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THIS IS A SUPERB FLIGHT SIMULATOR OF VIETNAM-ERA AIRCRAFT

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 32 / 32
Date: May 13, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I was moved to write this review due to the extremely negative, and, I believe, uninformed, review from 21 March 2005 above. I am not connected to Third Wire in any way. I am a flight sim user and prefer the Ubisoft Oleg Maddox designs above most other flight sims. I took to WINGS OVER VIETNAM immediately because of the enormous attention to detail in this design. If you want an idea of how hard it was to bomb targets in Hanoi and Haiphong, give this design a try. If you want to understand why our pilots had such a hard time shooting down North Vietnamese MiGs, give this design a try. If you expect to annihilate targets with impunity, or rack up huge scores of shot down aircraft, this item is not for you. The graphics are decidedly not impoverished or crude. The handling of overcast, clouds, and monsoon conditions is splendid. The depiction of flak and SAMs is unimpeachable. The modeling of the cockpits is very convincing, including panicky MiG calls, the cool informative tactical commentary from the controllers offshore on USN ships, and the screech and howl of various warning devices. The modeling of the MiGs is positively excellent. Usually you will only see a grey blur in the distance, but, if you manage to get close enough, you will feel like you have a real tiger by the tail, and all the detail is there (I once was hesitant about firing on a MiG because, from the angle at which I was approaching, it looked American, but, at close range, the red national markings were visible on the wings, and I gave him cannon. This kind of experience is what sets the great designs apart from the mediocre ones.). In sum, this is an excellent simulator and history teacher. I recommend it without reservations. By the way, a superb flyable MiG-17, -19, AND -21 add-on is going to be available from some mod makers---see the Third Wire website.

Better than expected and personable!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 32 / 37
Date: August 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I am a big WWII air combat fan playing such games as IL2 Forgotten Battles, Pacific Fighters ect..... which I still think is the best WWII flight combat sims to date and until (Battle of Britain 2 Wings of Victory) when it comes out if it ever does, will most likely change that!

That said, I am not much into jet era combat. Why? It is very impersonable.........modern air combat is boring to me! You have advanced technology so you can detect your enemy before you even see him visually and lanch a heat seeking missle at him miles away to blow him out of the sky. Keep in mind, I have played Lock-On, Falcon 4.0 Allied Force which to me are boring and dull jet era flight sims. Sure you have the best jet sims out there on the market but what fun is a dog fight when you can't see your enemy?

We'll my friends the Vietnam era was still as personable as WWII was. The heat seeking missles and rader technology was in it's infency and that meant you still had to interact visually with the enemy not lanch a missle to hit a target on the ground or in the sky miles out of your visual range! It was the last era for this type of "old fashion" combat so I picked up the sim and gave her a try! I first hated it I admit because of the learning curve (there is a learning curve depite what another reviewer stated) so naturally I had to be very patient which is not my forte! I even uninstalled WOV for a half a year (I have had this game from the first release date!) and just recently gave her another try. Now that I have more experance with other flight sims like IL2 series and Lock-On I eased into the curve and now have became more of an adverage player than just a impatient newbe! Graphics are not that great as some of the other newer flight sims out there except for the plane detail which is what counts overall, but that's not why I play this game for anyway. So, listen to the other reviewers and give this game a try if you are a historical air combat freak like me. It is a more personable jet sim than anything you'll find out there on the self in the past and present!

The best Vietnam flight sim on the market!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 18 / 18
Date: June 17, 2005
Author: Amazon User

There are very few flight simulations dedicated to the air war over North Vietnam. The few that have taken on this period provide loose interpretations of the historical record and are lacking in historical accuracy. Wings Over Vietnam by Third Wire Games is an exception to this trend.

WOV attempts to simulate air combat over North Vietnam from 1965 to 1972. Most of the major U.S. fighter and bomber types from the period are provided. Additional U.S. and flyable communist aircraft types are available as after market "add-ons". The game includes instant action, single mission and dynamic campaign modes.

