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Best WWII flight sim

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 85 / 89
Date: October 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Note: this is out in Australia and I have played it, and I did pay for it:

The latest instalment of the IL-2 Sturmovik line of combat flight sims. First released in October 2000 IL-2 Sturmovik was met with praise for it's attention to detail and also for covering a area of conflict (the eastern front) that has up to that point been ignored. Following this was the release of IL-2 Sturmovik -Forgotten Battles (from this point on referred to as FB) in 2003. This was initially expected to be a add on to the original game, however this developed into having a greatly improved version and was released as a stand alone install. Earlier this year a expansion to FB was released; Aces Expansion Pack (from this point forward referred to as AEP). This included a new Western Europe theme with new maps and new aircraft.

Shortly after the release of AEP it was released that the next project would be a pacific theme combat flight sim called Pacific Fighters (PF). This was based on the FB game engine but would include aircraft carriers which was something that was missing to this point (no need for a aircraft carrier on the eastern front) along with a host of other refinements and additions to make it truly a Pacific combat sim.

I must admit that I have followed the development of this game with much anticipation and had high hopes for it. I really enjoy the FB + AEP (this refers to the game Forgotten Battles with the add on aces expansion pack) and am a regular online flier. So how did it hold up when I played it; love it!

But before I go on any further I need to clarify something. There are 2 options for installing this game.

1. install PF as a stand alone game
2. install it over FB+AEP

If you choose the stand alone option you get the aircraft that were developed for PF. The important thing to note is if you intend to fly online you can only play with others that have the PF stand alone install (sorry, no joining games that are FB+AEP+PF based.

The second option of installing the game over your FB+AEP installation will give you one mighty combat flight sim. You will have all of the content from the previous install plus everything new to PF. This gives you approximately 200 flyable aircraft! The same online restrictions apply for this install, you can not join a game on the internet that is a based on the PF stand alone install. Now with the Forgotten Battles Gold pack (this has FB + AEP bundled) out at a good price this option of installation is the way to go.

Moving along with the review. The level of playability is scalable to match different levels of skill. New people to this series of games have a entry level difficulty setting which will allow them to enjoy the game without getting frustrated. On the other hand if you want to change the settings to their hardest level you give yourself a challenge, and a step learning curve. Overall, a very flexible game to match all peoples wants.

How does it look? Fantastic is the word for it. The attention to detail in this game is amazing and the effects such as the water, smoke, explosions, clouds, not too mention the look of the planes is great. A great thing about this series of games is the ability to configure the graphics to match your PC. You don?t need a super computer to run it, but be warned. If you want the eye candy level up, you better have a machine that is has at least a 2.8Ghz CPU, 1Gb of RAM, and a video card along the lines of a ATI X800 (9800 line is good as well) or a NIVIDA 6800. It's a compromise on the look of the game and the playability. The only real concern that I have with the game is all of the anti aircraft fire from the carriers. While it looks impressive, it can cause you PC to chug along a bit.

The aircraft; a good selection of the important aircraft in the Pacific theatre during WWII though a little thin of the different types for the Japanese. My biggest gripe at the moment is that there are no carrier borne torpedo bombes in the game that are flyable (they are their, but they are AI controlled by the computer). In saying this however, there has been a long history of releasing free patches for the game that include new aircraft. In fact, there is a patch due very soon that will include more aircraft to fly. The word is that more planes were developed, they just couldn't fit them on the 2 disks. So expect over time new aircraft to be released (along with maps and bug fixes) and for free. The commitment to this game from the developers is well known, this is no drop it in the market and leave it with all it faults game, it's a evolution of the best combat flight sim ever made.

Carrier Operations - this is the new part of the game that I've personally being looking forward to, and it doesn't disappoint. Take off is the easy part, landing it isn't. But it is fun, and the rolling motion of the ship adds to the level of immersion (the amount that the ship rolls is weather dependant, so bad weather leads to a one rocking ship). Arrestor wires are fully animated, along with folding wings (for the aircraft that had them), tail hooks (to catch the wires with), and a new raise seating position (again, for the aircraft that had them). This last bit helps see over the nose when on approach to the carrier.

Training- This has always been a issue with the game. The training is bear bones and the manual is very light on information (something more and more common now days). There is some more information with the installation of the game (as pdfs) but it still leaves you wanting to know more. In saying that, there is a great community out there on the net with sites that provide guides and there is much help from people on the UBI forums. Don?t be afraid, ask them for help if you need to.

So there you have it, long winded (but I only covered the tip of the iceberg) but I think the game is fantastic. Well worth it regardless of whether or not you have FB+AEP installed. If you love flying, or have had a interest in combat sims, this is the one to get.

PS - I realise that I refer to PF as a game and a sim throughout this review, it's up to you as to what you think it is. To me, it?s a lot of fun!

Another fine simulation from 1C:Maddox

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 29 / 33
Date: November 02, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Firstly, I am writing this from the point of view of someone who has installed the game on top of Forgotten Battles and the Ace Expansion Pack - a feature that needs to be advertised more prominently in the box art literature. It can also be installed as a stand-alone.

