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Spot on!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 15
Date: November 01, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Simply put, Combat Flight Simulator 2 is a fantastic combination of fun and white knuckle thrills! Where the first outting was slightly lacking CFS2 nicely fills all the voids and then some. Stunning aircraft details abound, bullet holes, flak damage, flames, smoke as well as the ships, islands and even the waves of the ocean are so finely detailed they'll make your eyes pop and your mouth water! Critical point however, make darn sure you have the very latest drivers for your video card or you'll spend alot of time banging your head on the keyboard wondering why you can't keep your system from stalling. Also be sure to keep your screen setting (in game) at 800x600x16 or above, when set at 640x480 on my system, I got kicked out of the game every time I was shot down, at the higher settings, no problems to report just brilliant hours in the air! Difficulty options make this flight sim a must for the pilot or thrill seeker, there is litteraly a setting for everybody at any level of flight sim experience 8 to 80. Set in a 40's comic book theme, The cut scene's are colourful and cleaver, although the subject matter and voice overs give you an erie feeling that the boys that fought in the skies over the Pacific so bravely, knew full well there was a very fine line between victory and death at sea. If you've got the system to run it, you'll be releaved and thrilled that the future of combat flight siming has finally arrived! So, try your steady hand at landing on the rolling deck of a carrier, or taking on two dozen zero's in a thunderstorm, with CFS2 sky's the limit and once you strap yourself into this title that's where you'll want to stay!

Not so hot

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 18 / 20
Date: November 11, 2001
Author: Amazon User

So I've been flying flight sims since the days of FS version 1.0, and I was pretty psyched about this game after reading all the reviews. After playing it, however, I've come away somewhat disappointed. It's not a *bad* game, but it's not as good as it could be.

What's right:
-Beautiful graphics. This is one pretty game.
-Nice selection of planes to fly, with different and reasonably well-modeled flight characteristics.
-Excellent detail on the engine controls and damage modeling.

What's wrong:
-Repetitive, inflexible missions. Take off, accelerate time to target zone, dogfight or bomb, accelerate time home. Yawn. After about five missions I was starting to feel like I'd seen everything.
-Useless wingmen
-Limited radio commands to issue (and the wingmen never seem to listen anyway)
-Useless LSO for carrier landings (and *terrible* looking...couldn't they at least animate him or do him in 3D? He looks like a cardboard cutout!) Follow his instructions and you'll miss the deck every single time.
-No torpedoes. How do you model the Pacific war without including torpedoes?

But the reason I was most disappointed with it was that I never got the feeling of being immersed in a bigger conflict...all the missions just seemed very limited and not very interesting. It's a shame - they've got nice graphics and flight models here, but it seems like they never spent the time to flesh out the rest of the game.

Excellent WWII Flight Sim

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 16 / 17
Date: February 21, 2002
Author: Amazon User

First the problems. You DO need a fairly powerful computer to play this game, otherwise it's jerky. The ships don't do anything but put up AA fire. They don't attack each other. Some ships, like the transports, don't follow the rest of the ships in their group. The lack of torpedos on player aircraft is unrealistic, as are the bomb loads.
On the other hand. The graphics are outstanding. The planes are very realistic in look and performance. I'm a real WWII Pacific Theatre buff and especially like the way that the F4U Corsair performs. When you roll to the right and dive away from a Zero you usually can outrun them, just like in real life. The locations, Midway, Henderson Field, etc. are also very well done.
After a couple of weeks I started using the included Mission Builder to create my own missions. Some are based on historical events, like my "Remember Pearl Harbor" mission. Others are just major fleet, air engagements. The Mission Builder should ensure that you don't get bored after beating both the single missions and the campaign missions.
Whether you like to fly US or Japanese aircraft, you'll like this game.
I highly recommend playing this game with a force feedback stick, like the Microsoft Force Feedback 2. I also recommend at least a P2 or equivalent processor at 550mHz or higher, and at least 128megs of RAM.
Personally, I think this game could be even better if Microsoft issued a supplemental update to correct a few of the realism problems (no torpedos, bomb loads). With those things fixed, I'd give this game 5 stars.

flaming wings

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 14 / 14
Date: November 12, 2000
Author: Amazon User

First of all I must agree that this game requires a very fast computer with a good graphics card. My system is a P-3 800MHz,128 megs of ram, and a GE-FORCE 2 card. It is very important to download the detonator 3 driver from Nvidia or your game will have continuous crashes and will not even run. Now on to the game I was shocked at how the graphics looked (after the latest driver installed), comparing it to Janes WW2 fighters is close but while the airplane graphics are similar and flight characteristics are similar the big difference is in the ground graphics,the ocean is outstanding with the variety of depths of ocean represented by different shades of blue that are gradual, and the lush tropical jungle is well represented here. I highly recommend this product but only if you have the hardware to run it.