Campaign missions are identical to the missions found in single mission mode. The only difference is that in campaign mode your actions in previous missions will influence the nature of the missions you will fly in the future. The game is designed to please casual gamers as well as your "hard core" flight sim nuts. As a result the game is extremely scalable, however, if you want a realistic flight experience you must play with all settings on hard!

The flight models provided for the individual aircraft types have been thoroughly researched and offer a very effective and believable simulation of the "real thing". The dials and lights on the aircraft control panel function realistically however the game suffers from a lack of working switches and buttons. A good example of this problem is the lack of an aircraft trim function.

The game's AI coding in the "out of box" version is very weak. Aircraft controlled by the AI do not like to fight in the vertical plane and as a result end up getting shot down while flying in a straight line. This problem can be reduced by using one of the many "patches" available for the game.

The games weapon systems are very well done and for the most part behave like the "real thing". SAM's can only be dodged if you see the launch and follow up by taking evasive action. The early AIM-9's miss most of the time, just like they did in real life. At low altitude the AAA is thick enough to walk on especially over Hanoi and Haiphong! The air to air cannon effect has been the subject of much debate on the WOV forum because of the fact that very few aircraft can survive more than a one second burst from cannon fire of any calibre.

The graphics are a mixed bag. The aircraft textures are very beautiful as well as the AAA and bomb blast special effects. The ground textures do well at creating the feel of flying over Vietnam but they lose a great deal of realism at altitudes higher than ten thousand feet. The graphics engine isn't very good at simulating high altitude. Sound effects for the most part are very good, especially the bomb blast, AAA blast, and jet engine sound effects. I consider the air to air cannon sound effect to be very poor.

Like in many flight sims, the radio chatter can be quite annoying. Most of the time radio warnings such as "SAM Launch!" are meaningless because the speaker never bothers to identify himself or the person he is warning! Radio messages also lack the raspy tone that voice communications were known for at this time.

All its issues aside, WOV is a hell of a lot of fun to play. I am a big fan of the warbirds of the 50's and 60's era, so this sim is a "must have" for people like me. The game controls are all programable and work well with my CH flight control gear. If you are a flight simer looking for a break away from Falcon4 or Lock On then I would highly recommend installing Wings Over Vietnam on your hard drive.

Great Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 17 / 17
Date: February 16, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I have just got to write this as a rebuttal to the previous review..This game is fantastic. I don't know what kind of system the previous reviewer is running, but this game works flawlessly on mine. As far as "falling asleep during the game because the missions are too long to reach the target" there is an option in the settings to "start game near target." It really helps to read, not just jump in and start banging away! The targets will blow up if you HIT them. No crazy "third person camera" problems here.
It just drives me crazy when people bash perfectly good games just because they either don't have a decent machine to run it or they just plain don't know how to set it up!
It's a great game, folks.The aircraft are beautifully modelled..Way better than I had expected.

Read the manual, dudes!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: July 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

It's a shame to run down this game just because you can't / don't want to read. No wonder your plane doesn't stall if the model's set at easy. Same for always-hitting missiles. Try hard and your plane will stall with every hard pull on the joystick... and you will be thankful for the gunpod after your missiles missed their target.
The missions are too long? Hit alt-N.
All the things you don't like about this game are a matter of setting it up / use it correctly. Ok, the graphics can't be improved, but they're not that bad.
I won't write out what I like about this simulation - just read the other 5- and 4-star reviews.
I just want to point out the few downsides I consider a pitty:

- The manual is a bit too short when it comes to radar and weapon useage. I still don't know if you can lock on ground targets, and if so - how, if not: what's the radar good for and what about the radar-guided air-to-ground missiles?
- Wingmen are kind of useless.
- A list about which squadron flies which aircraft could be helpful when starting a campaign.
- Did you really get no replacement for shot down pilots in your squadron??
- all told the immersion could be better. movie-clips (what about a game-intro at all?!!), greater briefings, something else than just a screen saying "the campaing is over"...

