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BOMBS AWAY!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 82 / 87
Date: November 26, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I finally got my hands on a copy of this. Its a version from Europe, for some reason the American release date isn't for a month or so. Regardless I'm sure the game will be the same. So let me tell you about it. My first impressions are, holy smokes. This game is going to be a huge hit. I'm not sure where to start. Well for one, the graphics are simply amazing. You can fly a huge variety of planes, be it American or German. But the best plane to fly is the B-17 of course. You can man all 10 positions in the plane, and during a mission can switch back and forth. During attacks you are so busy keeping track of everything the time just flys by. You can man a gun turret, pilot the aircraft or even be the bombadier. And if you are unfortunate enough to get shot down, well, don't fret, just switch planes and continue the mission. You can jump into any plane you want, be it the bomber, or your escorts. There are tons of missions to choose from as well. You can do the standard quick missions, training, longer missions from start to finish and various campaigns, both historic and some created ones. I'm amazed they packed this all onto one cd. This game has been in the making for so long, but it was definetly worth the wait. Anyone who likes WWII flight sims will fall in love with this game. I've only had it for a few days since it came in the mail. If you can't wait, get it from a Euro dealer, otherwise, it shouldn't be much longer till North American audiences enjoy this.

The game works..it's the user who has problems!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 44 / 44
Date: September 26, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Ok first of all, let me tell you the game works fine. It didn't crash on my system, and it didn't crash on two of my other computers (one of them only runs on a PII 400 mhz). I think the problem lies with the user. During installation, DO NOT install the A3D drivers. It's just common sense. If you dont have an A3D soundcard then dont install the drivers. Plain and simple. Some users feel they need to install every thing the game asks them to install but in reality you dont have to. Basic point is to know what your computer has. This game will ask you to install Direct x 7.0a. If you have Direct x8.0a then don't install Direct x 7.0a because its an older driver.

When the game boots, you will be given the option to create a graphics cache file. If you dont set the graphics cache file, the game will crash. Most users are so hot to get into the game that they neglect the little details of setting up options. All you have to do is set the graphics cache file. The graphics cache file uses about 500 mb of your swap file. Here's a trick. Clean up your OS system drive. Remove junk files in your Temp folder; in fact, remove everything you see in your temp folder. Next, go clean the Temp Internet Files folder.

Now to the game. Patch the game before you play it. Download patch 2.0 (25mb). Ok, the game is very realistic. For rookie sim fans wanting to fly and do some sightseeing around Germany on a B-17, this is not the game for you. By the time you get close to one of the radar sites surrounding Germany, dozens of attack fighters will feed you with lead until you either crash or turn back. This is a war sim ergo no free fly mode. Graphics does the job in the game although not that spectacular, for most of the flight, you'll be looking at open pastures and green until you get to your target. The travel time is very realistic. From your airbase to your target, you'll actually be flying the whole trip in real time. Sit back and relax during this trip, its going to be a long trip---enjoy it while it lasts because once the shooting happens, you'll be scambling for dear life. Missions in the game are historical and they are very difficult to accomplish but not impossible. Flight dynamics are superb (specially after you patch the game). These bombers are just hard to fly but hey this is 1943 people, they dont have the hardware like what planes have now. Special mention to the Norden bombsight instrument. This is a bit complicated to use. It shouldn't surprise history buffs since most of the bombs dropped during WWII never really did hit their targets. Dont expect to see HUDs or targetting reticles here. Everything is DEAD aiming and pure luck.

Overall, this game is awesome. It gave me a sense of just being inside the B-17 anticipating and waiting for the coming "storm" when flaks and enemy fighters start coming at you.

Buy this game, follow the tips I gave you and it should work. Oh and did i tell you the game hasnt crashed since i installed it?

Better than I expected

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: October 08, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I had another B-17 game some years ago. This one is significantly different. This is a real challenge! First, the instrumentation and interior graphics are very good. They could be improved by allowing the flyer to operate the flight deck controls with the mouse, but that is nitpicking. The exterior graphics are not state-of-the-art, but they are plenty good enough to really experience the game. The sound is good and realistic.

I had better identify my equipment so that you can judge my viewpoint. I have a 1.8 MHz Pentium 4 with a half-gig of RAM and my OS is Microsoft Windows ME. Video is ATI. I use a CH Flightstick Pro USB and CH Pro Pedals USB with Control Manager. (The brakes do not work with this simulation.

Everything else works fine and the loading was easy.

