Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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46 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Highly recommended for Flying Enthusiasts and WWII Buffs, November 16, 1999
If you just want to shoot planes out of the sky this is not the game for you (but then again maybe flight simulation is not your thing anyway). However, if you want to experience what real fighter combat is like, this game is as real as it gets without leaving the ground. I would have given this game 5 stars, but since it will undoubtedly be purchased by non-flying enthusiasts I gave it 4. Test your flying and combat skills by playing the game online at Microsoft's Gaming Zone against other human players. It's probably not as intense as other action games, but it is definately more challenging. Shooting down an experienced pilot can be a real rush. But be warned. Getting mercilessly shot out of the sky can be extremely frustrating as well. The game also offers several challenging missions and campaigns which can be flown as a fighter with the USAF, RAF, or Luftwaffe. If you just want to play a game, try Quake or HalfLife. If you want to experience Fighter Combat, this is the game you've been waiting for.
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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It earns its wings, but it isn't an ace., March 8, 2000
Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator is a combat including variant of the Flight Simulator line. The product plays on the strengths of Microsoft's flight simulation experience but falls down in the attempt to simulate air warfare in which games like Red Baron and companies like Dynamix are far ahead of Microsoft.The graphics are far in advance of Flight Simulator 98. Although still bitmapped, the photorealistic terrain resolves into hedgerows, farms, and fields. The effect is especially stunning at high altitude. The flying models are just like ones in the civilian flight sim versions. However, since the models are "accurate", you'll find they don't bank and roll in combat like other games' aircraft which can be frustrating. Unfortunatley, Combat Flight Simulator falls down in the actual mechanics of its combat area. Campaigns are simply collections of about 16 missions which are otherwise totally unrelated. They're simply linked so your pilot garners promotions and medals but there is no continuity. It is wildly simplistic, nowhere near the campaign mode in games such as Red Baron II. AI combat skills are definatley lacking and the enemy resorts to the tried and true method of ramming into you (obvious when they aren't even firing their guns) to bring you down. Your wingmen aren't much better and will wander around the area of battle, and more often out of it, taking the occasional half-hearted potshot at the enemy. Usually, your wingmen just crash or get shot down, you can't rely on them. Don't worry about having a greedy wingman fly in front of you to steal a kill from you, it doesn't happen in this game. Another huge problem is that the AI seems to love ramming its planes into the ground. I've chased numerous enemy planes only to have them crash into the ground or run into mountains. However, this game does have one huge advantage over its rivals, its fanbase. Like Microsoft Flight Simulator, there are literally hundreds of files waiting to be downloaded. You can import any Flight Simulator 98 or earlier scenery into the game as well as aircraft. You can bring in jet aircraft to fight with (although you must tweak the weapons a bit because you aren't going to shoot down a Mig29 with an F-15 with .303 machine guns). The expansion capability of the game is enormous. Basically, hardcore air combat gamers might want to preview this game before they buy it. Fans of Microsoft Flight Simulator will want to get ahold of it as soon as possible. As an add-on that gives you the ability to fight with your aviation creations (both scenery and aircraft), it is an unparalleled product!
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great graphics, not so great campaigns, June 22, 2000
A good WW II flight sim should contain 4 key elements: Great graphics, great campaigns, realistic flight modeling, and good flight damage modeling. Combat flight simulator gets 2 out of 4. The game has some of the best graphics I have ever seen in a flight sim. The texture mapping on the landscapes is so detailed and sharp that sometimes you'll swear its real. In fact, it looks so realistic that at times the CGI planes look out of place against the more true to life terrain. The cockpits are nicely rendered and the planes look fantastic. When a plane takes damage and begins to stream smoke the effect looks very good. The flight modeling seems to be pretty accurate. You have three different levels of difficulty with the `Ace' setting giving you the most realistic experience of flying these planes. The planes never seem too difficult to handle but don't fly themselves by any means. I have found myself in several spins that were either difficult to get out of or ended in me ejecting from the plane. Good stuff. But don't let the graphics convince you this is a good game. There are some faults, damage modeling being the biggest problem. While in combat, I have blasted hundreds of rounds at enemy planes and witnessed bursts of debris come off the plane but nothing in terms of the degree of damage is seen - no bullet holes, no charred/burnt sections, no parts of the plane missing. In the intro you can see a couple of planes lose their wings in a blaze of destruction but I have yet to create this same effect in actual gameplay. And, surprisingly, when your own craft is destroyed you get the same stock explosion with obviously simple polygons representing the debris of your plane giving your demise a kind of "canned" feel. These problems detract from the virtual realism you want in a flight sim. The campaign modes are the least interseting aspect of the game and leave a lot to be desired. I want a sense of "being there" from my sims, outside of combat. I want detailed debriefings after a mission. I want to feel a sense of camaraderie with my fellow virtual pilots. I want to know who made it back and who didn't. I want to see how many kills my squad mates got so I have a benchmark with which to compete. I don't care if the missions are scripted or dynamic so long as they have that feel that really immerses you in a campaign. The campaigns here fall flat. If you are the kind of flight sim gamer who doesn't care about immersion in a campaign then the graphics alone will not disappoint. There are also some pretty good single mission that are not tied to a campaign but the re-playability value based on the single missions alone probably wouldn't be worth the purchase. There is also a quick mission feature which puts you right in the middle of battle. While this is a pretty good feature you can set the number of opponents in a squad but you can't give yourself any wingmen, so its just you against however many enemy pilots you choose. If you're into graphics, definitely get this or Jane's WW II fighters. If you want great gameplay and engrossing campaigns go with European Air War. I am hoping for better things from Combat Flight Simulator II - Pacific Theater coming in 4Q 2000.
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