Best Flight Game Available

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 14
Date: May 28, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Two words - "Open System". Microsoft has allowed this game to be have an open system architecture. This means that you can add-on other planes, missions, campaigns, scenery, effects, etc... Sure you only start out with 7 planes, but I have over 40 or so now! Including some WWI planes and even some Korean ones, including the P-86, P-80 and a Mig-15. This keeps the game interesting. The game also includes a mission editor that allows you to create whatever type of missions with how ever many planes, ships or tanks in the area in any way you want. Don't even start me on the graphics. They are simply amazing. When you fire, you can see bits and pieces of your opponents plane just coming apart in mid air, just make sure you don't fly into them! The graphics engine display damage profile of the plane with awesome realism. The bullet holes and Flak fragments are out of this world. If you took a lot of lead on your rudder or flaps, the plane will respond appropriately. Awesome game! But remember, the game is also really big; about 900 MB on full install.

Great flying and graphics.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 17 / 21
Date: May 07, 2004
Author: Amazon User

As an avid flight simmer, I was really looking forward to this game, but also with a lot of doubts. The game itself is incredible; graphics are the best I have seen from any flight simulation. The concern when I first got it was, the same thing that disappointed me with FS2000, the frame rate. I, by no means have a fast computer (PIII 600, 128 MB RAM), but I am consistently getting a pleasing 25-30 frames a second from CFS2, and that was with the detail turned on full blast and 4 planes buzzing around, I was overwhelmed. The only way I could get that good of frame rates from FS2000, was to fly at night over the ocean.

The detail put into this game is great, everything from seeing the ripples in the water as a ship is sunk, to the sounds of the ships motors as you fly by, flying through the flak, oh and of course the damage of the planes being shot.....very nice. There were a few disappointments, one being wingman commands....they are very limited, and the limited amount of planes you can fly, I would have liked to fly a B-25 and drop 3000 lbs of bombs on a tiny island, overall its a outstanding game, 1 step above CFS Europe.

Also, I bought my first FS software to fly the number one freeware aircraft simulator on the Internet - The TR-3B Flying Triangle. I flew fighters for the Air Force in late Vietnam, specifically the F-111 and am rated commercial also. The TR-3B Flight Simulator for Microsoft's Flight Sim, is based on the writings, lectures, and TV interviews of Edgar Fouche who wrote "Alien Rapture." (See amazon)

Why? This is what the genius who developed it wrote: "For the experienced flight simmer on FS2002 PRO, I have developed this complete exotic amphibian TR-3B package, which is now available as freeware for download. It includes 3 models - the purple Astra, blue Locust and white Hellas - and as an extra 4th model the TR-3X with its own speedy attacker flight dynamics. The package includes TR-3B panel & gauges, noise cancellation sounds, fsuipc and special lights effects.

This TR-3B is a heavy tactical reconnaissance aircraft equipped with a magnetic field disruptor that reduces the weight by 89 percent (it is not the same as anti-gravity, though). It has been created for Microsoft Flight Simulator. All gauges are included.

The TR-3B can float like a speedboat at Mach 1.5 over water, fly like a heavy helicopter, like a bush plane, a business jet, like a military jet and lift like a rocket. Cruise speed is approx Mach 4.7 at FL340 and above, and approx Mach 2 at sea level. Service ceiling approx 69,000 feet ASL. Super stable. FSFREEWARE, SURCLARO, FSPLANET aircraft simulator sites have reported as many as 5000 downloads in one week!

I searched and read many many web pages about his book and the author, Edgar Fouche including; startfinish(put in the dot com.)biz/wise Click on links for Fouche and Flying Triangle. You will find his full presentation, and the download links for the TR-3B. Get the Great TR-3B Top Secret aircraft simulator and X-Plane, which I highly recommend.

CFS2 Comments after two weeks

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: January 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Owning FS2000 Professional, Crimson Skies and the Combat Flight Simulator for several months, my son and I were looking forward to CFS2.

On my AMD K63/450 with 128M RAM and Viper32 Ultra video card, the product installed without a lot of trouble. We recommend a COLD BOOT following installation. Video works smoothly at 800x600x32bpp.

