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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.

Do you sweat at 30,000 ft?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 65 / 71
Date: February 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

You bet you do! You sweat buckets if it's 1944 and you're in a B-17G Flying Fortress over Germany on a bombing run to your target. 'Bomb doors open, steady, steady...bombs away'. Two things come to mind. (1) This doesn't sound like a typical flight simulator, and (2) flying straight and steady at 30,000 feet doesn't sound like a lot of fun. Right on the first but dead wrong on the second. This game is different from all other WWII flight sims to date, which have largely focused on man on man fighter combat. This is a multiple position role playing game whose primary platform is the B-17G (the only disappointment is that there is no multiplayer capability). There are 10 playable positions in the 'fort' including pilots, navigator, bombardier, turret gunners, waist gunners and tail gunner. The role playing element is so much fun and immersive, you may very well find that this is the only 'flight sim' where you spend the least time flying. Let's step back into this immersive game world for a minute to see how we arrived over our target in Berlin.

You've finished the 'pre op' reconnaissance briefing and you're on the way out to the tarmac to your 'fort'. There she is in all her glory, your 'Patsy Sue'. Those refitters sure did a nice job repainting the nose art and fixing the damage from the last mission. She's gotten you this far - the 13th mission. Halfway there. This mission's a beast though, - Berlin! You say to yourself 'Can I get the guys through the remaining 12 missions before we ship back home. Pray God, let there be no Me 262's this time'.

This little immersive scenario is courtesy of the game allowing you to take the role of pilot of your plane or squadron leader in charge of 12 planes or group commander. As group CO you pick the targets, plan the missions, select bomb loads and assign crews. You can also name crews. There is an operations room where pre flight recon and post op damage assessment film can be studied. Your B-17 is beautifully depicted. You can name her as you wish and change the nose art. Let's get ready to take her up on the first of 25 historically based missions where we will come across other flyable planes. Three 'little friends' - Mustang, Thunderbolt and Lightning and three German fighters - Me 109, FW 190 and the deadly Me 262.

Engines on. Throttles up. Let's roll. Release brakes, adjust trim, take off speed, we're up. 'Navigator set course for Initial Point.' Weather outside is cloudy, It's expected to clear up over the target. Coastline coming up now, 'Where is that down there? - the Elbe river? Good job navigator, we're right on schedule'

Each of the playable positions in this game is incredibly detailed, none moreso than the flight deck. If the prospect of going through a 30 step engine start up procedure seems daunting to you, then simply jump to another player position and let the computer pilot take off. Each crew member has his strenghts. Lose a good navigator or bombardier and you'll see the effects in degraded mission success. Replacements are never as good. The roar of the engines is impressive, and so are the other sound effects. Hopefully the ones you'll hear the most are those of healthy thrumming engines and your 50 cal guns barking out, not the sounds of exploding flak and the screams of your hit crewmen. The weather and terrain effects are also fantastic. Naturally there are various gameplay keys that provide a myriad of external views of your plane and the formation you're in and there is a timeskip key that rushes you towards the action.

We're approaching the target now, and beginning our bomb run. Out of the blue and shouted over my headphones, tail gunner says 'Bandits!, Six o'clock high, coming in now! Looks like 109's'. I'm firing now, remember - lead them, fire just ahead, let them fly into the stream... I'm missing!, God what a time to realise I should have put in more practise. From the waist position I see a black puff with an evil orange eye, burst under the port wing of the 'fort' flying next to us. 'There goes another 17' over the intercom as it slowly sinks out of formation, smoke spewing from two engines. Shrapnel has punched holes in our wing, metal frame is showing. More serious is the injury to the turret gunner. 'Navigator get back there and see what you can do'. The bombardier calls out ' 'Bomb doors open'...time seems to stand still, finally...'Bombs away', the shudder and sudden lift confirm it. 'Head for home.' Starboard outer engine now sputtering, any flames? No, smoking slightly though. No need to feather engine. How long to go? how many injured? how bad? Did I mention this game was immersive!!!?

We were lucky on this mission. No major damage and only one injury. We also failed. Our bombs came down nowhere near the target. One of the more arcane skills you can learn in this game is using the Norden bomb sight, adjusting for wind drift and making all the necessary adjustments to ensure an accurate drop. After unloading, pop down to the target view and wait for the thunderous explosion that signals the arrival of your bombs.

Now that we're safely at base the question is: Do you sweat when playing a PC Game? You bet you do if it's this game. The system the game was tested on was a P3 with 128 ram and Diamond Viper2. There were a couple graphical glitches - seams in the terrain being the only one that broke the immersive spell.

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?

