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The buggiest game I have ever played!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: February 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I want to love this sim; I really do. However it's hard to love a game that has more bugs than the Berkeley School of Entomology! I have never seen a game with so many bugs and with such diverse characteristics. There is even a bug that makes all aircraft in play disappear except for your own of course. The Crash To Desktop bug (CTD) is the most common annoyance. Even after patching it will continue to plague your gaming sessions. Some people claim to no longer have this problem after installing the patch but I find these claims hard to believe.

The game play is where this sim really shines. The flight model is one of the best I have ever experienced. The graphics are very good but some what dated. Some don't like the AI routines but I believe the AI puts up a good fight. The damage model is lacking somewhat. For example you will notice single engine aircraft that continue to fly in formation with their engines aflame. Shockwave Entertainment claims to be working on this problem. There are several modes of play available including a large number of "instant action" missions. The campaign system provided forces one into the role of strategic commander. It plays more like a Battle of Britain board game than a flight sim campaign. There is no pilot carrier option in the true sense of the term. Too bad because a campaign based on flying missions as an individual pilot would allow the player to enjoy this games strongest asset; it's flight model.

BoB2 is incredibly imersive. You really feel like you are flying over the British isles during this great conflict. The game is capable of putting hundreds of enemy aircraft in the sky at one time and despite this fact frame rates are quite good. Sound quality is a bit thin but can be improved with any of the sound mods available. In the end I have decided to give BoB2 three stars. This is only because despite all the mirid bugs, deep down where it counts BoB2 is a great game. I just wish Shockwave would have included a can of Raid with the Limited Edition!!

North American Retail Version

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 17 / 29
Date: September 22, 2005
Author: Amazon User

COMPANY LINE:
The North American version of this game is different from the European Version and comes with a full 19"X14" map, keyboard template, 140 page printed manual, and a DVD Documentary on the Battle of Britain.

We just released a patch to the game that successfully addressed some technical issues being reported from customers.

This game has received a great review in PCGamer Magazine, and is a must for anyone who enjoys an air combat experience with great atmosphere. Battle of Britain II has beautiful aircraft cockpits, clouds, visual effects, and an amazing campaign that gives unlimited replayability.

-Shockwave Productions

A Buggy Mess

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 10 / 17
Date: October 16, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I love military simulations. They're the only kind of game I ever play on my PC. We didn't have much in the area of flight sims lately, and I did have fond memories of the original BoB, so I was quite eager to get this. And what did I get? The game is unplayable. Crashes are so frequent that you barely get to experience the gameplay at all. The patch did not fix the problems at all. On the forums the reports are that this is machine-specific, but I have a top of the line gaming computer from a highly reliable company (Falcon NW Mach V), and I've never had a single problem with any other game I've ever run.

BoB II mostly crashes to desktop less than a minute after starting a mission, and requires incredible patience on my part to actually get to the point where you're airborne and within sight of an enemy aircraft. And when the game does run, there's nothing in it worth playing. The graphics are abysmal. Many years after the release of the IL-2 Sturmovik, they're still not in the same ballpark. And the framerate is absolutely inexplicable. Flight Model does not feel like it's in any way advanced, so I can't imagine it's responsible for all those wasted CPU cycles. And - get this - there is NO damage modeling. As far back as the classic EAW you could see some indication of your gunfire on the enemy aircraft. Not so in BoB. They may act like they're hit, of course, but they don't show it. That Heinkel will be as pristine after your Spitfire's full burst as it was before it.

In short, I have a huge itch to fly something. By now I'm tired of the Il-2 line, and I really wanted BoB II to satisfy my needs. But I probably wouldn't even keep playing it even it wasn't crashing every 60 seconds. Even if the game did go through adequate QA, it still wouldn't be a contender. Avoid. The fact that, as I'm writing this, the only positive review here is from the developer (ha!) should tell you something.

Bad Product Bad Company

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 13 / 27
Date: September 19, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Basically this game was a let down from the day that it came out of its packaging, firstly there was no manual to speak of for UK customers and the game is plauged with so many faults that most of the time you will be playing a slideshow rather than being immeresed in one of the greatest air battles to date. instead you are left with so many crashes that the game will end up dusty on your shelf. It is an old game that has been rehashed but cannot polish a turd, Stick with IL2 Forgotten Battles as the graphics and gameplay are far superior.

Too many crashes, Too many Bugs and GMX media have the worst customer service i have ever encountered, DO NOT purchase this title or any GMX games as when you highlight the faults to them you will not be heard and you will also be banned from their forums.

STAY AWAY FROM THIS PRUDUCT , as even high end machines find it unplayable!!!

I like this combat flight sim a lot!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: November 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

My opinions are based on a recent purchase of BOB2 and the latest 2.03 patch which self installs.
Depending on the sim's training or battle scenarios frame rates on my medium or at best high medium end PC are in the low 20's to high 40's. Graphics and plane damage modeling, although maybe not state of the art, are very good and after many hours of play not one CTD! I've also found the company/developer to be very supportive but then all one has to do is browse Shockwave's BOB2 forums to form a personal opinion.
So...if you want an immersive...realistic combat flight sim that deals exclusively with the Battle of Britain then BOB2 is probably your best choice. Like I said...I like this sim a lot and believe it's just going to get better and better.