What we liked: The 7 available aircraft were very detailed and challenging to fly. The flight models for each aircraft were unique and reasonable accurate.

The missions are also challenging.

What we did not like. The biggie (that I have also heard from others) is these blasted cartoons. While someone did a beautiful job with this cartoon artwork. I would have been much more satisfied with actual pictures and war memories, gun camera footage, aircraft carrier operations, etc. Crimson Skies use of cartoons is ok. It helps guide you through the game's story line. But the use of cartoons in CFS2, in our opinion, cheapens the quality and the simulation. Using cartoons to depict the epic WWII battles of the Pacific was a bad choice for Microsoft.

On single missions, when you complete the mission, you get booted back to the main mission dialog...you're not allowed to land. Wow, that was a big gotcha.

While I am sure the developers worked their butts off on the seven aircraft they did provide (very well done,) being limited to only seven aircraft is a significant shortcoming.

Lack of ability to perform air-launched torpedo missions.

The other day during an air-ground sortie, I bombed a target and got a message "you killed an explosion effect." HUH?!?!?

In summary, good simulation, lots of fun, stable. Marketing intelligence aside, if I were designing this product, I would do everything possible to honor our WWII veterans by including as much historical footage, pictures and veterans stories as possible. Lose the cartoons...they really cheapen an otherwise great simulation.

Combat Flight Simulator 2: Pacific Theater

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 13
Date: October 23, 2000
Author: Amazon User

As a flight sim, history buff, this is a hoot. Some of the other reviewers who mentioned the hardware requirements were correct. I have a new PC with all the bells and whistles and I can still only run the game at about 60% of its graphics capability and keep the action moving at appropriate speed. Even with that, the scenery and graphics are great! I went to Hawaii last April and the South Pacific settings of each mission make me yearn to return. I've never actually flown an F4F Wildcat but the flight model seems very accurate according to those that have. I believe they've done a super job with this sim. If you have the hardware it requires, I highly recommend this sim.

Melee based flight sim with a twist

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: July 20, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I first played this game at the Microsoft store at the Metreon in San Francisco, CA. I had about an hour before an appointment down the street, so I stopped into the store, saw the game, and began playing. Then after the meeting I returned for more (in a deluge nonetheless). Straight and simple - this game rocks!

This game goes far beyond a basic flight sim. There's still instruments and reality-based flying, don't get me wrong. But the planes in WWII were no where near as responsive as an F16. And that's what gives the game it's twist. You wanna bank bank right? Go for it - but don't forget that you're gonna lose airspeed and altitude, and there ain't no afterburner, HUD, or missle lock to save your butt when you stall out.

Another cool thing is that you don't just get blown away by a missle and die. You can quite realistically take on damage, but bullets only hit certain parts of your aircraft, so your plane can keep flying. And what's great about this game is that when there's a few holes in my wings, the plane will favor certain aerodynamics, and fly crippled. I've been able to finish missions while only being able to turn left - and that degree of realism deserves award recognition.

The only catch is that it will only play with the CD in the drive. This seems to be a big Microsoft trend these days that I hate. What's more is that the games recognition of the drive is pathetic. I've restarted many times just trying to get the game to see my CD drive. The game is also very sporadic. Once you're up and in a mission, it's as stable as a rock. But getting into the game (especially when playing on the Zone), can be slow and painfull, and many times will just cut out and disappear. And don't be telling me that it's my hardware - I've got a 1.2GHz machine with 256Mb of DDR RAM, a GeForce3 card with 64Mb DDR on board, and a brand spankin' new CD drive.

If blowing away enemies that are all but a blip on your radar is your kind of game, then this isn't for you. If you want to learn how to fly, this this isn't for you. But if you want head-to-head melee action, with realistic flight, dynamic damage, killer strategy, and eye-popping graphics, then this is the game for you.

Too much software for average computer

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 12 / 15
Date: October 21, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This software takes much more than an average computer. The specs on the box are seemingly misleading. I have at least twice what the minimums are and can't get the job done. Without a GREAT graphics card forget about even approaching the games capabilities.

My machine is not even one year old and has good graphics capabilities and processing power. It runs CFS1 without a single problem. However, I am unable to even begin to enjoy the total package of this latest installment. I must choose between great 3D terraign effects or planes that look like a "rainbow of colors", for example. It is all in the choices (which are many) you are willing to accept. I want to lose myself in the simulation but this can't be done with multi-colored buildings and ships.

While I applaud Microsoft's effort on this one, I and others undoubtedly will need to invest in the latest processing techology AND MORE to get our dollars worth.

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