As to my experience, I'm in my mid-seventies and made my first solo in the mid '40s. I've flown a variety of single engine aircraft over the years, but have little multi-engine experience, and that only as air crew, except on the computer. I've also built and flown a variety of radio-controlled aircraft. I have flown just about every decent simulator on the market since 1989, but my specialty is WWII aircraft since that is my generation. I'm partial to the Pacific Theater, and particularly love the F6F "Hellcat" as a fighter plane--it accounted for nearly 80 percent of all the Japanese aircraft shot down in air-to-air combat in the Pacific, and had a 19-1 kill ratio. Not bad. It also made more aces than any other allied single-engine fighter plane.

I mostly fly fighters. I think the best combat flight sim (for graphics and flight characteristics) currently on the market is IL-2 Sturmovik. Jane's WWII Fighters and and Microsoft's Combat Flight Sim 2 are neck-and-neck for second place, and I'm looking at MS Combat Flight Sim 3 with high hopes.

This is a good sim. It is very realistic in the flight characteristics of a large multi-engine prop driven aircraft. The sounds are very realistic as well, and for those who think it is a difficult game--it is! But then, so is actually flying such an aircraft, but it can be learned. Practice, practice, practice!

The ability to move from one crew position to the next easily is not realistic, but it is great fun! One thing I appreciate is the very thing that bugs many; the fact that you can spend hours on a single mission--in fact, you can spend several minutes stacked up, orbiting your own airfield just waiting to land after a mission. Oh, you can avoid it by speeding things up to 8X time, but of course the actual aircrews were simply stuck with it. That's just the way it was!

In real life, it was hours, weeks, sometimes months of boredom interspersed with moments of sheer terror. "Hurry up and wait" was as typical of WWII as "Kilroy was here."

But, do you want to get a feel for how it really was (without the gut-wrenching fear, of course) or do you just want to play another game? One thing about the boredom of hours of droning engines--it lulled the crew, so that when the action suddenly started when a Bf-109 or FW-190 or (God help us!) an ME-162 suddenly bounced you out of the sun, it was all the more unexpected.

This is of course not like being at war. Not even close. The people who really flew in these ships actually died, as you know. More than 50,000 men from the 8th died over Europe. That's the entire crew of 5,000 different aircraft. Losses were high. It was hard to get through the 25 missions required, alive. For the Luftwaffe, it was, if anything, worse! There was no limit to the number of their missions. They flew until they were killed or the war ended, whichever came first.

I recommend this game if you have the patience and the equipment tofly it properly. If you are simply looking for something that will allow you to shoot down lots of "enemy" quickly, this is probably not for you.

Joe Pierre, USN (Ret)

Best Flight Sim EVER!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 31 / 37
Date: January 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I ordered this game off amazon.com and got it 4 days later. I got a 750Mhz 128MbRAM (I got another 128MbRAM on the way from Bestbuy.com) and it runs great. There is some build up when you are outside the plane lookning at it and fly around with the camera. This might go away with my extra 128RAM not sure.

The game starts off and you Pic nose art, Crew, and then watch the brefing and your flyn'. I hit 'Enter' and it makes it skip 10 minutes in time. (I like sims just not waiting hours in flight) It will tell me when there is a fight or flak or problems so I dont miss anything. The flak is amazing and it sounds so real inside the bomber. Damage is so real its scarey and if you get air sick you'll barf at how real the ground is.

A Must Have if you like World War II or flying games...

Great game bad graphics

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 20 / 47
Date: July 17, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game is awesome, when i had it i used to play it all day and all night. The graphics didn't bother me because they were average for the time. The gameplay is great. Not only do you shoot and bomb targets, you take care of a crew that can pass out, be injured and die. It's fun for the whole family.

This one's going to take home the Grammy

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 26
Date: October 17, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I've been waiting for this game for over 8 years! I may be a small part of the reason it was created because I sent Microprose several letters thanking them for the original game and begging for a sequal with updated graphics and hopefully a little better control at the strategic level. I'm not overly concerned about the fact that it will not have multiplayer support.

JUST PUT THE GAME INTO MY GRIMEY PALMS SO I CAN START PLAYING IT NOW!!!