I wish there was a "ZERO STARS" option!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 9
Date: January 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The only reason I gave this 1 star is because no stars isn't available. Ok, in spite of the reviews that said this game had some programming issues called "CTD's" (crashes to desktop) I bought it anyway since one reviewer said it ran fine after downloading the updates. All I can say is that he must be blessed. After downloading all 3 updates (patches) this program will not run more than 1 minute into the game without crashing. There are too many other flight sims available to waste your time, much less your money, on Battle of Britain 2. They should rename it "$43 bucks down the drain".

The game is awesome TODAY, unlike at original release

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: April 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

It is a shame that none of the many thousands of people who own and are playing this game have posted here. Amazon is not and never was a a major distribution channel for this game. The handful of reviews here are simply not a fair representation of what most people who currently own and play this game feel about it.

For example MAROS who gave it a one star terrible review says he was trying to play it on an ATI9250 and GeForce 5600FX card. Those are very low end and almost ancient cards. Of course he had issues. BoB2, like most flight sims is very PC demanding and requires DX9.0C fully compliant hardware. Is it fair that he trashed the game and the PC he was using to try it is an obsolete POS? I don't think so.

I suggest people go to SimHQ, Airwafare, Shockwave Productions or even the Ubisoft General Discussion forums (Ubisoft is the distributor of IL2, a competitor of BoB2) for REAL and FAIR perspective and commentary on this game. Even on the Ubisoft boards, there is grudging respect for BoB2 now and many of the IL2 players are now converts and play both games regularly. Word of mouth is spreading and many people are discovering how good this underrated game actually is now.

SimHQ a website dedicated to ALL types of air, sea and land combat games just recently awarded BoB2 the "Best Air Combat game of 2006". I think the folks at SimHQ and many hundreds of other simmers who post at many of the well-known flight sim boards should be considered more fair and credible than someone like MAROS.

Yes, in its original out of the box release form Battle of Britain II was incredibly buggy. It got a lot of (deserved) bad press and publicity due to the bugginess and issues. Subsequent patches resolved many but not all issues. With version 2.05 most of the major bugs were fixed and there were many many enhancements and improvements over any prior versions. Even so, one somehwat big flaw remained and that was the need for the "DEP workaround". A simpe workaround setting in something in WinXP. Some users who still had crashes were either too lazy or frustrated to even bother checking the tech support forums and simply gave up.

The latest patch, version 2.06 is about to be released (days or at most a couple of weeks). It has a HUGE number of additional enancemnents including all new Flight Models and significantly improved coding that has fixed almost all AI warpy behavior. Most importantly, even the need for the DEP workaround has been fixed.

If you want to SEE the game in action, go to YouTube and/or google search "BoB2" or "Battle of Britain II In Dulce Decorum" for many community created videos incuding one I created over 7 minutes long. There is an awesome BoB2 video on googlevideo by a guy named 150GCT_MANTA as well.

I own the entire IL2 series, including 1946. A great game in its own right, especially with its multiplayer capability which BoB2 lacks. BoB2 is INCREDIBLY immersive, has a massive campaign mode, has what is widely regarded as one of the best offline AI in ANY aircombat prop sims. The battles are on a massive scale and white-knuckle at times in intensity. It is the ONLY game of any genre I have ever played where the AI are at times as good or better even than good human opponents in other games.

The game also has FULL support for Track IR in 6 Degrees of Freedom. It has amazing Force feedback effects, especially for the flight model with FFB for buffet, drag, approaching stall, impacts, touchdown on the fields, gear extending, cannon and machine gun fire and impacts, etc. The FFB effects BLOW AWAY those of CFS3 and FS9 or FSX and only Il2 comes close as far as FFB.

Its no skin off my back if people don't buy the game. I am NOT a Dev nor affiliated with the company in any way except as a very happy owner of it and a beta tester.

Like I said, go to some of the well-known combat flight sim forums for a REAL indicator of what this game is all about in its PRESENT form.

SimHQ
Airwarfare
Ubisoft
Shockwave Productions

I don't see the problem

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: April 15, 2007
Author: Amazon User

After reading the reviews that complain about bugs and CTDs (crashes to desktop) I am perplexed. I have owned and run this game for several months now without a single CTD. It is very satisfying to play, with great graphics, sound effects and controls. The cockpits and outside views of the Spitfires and Hurricanes, as well as the German planes are very well done.

It runs smoothly on my machine, with a Logitech Attack 3 stick and CH pedals that I bought here at Amazon. My computer, a SONY Vaio 9 series is two years old, and has no trouble with this sim.

I'd recommend it to anyone.

Bill Yowell

Light years ahead of first release

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I have been playing all the combat flight sims that have been released in the last 3 years. Currently this is the most fun and feels most real. The only draw back I have as of the moment (April 15, 2007 - version 2.5) is that there is no multi-player. There may be in the future.

Terrible

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: April 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game is the worst. A complete waste of money. Before the patch it wouldn't act correctly at all and when I did patch it, it still wasn't worth it. Too much time spent on eye candy and not enough on the actual game. Plus the game was OK with my 9250 ATi card but fickle on my preferred machine with a 5600FX GeForce. I've played better DOS flight sims then this. Buyer beware!!!

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