--- by the way: please email me if you have some good bombing-techniques. it's hard to find anything about this game in the net.

Wings Over Vietnam

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: August 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

At first you don't know where to start, I mean it has so many options that you don't know where to begin. But this flight sim is very user friendly. I've played with prop sims for a long time I felt it was time for a change. The forums for this flight sim is very usefull too. The members there are only too happy to help you in any endevers about this flight sim. They also have a very good subject about on getting started if the manual that comes with the flight sim seems to complicated. Installing the sim is quite self explanitory too. That's why I give this flight sim a high rating because of its easy installation and dedicated players that can help you out in any situation at the forum's. I never had to contact customer support for this item. The graphics are good, sounds are so life like, and it can get intense at times flying in enemy territory. But the bottom line is just plain out having fun, that is if you like flight sims. But at the same time it gives you an idea on how much it was like back then. So you could say it's educational too, on just how brave our pilots were then and now.By the way, did I mention with this sim you could add skins to your aircraft? Also missions and objects that didn't come with the sim? And you can also create a mission and a campane from scratch too. Theres also extra aircrafts that you can add-on for free ( at the forums ). So this sim has hours and hours of fun and adventure to boot. I hope this information is usefull, Best Regards, Archer Onouye

F-4 Phantoms Phorever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: June 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game solely for the F-4 Phantom. The flight simulation and the aircraft details are great. I've enjoyed it immensely. I also like flying the F-8.
You'll need a high end computer for this one. Make sure your computer exceeds the minimum requirements. Mine exceeds minimum and if ANYTHING else is open (applications or folders) it will not start the game.
I can't comment about the combat part of this game since all I've been doing is enjoying being able to fly the greatest figher jet of all time, the Phabulous Phantom.

A most anticipated sim for Vietnam War fans!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: March 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I have been waiting for a sim to reproduce air combat over Vietnam since Chuck Yeagers sim of early-mid 90's. This sim does it quite well! It may not be leading technology, but on my machine it is beautiful. Aircraft carrier launches, SAM hunts, MIG engagements,strikes on the NVA, to flak over Hanoi, this sim tries to get what no other has to date to my knowledge. Flight models are not state of the art for each varient, but they do the job. The sim is open ended and very moddable by the community. Aircraft skins, extra campaigns, etc, are all possible. I'm having a blast with it AND its rekindled my interest in that part of history. As to the previous reviewer, he obviously must have had a slow machine. From start up to in game, takes about 30 seconds. Graphics, though not state of the art, are from late '98-2000 era, but still are GORGEOUS when ALL settings are applied. This sim does have a learning curve. The rules of air combat and learning the radar apply. The game is not without flaws, as the manual is thin, but generally helpful. Mission briefs are not Falcon 4.0 in depth, but neither are they non existant. Creating missions are limited, but 3rd party editors and some time can recreate missions fairly well.
All in all, well worth the $30 i paid for it!

A-

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: May 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is great! It runs great if you have a computer with the minimum system requirements. If you performe the flying maneuvers to evade a SAM, trust me you will not be hit. It has a lot of realism and the menus are not difficult to learn. The graphics are not the best but i can give them an A-. If you want superb graphics then buy lockon (modern air combat), but beware that no matter what kind of computer you have the game runs slow and the gameplay is boring because of that.

Wings opver vietnam is a good game. IF you love the real air combat this game is for you.

GREAT GAME!!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 10
Date: January 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

BEST AND MOST REALISTIC VIETNAM FLIGHT SIM ON THE MARKET
TONS OF PLANES, WEPON LAYOUTS, AND MISSIONS YOU CAN'T GO WRONG.
GROUND TARGETING IS VERY DIFFCULT TO DO BUT ALL-IN-ALL A MUST FOR ANY JET FIGHTER FAN.

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