Pacific Fighters introduces carrier and carrier operations into the 'Forgotten Battles' series. It does so quite entrancingly with astonishing graphics and a level of realism that completely eclipses that found in the older Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 2 game. I found myself captivated as I wobbled down to a carrier landing in my little Wildcat - this game is first and foremost a lot of fun.

A number of features new to the IL-2 game engine appear - reduced and less blinding muzzle flashes, aircraft landing and staying on the airfield rather than just disappearing (a definite improvement for strafing missions), a 'skip' feature that allows you to jump rapidly from waypoint to waypoint - amongst more specific carrier functions such as arrestor hooks, wheel chocks and opening/closing cockpits.

With a GeForce 6800 GT card, I can get an astonishingly real looking ocean - sadly at maximum settings my hardware runs rather slow (Athlon64 3200), and it is more fun to watch the game play out rather than be an active flyer under those condtions.

The only major problem with the game is it currently being sold is that it is incomplete - a major and extensive patch should be available shortly to increase the aircraft complement and address a number of bugs. The post-release support offered by 1C:Maddox is second to none, and I am totally confident that all problems will be fixed based on my experience with prior releases.

Defacto WWII Sim King

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 16
Date: November 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

If you want a WWII combat flight sim, look no further! The graphics engine is a few years old, this game is an extension of Ubisoft's IL-2 flight sim. The textures, light and shade are excellent in the game. Game play is very scalable as well. There are a variety of missions included, and it can have multiple players on a LAN or the internet. There seems to be quite a community on the Ubisoft forums- where one can find custom plane skins, community-authored missions, and a screenshot thread in the forum at is over 118 pages and growing.

I can't say enough about this game. One of the more unique aspects about it is that it it isn't socio-centric in any sense: if you want to be German, Finnish, whatever-- you are not locked into just being American, or Russian. Most all the participants of WWII are represented. It is one of the good watersheds of globalization!

The only qualification I can think of is this: if you want the best performance and graphics, be prepared! A machine running 2+ghz processor and a 256mb video card will go a long way toward enhancing your immersive experience.

Buy it and enjoy! It is not the type of game you will play for a couple of months and put away. The publisher also offers free patches AND enhancements.

Triad

Let's get a few things straight.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 12
Date: October 16, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is a good game. Not perfect by any means, but good and solid. If you'll read the negative reviews, it's pretty clear people only don't like it because they have unrealistic expectations. The game features are clearly written right here on this page, and they're also listed on the box. I have no idea why say the TBF Avenger isn't flyable, but it isn't listed on the box; so why are people complaining? If you want a TBF simulation, then by all means find one, and don't buy Pacific Fighters. And if you're interested in Pacific Fighters, read the feature list. They list all their features clearly. By the way, just to correct another reviews, Pearl Harbor is in there (the map is called Hawaii), and you fly over it in campaigns, as well as single missions.

And regarding the 'patches' that are supposedly needed for this game. Those aren't patches; they're free add-ons. The game is perfectly playable out of the box, and these downloads are only needed to add new content to the game, which includes tons of new flyable aircraft, as well as new maps and campaigns such as Singapore for Japan and Great Britain.

The game looks amazing. No other flight sim comes close. The water is beautiful, aircraft and cockpits are highly detailed and meticilously historically accurate, and the special effect are amazing. The game plays great and is incredible fun. The range of possibilities is unmatched, from taking off a carrier in a fighter and intercepting kamikazes, to strafing and dropping para-frags on enemy airfields.

And best of all, this game can be merged with the ETO / Russian Front variant (Forgotten Battle) to create an incredibly detailed, realistic flight simulation covering virtually the entire WWII air war, with well over a hundred flyable aircraft. No other sim does anything remotely close.

In short, if your idea of a flight sim is to absolutely, positively have to fly the TBF Avenger, and stall out of the sky, then unfortunately you'll have to wait for some flight sim not yet released. And if you want to fly beautiful aircraft around beautiful scenery, and take part in all sorts of air combat done as realistically as it ever got on the PC, Pacific Fighters is definitely a great game for that. Just read the game description. They deliver everything they promise.

Warning

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 14 / 20
Date: January 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is a warning to all prospective buyers. This game does not work on any CD or DVD drive that has R or RW capapbilities, you have to have a plain CD/DVD drive to run this game. I found this out the hard way, and now I can't return anything to Best Buy w/o a receipt.
Learn from my mistake, make sure you have the proper hardware before buying this game.

Don't get me wrong, I've seen this game in action. It's a great game, I just can't play it on my computers.

Pathetic

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 18 / 30
Date: May 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

My issues with IL-2 Sturmovik include taildragger taxiing (they taxi exactly like a tricycle in the game), no groundloops, no roll inertia at all, scripted spins ("Oleg's Banana Peel Stall" and automatic spins even when plane has no torque and stalls are perfectly coordinated), no difference in dive acceleration between planes, hugely incorrect torque (no rudder input necessary, torque affects twin engined planes with contra-rotating propellers, torque present with engine off), Russian differential braking system on all Western planes (especially annoying for someone who is accustomed to the real thing), and incredibly simple "realistic" engine management (they even took out the P-40's mixture control in one of the patches; don't ask me why, because you can see the control right there in the cockpit).

