The designers certainly didn't focus on minute details at the expense of Battle of Britain's strategic possibilities. The game engine is capable of throwing hundreds of planes in the air at once, and it simulates raids whether they are part your particular mission or not. It's possible to take off with the intention of intercepting a small flight of Stuka dive-bombers only to end up responding to a massive raid of heavy bombers attacking a town miles away. Few games give the player such a sense of playing a bit part on the stage of battle.

That's not to say the gamers' actions and input are inconsequential. Battle of Britain also comes with a campaign mode that lets players make strategic decisions as either the British or the Germans. As the British players, receive reports on incoming raids and apportion your meager resources to effectively meet each threat. German commanders get to deal with the problem of assigning fighter escorts to the bombers, knowing that the fighters can't spend more than 20 minutes over enemy soil because of fuel limitations. Those are just a few of the situations players face. It's also possible to jump into any plane in the campaign mode to play out a mission in the simulation mode. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Masterful combination of cerebral strategic campaign mode and adrenaline-charged simulation mode
• Excellent flight models
• Beautiful terrain and buildings

• High-quality visuals require a lot of computing horsepower
• Sound effects could be better
• Steep system requirments
• Some users report frequent system-crashing bugs