Product Review

Anti-aircraft fire blankets you. Blast debris hurls toward your propeller. And you wonder why you didn't join the navy. This ain't no free-flight, cloud-gunner, glory ride. This is ground assault: the real, gritty combat that can make or break a battle, and take your life in one massive explosion. Bombs shatter enemy airfields, trains, and tank columns as you streak across the European countryside in WWII's greatest planes, dodging small-arms fire, gripping your joystick with sweaty palms and white knuckles, pumped with adrenaline-living history.

As a U.S. Army Air Force, Royal Air Force, or Luftwaffe pilot in Microsoft's Combat Flight Simulator 3 you fly in the historical framework of the tactical air war in northwest Europe starting in mid-1943, but there's a significant difference. The skill and perseverance you and your squadron or Staffel bring to each battle can alter the tactical situation and the timeline of the campaign. This open-ended and flexible campaign means you can influence events, alter history, and extend the timeline to add new technology to your arsenal. How you handle these tactical and technological advantages will determine the outcome.

In Combat Flight Simulator 3, it's 1943, and no one knows what's going to happen.

New features include:

• Enhanced campaign play sends you on involved tactical missions in a campaign where success or failure can move the frontline, influence the quality of equipment available, and even change the outcome of the war
• New collection of 18 aircraft featuring bombers with crews (fly medium bombers and take control of the bombardier or gunner position), stunning 3-D cockpit detail, accurate performance and damage modeling, medium bomber operations, WWII state-of-the-art aircraft (including the first jet fighters)
• Custom graphics engine powers super-high detail ground-attack targets and improved scenery with enhanced 3-D modeling and texturing
• Cooperative multiplayer missions and free-for-all dogfights via the Internet and LAN
• Reactive world: areas of the campaign world will trigger events, spawn aircraft, generate flak, etc. in response to your presence
• Role playing elements: pilots have qualities like Bombing Skill, Vision, and Health
• Strategy: you make decisions that influence how the war is fought, where to put the pressure on the enemy, and what aircraft improvements are crucial to the war effort