who hasn't thought thought this game to soar beyond other flight sims. The only others to come close are the good old Lucas games, Battle of Britan and Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe.

Buy this now, before it fades away and is pushed aside by evil marketing people who care more about graphics and sound than FUN! Fun is what games are about, and Red Baron 3D is one of the last great games of the early days that will always be there to go back to when flying games become ridiculous and boring, much they have already become.