B17 - A PURIST's GAME

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 45 / 46
Date: February 01, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Like so many others, I have eagerly awaited the arrival of B17 and I haven't been dissapointed. However, you need a really top line computer (Pentium III) with plenty of grunt (i.e. fast, lots and lots of RAM and a good 3D video card) to get the most out of the game because the graphics are demanding and simply spectacular! The game looks so beautiful, I sometimes just let it run in the background while I do something else around the house and then interact with the mission over a few hours as it progresses. Or you can simply jump right to the action. It's great. However, the game is hard to master if you don't use the AI, because it is as close to actually 'being there' as you'll get. The game AI is very good and will more than compensate for the short comings of inexperienced players. If you are a 'purist' flight sim player, as I am, then you have to be prepared to spend a lot of time learning how to fly the B17. This ain't no fighter! It's a big, complex, four engine bomber with a crew of ten men which needs to be managed WELL. Having said this, the Boeing B17 is a very stable and forgiving aircraft that can take a lot of damage. Just don't try pulling high g turns in it! Throw into this mix that the Germans are trying very hard to shoot you down at the same time and you start to get some idea what the men flying these bombers went through. And that is the entire point of the game, to put YOU in a B17 bomber over Europe during WW2. In this, it succeeds at every level. From a game design point of view, B17 is winner. But be prepared to put in some serious 'stick time', to get the most enjoyment out of B17. This is a big, dynamic game for the serious war gamer and it is far more than just another flight sim. Bravo!

They weren't kidding when they said SIMULATION

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 44 / 47
Date: January 16, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I have been waiting for this game since I first read about in mid year 2000. When I found out it was available, I rushed out to get it that same night! First off, let me start by saying that the design, concept and graphics all rate 5 stars. This is one ambitious game! Playing as any 1 of 10 crew positions was something I couldn't wait to try. The graphics are something you really have to see to believe - you just better have some serious RAM and a decent video card to really appreciate it! However, there are some serious disappointments. This game is hard. And I mean HARD. Just trying to complete the Training Missions was so complex and difficult that I just gave up and jumped into some Historical Missions to learn as I go. Flying is EXTREMELY difficult and the Pilot Helper Option is really no help at all. As for learning the Norden Bombsight, Pilot Cockpit Instruments or Navigation...well, good luck. Email me if you figure it out! I blame alot of this on the Instruction Manual which is great for historical information but very vague on how the instruments and gameplay works. My main gripe however, is the TIME it takes to complete a mission. A single mission over Germany and back took me close to three hours. And that was with the Time Option increased to x8 most of the mission. You will find yourself flying over France or over the ocean for hours with NOTHING to do. I am all for a simulation but there has to be a fine line between SIMULATION and GAMING. My father came over to check out the game and we started a mission, watched half a football game, ate dinner and we still were not over the target area. I am hoping that once I get better at flying the airplane or learn how to work the bombsight or learn how to navigate, it will become more enjoyable. I really want to like this game because it is such a great concept. But I have owned it a month and still cannot fly the bomber without HEAVY computer assitance. I would reccomend this game - but please have PLENTY of pantience and time to invest!

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...

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.

The ads are wrong, There is no multiplayer in this sim

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 26 / 34
Date: October 06, 2000
Author: Amazon User

While the hype for this simulation has been extensive, it is in-fact not accurate. The simulation itself may be very playable, but only as an individual. The much promised multiplayer capability has been dumped by the game developers or the publisher. So if you were anticipating flying with your friends on bombing missions or intercepting the bombers you are about to be disappointed. If you never planned on flying on line in the first place, this may be a good sim. The screen shots look fine, and the concepts are OK. Since first announced, this sim has had delay after delay and degrade from the initial promises of excellence. Many are concerned that while the initial issue may be good, the current record of response to avid fans and questions make one wonder if and how long it will be supported by technical staff. In over a year of watching the ebb and flow of this sim, I have come to the conclusion that it may not be all that the hype has said...with no multiplayer it certainly is expensive compared to other single player games. Just one opinion.

Great graphics, lousy playability

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 14 / 15
Date: January 11, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I was quite excited to buy this after I read the reviews. After I rushed home, installed it and tried out the difficut training missions it still looked pretty good. Then when I actually began a campaign I discovered the fatal flaw of this game - it is boring. You have two choices, you can micromanage the bomber (too complex for anything but gunnery) or you can sit back and watch as the computer plays for you - although you will have to wait long periods of time for anything to happen even if you 'time skip'. My final verdict is that this was a great idea, but poorly executed. The designers were so excited to try to recreate the experience of crewing a B-17 that they forgot to make the game enjoyable. Also, the realism they try to present through the complexity of anything but shooting the guns is mocked by an extremely unrealistic flight model. My next hope is Europa Universalis...

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.

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