Review by: Jonathan Houghton
Published: October 20, 2000

Since the introduction of games to the personal computer, flight simulators have been with us, keeping the desire to reach for the sky alive in those of us who cannot afford the real thing. Of all the modes of flight available, the style that really gets the heart pounding is combat, and this genre of flight-combat titles has come along quite considerably since old offerings like Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe. The two primary styles in this genre are fast and furious action games like Crimson Skies and titles which present an unerring dedication to realism like Falcon 4.0. Microsoft’s newest entry into this genre is Combat Flight Simulator 2 which, though dedicated to a strict flight model, tries to incorporate enough inspiring elements to appease sim enthusiasts and action-buffs alike.

Instead of covering a broad range of flight eras and wars, the developers have molded Combat Flight Simulator 2 to focus on one particular segment of the second World War, namely the Pacific Theatre of Operations from 1942 all the way through 1945, after the United States entered the conflict. You can choose to side with either the Japanese Imperial Navy or the United States Navy for your career as a military pilot. Famous war heroes such as Admirals Halsey and Yamamoto will command you as the battle for the fate of the Pacific Ocean — and ultimately the war — rages on amidst thousands of tiny islands. Also included are some of the most famous flying aces from both sides of the conflict — several of whom were interviewed by the developers for the purposes of research — including Saburo Sakai (64 wartime victories) and Joe Foss (26 victories). During the extent of your service, you may find yourself pitted against such foes, outmatched and outgunned by any one of the several fighters you will find yourself flying during the course of the game. The most famous models are the Mitsubishi made ‘Zero’ fighters known for their long range and maneuvering capabilities. On the United States side you will find yourself piloting planes such as the Corsair, with its distinguishing ‘gull wings’ that were foldable, enabling more of these craft to be housed on one aircraft carrier.

There are quite a few different modes of play available in Combat Flight Simulator 2, and as such I will start by writing a bit about the Campaign mode, which is the heart of the game. In campaign mode, you can fly a large slew of missions for either the Japanese of United States Navy’s. Missions in the campaigns involve everything from ground strafing runs, to dive bombing attacks on large convoys. The campaigns will span the length of the United States involvement in the war and will end historically, despite the interventions of the player. In layman’s terms, this means that if you decide to play the Japanese side, you will still lose the war, even if you are victorious in all of your battles, though I’m certain that taking out the entire fighter wing responsible for the sinking of the ISN Yamato would make the day of any Japanese historian, unfortunately for them, they still lose war. On the opposite side of the coin, even if you are the worst pilot ever to take up the yoke of an airplane, no amount of pathetic flying on the side of the United States will cause them to lose the war, instead the only thing you need worry about during the U.S. missions is your life. To counterbalance the historical aspect and still reward players for great success during missions, those that you fly will depend on your past success, which means that if you fly haphazardly, completing few of your mission goals, or even failing some goals altogether, you will be stuck flying boring patrol missions until the end of the war; and will probably never get promoted or earn any medals. Whereas if you sink every ship you dive for, and knock down every plane that gets in your sights, you will be able to fly in the more extreme and historically infamous battles. Campaign mode is also interlaced with cutscenes that give a narrative from your character’s point of view in the beautiful detail of 1940′s animated comic artwork.

Each mission you take on during campaign mode is somewhat unique and will have you flying alongside everything from transport planes to the B-24 Liberator. Some missions will require you to both take off and land before being considered successful, while others will end in the air once your objectives have been completed. Most of the time failure constitutes death from one too many bullet holes in your plane, though you can bail out — just make sure that you remember to pull open your chute after jumping. If you do happen to survive and complete all the mission objectives, there is an entire set of ranks that you can move up through, and medals to be won for valorous service.