Here's a few other things I've noticed. You can keep flying a constant circle at very low speed while your wingtip is touching the ground, when in real life you'd be cartwheeling. If you touch wings with another aircraft in the air or on the ground, you lose your wing no matter how gently you touch. So much for the historical tactic of wingtipping V-2 rockets (something the game manual claims you can do). If you are out of fuel and ammunition and you hit the ground hard, you still detonate - what? You can drop a five thousand pound bomb two feet away from a tank, and it won't hurt it because you didn't hit it. You can tear about the sky on full throttle all day, and when you start to overheat, just pull back the throttle for a few seconds, and hey presto - you're good to go again. And don't get me started on the fifty caliber issue. In addition, none of the planes behave like a real aircraft. I can only go with my instinct, observations of warbirds, and limited experience with Cessnas on that one.

My single largest issue is the fact that there are no stalls in the game, discounting spins. You cannot stall your aircraft. You can spin it, but you can't stall it. That's one of the most important parts of flying, and it's done completely wrong.

And I haven't even mentioned the incorrect individual aircraft peformance specifications and characteristics.

Hell bent for Leather

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: May 18, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Although this game is rated for 12 yrs. and older don`t let it fool you. I am not new to flight nor am I new to computing. Yet their are tricks to be learned everyday. This simulation
Is as detailed as your graphics card and computer knowledge makes it. You are able to go into the (configurations files)and adjust the settings w/o having to use possibly damaging hardware
accerlerators on your PC. All the models perform close to if not exactly like their real life counter parts. I reccomend a Joystick at least, a graphics card with at least 512mg ram and
computer with type 4 processor 1 gig or better of on board memory to start with. I started w/less and was disappointed I did not see what all the fuss was about these (simulations that
appeared to be flat and rather boring!). Than I upgraded my system Imagine my suprise when Nuts and bolts started popping off my aircraft, oil leaks and spatters on my windscreen, poor handling characteristics from combat damage all this with a determined enemy hammering me on my six. Buy the IL-Sturmovik Gold Pkg. This will allow you to have one version of PF as a stand alone install and merge another into IL-2 which comes with an Aces expansion component that then gives you more flyable models as well as more scenery and the ability to fly aircraft from one theater of Ops to another. Have Fun.

It's due for an expansion and a patch or two.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: April 02, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Pros: 1 Great graphics and game play. 2 A-20, and the P-40B. Truly new planes to simdom.
Cons: 1 Very few campaigns compared to what it should have. 2 They have Marines flying the P39. I have a BA in History and I've never read of a Marine squadron that flew P-39s. They should be flying Buffalos and Wildcats early in the war and be in the Corsair in 1943. 3 Still the lame FB award and promotion format. What made the old combat sims of the 80s and 90s cool wasn't just great wasn't just what happened in the mission but what happened after. They could show kill markings being added to the aircraft and award and promotion ceremonies like in the old Dynamix, Microprose, and lucasfilm games. 4 NO TORPEDO BOMBERS! What the !"§$? Who ever heard of a pacific flight sim without flyable kates, avengers, and Devastators! That was a big let down. 5 Lots of glitches and needs lots of memory. Compatibility issues ruin a lot of potetially great games.

Conclusion: Buy it. Hopefully they will come out with a China Burma India expansion pack and give us some torpedo bombers!

The Best WW2 Airwarfare Game Available

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: June 27, 2005
Author: Amazon User

While some may complain about patches being released, the simple fact is that the game developers of Il-2 listen to their customer base and make the sort of updates that players request.

With the number of flyable airplanes growing with each free upgrade in addition to the number of maps and ground targets, the mission opportunities for this game are limitless. A mission builder allows you to set-up exactly the sort of missions that you want to fly.

Excellent and effortless multiplayer support is simply the jewel in the crown of this excellent game. I can't recommend it highly enough.

An Exciting Air Combat Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 13
Date: January 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Pacific Fighters offers the user the chance to fly over forty different Allied and Japanese aircraft. The graphics in this game are exceptional. I choose to fly the F4F Wildcat fighter, and the realism is impeccable. From the canopy view to the actual outside views of the plane, the user gets a true sense of what it was like to fly a fighter plane during World War II.

A quick reference card is included to assist the user in configuring their aircraft. The whole spectrum is included; from making sure the oil mixture is correct to which type of armament to carry. Different missions are available to choose from, including take offs and landings from aircraft carriers to dogfighting amongst enemy aircraft.

The installation is easy, but somewhat lengthly, as this game consists of two CDs, each containing approximately 50 percent of the information. When playing the game, disc #2 must be used in the CD drive. The keyboard may be used for controlling the aircraft, but I use a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro joystick, which works extremely well with this game.

This is the first air combat game I've played, and I recommend it highly. The graphics are excellent, and the realism is perfect. My only complaint is that sometimes you can fly for long periods of time without encountering the enemy, but there is a game speed up option to help in this case. Try this exciting game and recreate some of the epic air battles of the Pacific war.

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