Combat Flight Simulator 2

WW2 Pacific Theatre

Microsoft, PC

$109.95

Review: Peter Eley

The scene: a briefing aboard an American aircraft carrier during the Battle of Midway during the Second World War. A senior officer told a gathering of 100 fighter bomber crews charged with attacking the Japanese Pacific fleet: "If 15 of you get through and hit your target, we'll consider the mission a success."

What cost so many young Allied pilots their lives was the deadly manouevrability of the Japanese Zero fighters, manufactured from a cast-off American design.

Microsoft's second version of Combat Fighter Simulator, which is set in the Pacific, mirrors this conflict.

You fly a series of missions against Japanese Zeros in superior but less nimble planes. Or you can get a new perspective by flying the Zero.

Either way, you'll soon come to appreciate the skill and bravery of these golden boys, many barely out of their teens.

The first Combat Flight Simulator was set over Europe, where planes took off from airfields. The Pacific air war was fought from aircraft carriers, adding the hazardous business of taking off from and landing on ships to what was already a risky business.

Remember that this title is based on Microsoft's flagship Flight Simulator, which is used to train real pilots. So expect to crash and burn a few times as you master the mechanics of carrier-based flying.

Once in the sky, you'll find the Zeros a formidable enemy — almost invincible at first. But if you've got the right stuff you'll soon be zapping Zeros because American planes were better. While the Zeros could turn and climb more quickly, the Wildcat was faster, could dive more steeply and absorb more punishment.

It was no contest, really, as the final result proved.

The first Combat Simulator suffered from some ordinary graphics, but the follow-up is much better. The planes are modelled accurately, and look good inside and out.

The graphics hold up well during actual flying and combat, and the Pacific terrain of jungle, beaches and sea looks realistic.

Damage effects are better than the original. Take a hit in a vital spot and your plane's handling will reflect it, and explosion and smoke effects are superbly done.

The whole game, including the highly-detailed 200-page manual, add up to what is about as authentic an experience as you can get on a computer.

petereley@herald.co.nz