PS to Microsoft (or Hasbro): Support this game and begin preparations for B-17 III ! (if you build it, we will come)

The best WW2 sim produced to date

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 17
Date: February 22, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Forget Rowan's 'Battle of Britain' and Microsoft's latest effort. B17 is undoubtedly the best WW2 aerial combat sim that has ever been produced to date and works a treat with my 1000 MHz processor. The graphics are exemplary, and the attention to detail awesome. Infact I can't praise Microprose / Hasbro Interactive too lavishly for their ambitious attempt to portray the heroism and sacrifice of the US 8th Airforce during the daylight bomber offensive against Nazi Germany 1943 -1945. The atmosphere in B17 is astounding, the flak from below and the cannon rounds from attacking German FW 190s, BF 109s and ME 262s are absolutely real. So too is the general damage modelling, the photographic realism of exploding aircraft and the desire you have as a US airman to do your duty. My very few gripes include the fact that the ground looks too green at 25,000 ft and waves should be invisible over the English Channel and North Sea. Minor gripes indeed. I look forward in due course to a sim of this calibre being devoted to the greatest bomber of the war, the Avro Lancaster with all of the marauding hun night fighters, searchlights, T.I.s ( target indicators) and RAF banter included. For goodness sake please make it as realistic and detailed as B17 or else I won't buy it! ...

Awesome game while learning some history

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 15
Date: June 11, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I love this game! Technical glitches aside (in my opinion, minor), the graphics and playability are excellent, if you have the patience to learn how to fly the plane. This game is best suited for students of military history or who love the B-17 (and I fit both those descriptions being an Army Reserve officer). Too many of the reviews I have seen talk about the technical merits or the graphics of this game. I want to add the enormous learning experience this game has to offer. What impresses me the most is the historical significance of this game. There are few left who truly remember what it was like to fly these missions, and this is as close as I want to get. My hands get sweaty as soon as I see the flak or hear "fighters, 12-o'clock high!" I named my crewmembers after persons I know, and it is shocking when I hear that one of my "friends" is hit. It is also quite a sobering experience when you return to base and see the letters written by your squadron commander to the widows and grieving families of those killed "while engaged with the enemy over the skies of Europe." My hats off to the programmers of this game, who remind us that war is never without cost and sacrifice. Especially since the events of Sept 11, this game graphically illustrates what 10 men in a technically unsophisicated war machine (compared to today's hardware) could do to change history.

Very realistic

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 15
Date: February 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is probably the most realistic flight sim I've ever played. It looks like every switch, dial, and control that was on the real B-17 is accurately reproduced in this game, and all of them are fully functional with the click of a mouse button. Once you've played this game, you will know the real pre-flight procedure in a real B-17, you will know how to feather an engine in a real B-17, and you will know how to operate a Norden bombsight. Because of this, though, the learning curve is very steep. Don't expect to be flying your first mission for a while.

The graphics are pretty darn good, even though the game is 2 years old now. Personally I think the system requirements are vastly underestimated on the box. I have a Duron 1.2 GHz with a GeForce 4 (although only 128Mb of system ram) and it just runs tolerably at 800x600 with the detail levels up. The box claims it will run on a 300 MHz P2...I have a hard time believing that. Maybe in 512x384 with all the detail levels turned down, at like 25 frames per second. :) It's no wonder so many people have had problems with the game with such misleadingly low system requirements...

In conclusion I would definately recommend this game to anyone who is a WW2 aviation buff or anyone who is tired of the hackneyed fighter-based aviation combat sims and wants something a little more immersive and dramatic.

B-17 is a great game!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: September 28, 2002
Author: Amazon User

B-17 Flying Fortress is a good game for several reasons. It has great historical accuracy. It has real targets that were of importance to the 8th airforce at that time. Some of the game modes are:1) Bomber campaign. In this, you command a B-17, and 10 men who flew it. It has a file containing everything about every crew member. 2) Squaderon campaign. In this you command a squaderon of B-17s. You pick targets,pick the planes that go on the mission,pick ordanance, change waypoints, and assign recon missions. There are all the targets on the map in Germany and France, and you pick 3. They are Primary, secondary, and tertiary. Everything about each individual plane is the same. 3) Historical mission. Fly 6 historical missions in WWII. 4)Quickstart missions. Fly 6 missions ranging from landing a crippled B-17, to shooting down P-51s in an Fw-190. 5) Training missions. Fly 6 training missions including Taxi and takeoff, approach and landing,feathering/restarting an engine,bombing:good conditions, bombing:poor conditions, and gunnery training. As far as technical information, it is exact! The cockpits are exact, I know because I have a book with photos of all the cockpits of all the planes you can fly, plus I've been in a B-17. You can fly the following: B-17, P-51, P-47, P-38, Me 109, Fw 190 and the Me 262 jet. The rest of the B-17 is accurate too. The game also goes into detail with the Norden bombsight. The graphics are impressive! Overall this game is great, and I highly recommend it! It's worth the investment.

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