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Combat Flight Simulator 3 Battle for Europe for Windows Videos >>
Rating Reviewed By David WhiteFrom Warwick, Rhode Island USA Review Date 10/26/2002 Overall Rating  4 of 5 Rate this review? Summary Kudos to the folk at Electronics Botique. They actually dug this title out of the box in the back storeroom. Something Best Buy wouldn't do. Ah yes..the game. I wanted to love this one. What desk jockey wouldn't. But did CFS1 or CFS2 excite you as much as Janes WWII fighers, European Air War etc...? No...and neither does this. I'll tell you why.Sound Fine, just fine, Meatwater probably could've done better, but which one of you reading this has EVER bought a game based on its sound?Gameplay Engaging yes. But who can deny that this Microsoft franchise, at least when it comes to combat flight sims, is a bit antiseptic. The environment of European Air War was superb. Totally immersive and almost charmingly cartoonish, it sucked you in and delivered. I just cannot shake the feeling when flying these Microsoft creations (and I am no basher of the Redmond Monolith) that I still feel like I am in a museum where the aircraft seem to float and the ambiance is always....well, artificial. In short, dogfights are fast and furious, but no more than they are in European Air War, which is on the shelves for 9.95 at your local CompUSA.Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Summary In my opinion, this game isn't worth spending your hard earned money on.That's what I did, and Im regretting it. This game just feels like they didn't try very hard. You get the feeling that they didn't really want to do this at all. After playing games like "Battlefield 1942" and "Medal of Honor" this game will bore you stiff and frustrate the hell out of you. Sound The sound is nothing special. But I have really nothing bad to say about it either.This game over all is just barley on the good side of horrible. Gameplay The game play is frustrating too. The planes have no feel to them, they just float in space with no feeling of weight like you do get in "Battlefield 1942". And the pace is dull. I know it's suppose to be a sim., but it's a game too, and when I can't find any one in a crowded multi player game, well, that's just silly. And why you can't get the nose of some planes to go down when you get closer to the ground is just irritating. Nothing feels real in this game. No feeling of flying.Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Summary Not worth the money, You want a WW2 sim then go grab IL2. CFS3 follows the philosophy of Microsoft, lots of features that stray from the purpose of the game. As a flight simulator you should feel as if you are really flying, this game does not give that to you. The only thing worth looking at are the cloud effects but once you get close the effect diminishes to that of FS2002. For an enjoyable flying experience look elsewhere. For an enjoyable Combat flying experience, defintely look elsewhere. IL2 offers a better experience.Sound Nothing special, gunfire sounds alright.Gameplay The lack of mouse view, poor POV hat setup attrocious visuals when trying to spot enemies at a distance, doom this game. How is a fighter/bomber pilot supposed to track an enemy without the abilty to look around in a smooth controlled manner? The in-cockpit view is attrocious. There is no sense of flight when playing this game.Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Summary Personally I love this game! The game runs flawlessly on my system without the slightest choppiness. The vastness of the combat theater, the emersion into the ground war and especially the graphics and sound quality on explosions is excellent.Sound The sound is actually one of the highlights of this game. When I was in a thunderstorm the thunder reverberated across the room from side to side rolloing like real thunder. I could hear the heavy rain beating against my windshield. When you push a plain to its limits in a hard G-turn you can hear the plain creak and groan as one of the period would actually do.Gameplay You choose a map square and get to choose from a host of missions going on with that sector of the theater. The missions you choose and whether or not you are successful impact the over all war. You can choose from missions like air intercept, combat air patrol, ground attack, shipping interdiction and reconnisance. I especially pleased with the ground attack missions. Last night I was on a mission to destroy a railroad yard. After dropping my two 1000lb bombs and devasting the main yard, I circled around looking for other targets. Low and behold there was a column of tanks that I strafed and a convoy of trucks that I utterly devastated. Unfortunately I expended almost all of my ammunition and was unable to defend myself when we jumped by German fighters on the way back across the Normandy coast. Very fun. Also, the missions are different each time. Attacking the same bridge in consecutive missions (due to being shot down and having to redo the mission) demonstrated this to me. On the first mission I encountered light flak but was jumped by 8 German fighters. On the second time around the flak coming up was so heavy that it was like a wall but I encountered no fighters. I have only played for about 12 hours now but I am very pleased so far.Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Summary Did buy CF2, and installed it, but played it only once.Also bought IL2 from Ubisoft. Have this game for 8 months now, and still play it either off-line or on-line. Have some real-flight expirience as well, and my conclusion is: FS2002, really nice flight sim if you want to do some Nav-plannings, some en-route flights, and end with some nice ILS landings. IL2: A simulator that fives you a real 'feel'. Try it out with the Microsoft Force Feedback II (this Microsoft product is GREAT!). Dogfights, landing, take-off, shooting etc, the level of details are amazing! It's very clear that this is the work of real plane-lovers! Also, check www.il2sturmovik.com and check the website. You will see the level of details, and the follow up for their new release: Forgotten Battles. BUY BUY BUY. Btw. Games I play most: IL2, Medal of Honor, Max Payne. Sometimes FS2002. Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Rating Reviewed By R StavaFrom Brooklyn, NY Review Date 10/30/2002 Overall Rating  3 of 5 Rate this review? Summary Once again another half-baked attempt at the WWII flight sim from Microsoft. One would have thought they would have looked at their closest competitor - i.e. "IL-2" - and sought to top it. Instead they developed a sim that doesn't look or play half as good as a sim that came out a year ago. In fact, it looks and plays about the same, if not worse, than their previous product, CFS2. Whatever happened to the rich immersiveness and attention to detail of such classics as Red Baron, SWOTL and Dynamix' "Aces" series? What really gets me is that these guys are no doubt patting each other on the back over what a fabulous job they think they did. They should take some lessons from their counterparts in Russia. Also, curious as to how much they paid those people who wrote "glowing" previews....Sound This is one area the sim didn't fall flat on it's face. I thought the sounds were actually quite good - from the clang of the machine guns to the creak of the pilot seat.Gameplay Feels like a homoginized, lifeless WWII sim. Granted I only have limited flying time in real aircraft, but I can tell you the flight models don't feel anything like a real plane. The POV hat controls are terrible, the sim environment looks fake, and the weather looks like a half-assed version of IL2. Give them credit for attempting a Dynamic Campaign, though it plays like some surreal version of WWII from some high school kids' imagination.Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Summary I`ve never been a fan of Microsoft games, they`re generally dry,lacking character and immersive qualities, and this one continues the trend.The main problem is that it`s all been done before and better, going back nearly 5 years Janes WWII fighters was more fun, European air war has a far better campaign which is actually dynamic (two reviews on games sites actually recommend EAW as a better game), and more recently IL2 Sturmovik is a superior sim in every department, and just in case you forgot guys you gave us this game already 4 years ago and called it Microsoft Combat flight Simulator WWII Europe. Games like Il2 Sturmovik were made by a team who were obviously passionate about WWII and tested the game on former WWII pilots, Combat Sim 3 no doubt had technically brilliant guys working on it but with certainly no interest in WWII, to put it bluntly the game is lacking charm. At least IL2 took us to a new campaign area - the Russian front and so we got a chance to experience new aircraft, Combat sim 3 fails to even give us a look at a B17. I have to agree with an earlier reviewer that the "golden age" of WWII combat sims is definately over and they would have been wiser to end the series with CFS2. I`m not a microsoft employee earning a thousand bucks an hour, but if I were I`d come up with something more original than this, here`s a hint: how about a North African desert Campaign? it`s never been done in a sim before (not officially) and there`s an opportunity to introduce new aircraft (Italian)thats if you HAVE to give us another WWII sim, I mean how many do we need to play in one lifetime? Sound Sound is good, so thats a plus then.Gameplay Gameplay and flight model similar to CFS2, I am more concerned with the camera views which are the same as CFS2 and Microsoft dont feel it`s necessary to change, no cockpit mouse look? proper chase view, and flyby, the exterior shot of your plane always feels like it`s just hanging there with no sense of movement. Pilot management aspect is interesting but does not compensate for the lack of immersive campaign.Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Summary Microsoft tries once again to do a good combat flight simulator. Unlike previous disasters, they actually kinda succeed.Sound The sound is like the graphics. Breathtaking in its completeness. Bullets wiz as they come close to your canopy, bullets splash when you hit the water with them, you can hear the sound of bullets ripping through metal when they hit a metal object (including yourself, ow).Gameplay Here is where the game slows down. Literally. After playing 4 missions, the load times get longer, and longer, and longer until you are waiting some 8-10 minutes to load up a mission. The first mission loads up nearly instantly, mission 4 you are waiting a while. You have to exit the game and restart to fix this. Increasing the paging file size either doesn't help. Other than that annoying bug, the gameplay is great. The AI is smart enough to be a challenge, and they dynamic campaign is great. I like the fact I don't have to play a particular mission if I don't feel like it.Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Summary I love this game. I loved all the other ones at that. All people complain about is its not real. I am working on a pilots license. Flying really does feel like your floating there, but down close its riveting as in CFS3. As for cartoonish, its a game not real life. Its real enough especially compared to IL2(hated it). Real g's your plane takes damage where its hit not generically and its just plain fun!Sound Its like your there. The clang of your engine whens its hit, the creaking of the wings in a tight turn, the flak is even louder when you get closer. The bombs even whistle. The best part is hearing your cannon wail on the side of an enemy ship as it goes down into the channel.Gameplay You drop youself into a real pilot and have to work to get medals and prestige. You build your skills and earn points to get your own plain.You also get to control your campaign and your squad. Pretty cool. Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Summary In terms of flight sims made by Microsoft, this game ranks as their best. Compared to some of the other flight sims I've played, the game ranks highly, with the high realism and many options built in.The game gives you the opening choice of which campaign you which to play: the British, the Americans, or the Germans. Each group has their own advantages and disadvantages, which make the game more interesting. For example, the Germans have some of the better planes at the beginning of the game, but you have to give up Prestige points to acquire these better planes. The British, on the other hand, have some good planes to start, and you don't sacrifice Prestige points to acquire good planes. The Americans have it the hardest initially, with only one plane, and it being good for only air-to-ground attacks. One other option that is also open at the beginning is what kind of pilot you want to be. The choices open to you are that of a Fighter pilot, or a Bomber pilot. Flying the Fighter is what most people look forward to in Flight Sims, but the addition makes that game a bit more well rounded toward people who would rather be out of the enemies gun range when their dropping their bombs. Another nice point about the game is the missions selection. From what I've played thus far, there are over 20 mission types available, ranging from Recon to Anti-ship missions. Early in the campaign, you will find that Anti-ship missions will occupy the bulk of what is available. One key point should be made. The game was designed for both air-to-air combat, as well as air-to ground combat. However, the game was designed so that you gain more Prestige through air-to-air combat rather than air to ground combat. Effectively, to get the same amount of fame for destroying one plane, you have to destroy 5 ground vehicles, ships, or buildings. The advancement of technology through the game is extremely realistic. The Americans, as explained earlier, start with one crappy plane. Wait about 4 months (according to the game), and you get two new planes. You can also aquire new models of planes earlier by spending Squadron Prestige points. Overall, the game itself is a great overall simulation. It gives you lots of options, which can be difficult to find in other games of it's kind. Sound Sound is good, especially for a flight sim. The sound of your engine starting can be considered much more realistic that some of the other games I've played, and that's just the beginning. The sound was so well done that I can hear it when someone is behind me, shooting at me.Gameplay The game plays like that of any other flight sim. Use your keyboard or your joystick to fly a plane. In my opinion, the joystick is more effective in this game than it has been in other games (CFS2 was better played with the keyboard, if you asked me).One thing you'll find is that every plane is different in how it handles. The P-38 flies much different from the Folke-Wulf. And even planes from different countries will respond differently. The Spitfire responds a bit slower than the P-51 does when it comes to avoiding enemy fire. Gameplay is actively affected by what options you set in the options menu. If you want a simple game, you can set yourself to be invincible, with unlimited fuel and ammunition. One thing should be noted, however. When the setting for invincibiltiy is activated, you will be unable to advance in rank, improve on your pilot's skills, or get new aircraft. On the other hand, on the Hardest difficulty, you have limited fuel, ammuntion, and range. On this difficulty you will find that you are actively adjusting things such as the fuel mixture and the flaps settings, to make your trip faster and more efficient. Also, you will receive maximum Presige and experience, and you will rise in rank faster and get better planes quicker. One thing to learn quickly is to pay attention. When playing either side, you'll learn fast that the enemy always expects you, and there is plenty of anti-aircraft sitting around ready to blow you out of the skies! I'm not kidding about this. Anti-ship missions mean destroying both the cargo ships as well as the destroyers, which have AA guns. Enemy airfields and factories have AA guns. It'll be the main reason you get shot down or have your plane damaged. There is alot of flak in the air. Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Rating Reviewed By Richard FletcherFrom Leeds Review Date 11/15/2002 Overall Rating 3 of 5 Rate this review? Summary The latest (eagerly awaited) installment in the Combat Flight Simulator series returns to the European theatre of the Second World War after it's Pacific foray. This time the focus is on tactical air support and low altitude operations in the last two years of the war (1943 onwards) as well as taking a bold step into the "what if" world of a continuation of the hostilities beyond May 1945. A good selection of aircraft are featured, including a number of twin engine planes with multiple crew positions, a fairly new feature for a comabt flight simulation. Also modelled are an interesting selection of advanced aircraft types that were just entering service or never quite reached operational status. A dynamic campaign system is the focus of the single player game (very much in the same style as that featured in Eurofigher Typhoon), another welcome addition to the set up.Unfortunately, while CFS 3 sounds really great in concept, the game itself is medicore verging on the poor. Firstly, the program has a massive thirst for system power which limits it's playability, made even worse by the fact that I was left feeling the game showed very little for it's voracious processing requirements. Secondly the interface and controls are awkward and somewhat counter-intuitive. Thirdly and perhaps worst of all, some features are taken straight from Combat Flight Simulator 2, giving the game a cheap, recycled feel. I had great expectations of CFS 3- it could have been a truly great WW2 flight sim, but sadly it fails to deliver into a market that has some real classics to choose from. I would not recommend this game. Sound The sound is particularly bad and unimaginative. The sound effects for the machine guns and cannons have been taken straight from CFS 2 and re-used whereas they could have had more depth added to them. In addition there appears to be one general weapon sound that is applied to all weapons of that class, which again detracts from the realism.Engine sounds do have more variety according which plane you fly, but some are rather flat and uninteresting. There are a couple of saving graces however- the jet engine sounds are nicely done and the dull creaks from your plane's airframe in high-G manoeuvres is suitably ominous. Gameplay As a combat flight simulation, the gameplay disappoints. While flight models have been (considerably) improved since CFS 2, they lack atmosphere and do not engage you in the game, and do not give that all important feeling of "being there".One definite improvement is the abandonment of the old "bubble" hit zones from CFS 2, so damage is harder to score on opponents and mid air collisions have become much more realistic. The dynamic campaign system gives a vital boost to the otherwise uninspiring gameplay. With three sides to play no two campaigns should be identical and the way your pilot gains experience and improves is also novel, although the aircraft allocation system lacks realism. (WW2 pilots did not have such control over the aircraft they flew). Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Summary Dreadful and frustrating. Lousy finish and dogged by constantly locking up and freezing (requiring reboot) the second you engage in any action. I think its a case of my pc just not being powerful enough for this (ie. a load of BS on the minimum requirements!). I should say I also run the execellent FS2002 with no problem at all so I really can't see the problem here!Oh yeah and I sat waiting for over 30 minutes watching the splash screen and egg timer as I was soo stupid I thought that cd 2 had to be in the drive - nice of them to tell you it CD1 !!!! Its going back to the shops. Sound Fine - but not someting i consider a priority.Gameplay Even just a bit of aerobatics has my machine intermittantly locking up, but try doing anything exciting like engaging in a dog fight and the whole thing freezes and we're all off the rebootsville.Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Summary Let's start by saying I was very disappointed. I had to chime in with a review because the reviews I read here are way to generous. Everyone else has compared this game to CFS2 which is a very limited comparison. If you compare it justly to another modern flight sim IL2 Sturmovick, a game that secedes this title by a year, CFS3 falls disturbingly short.Sound The sound is good. I had'nt noticed it much to be honest. What I did notice was more shotcomings, like the detail of then engine start up sounds compared to IL2. The weapon sounds and radio transmissions are good though and the flak sounds convincing enough.Gameplay Career mode is okay, nothing that pulls you in, but most flight sims are all about the experience not the story. The highly touted feature of an ongoing war with a dynamic front line is neat, but is poorly executed. As it turns out, your influence to the turn of war is minimal and your constantly led to beleive you're efforts aren't having much effect. Most frustrating is the lack of effect that picking up targets of opportunity seems to have. On your way to and from missions, it seems to have zero effect no matter how much you devastate the landscape.The game physics are semi-realistic, weak compared to IL2's flight model, but not what I'd call Arcadey. It has some nice features to compliment a less experienced pilot like radar and target tracking pointers. The graphics range from fair in the environments to outstanding on the planes and visual effects. This lends to an odd experience and adds to VERY unpolished feel of the game. I've had multiple crashes, long pauses in gameplay and general lack of fps. Especially when "Warping" or accelerating time. I have also seen many bugs. Terrain textures seem to be misplaced at times lending to a mixed up jigsaw puzzle look and multiplayer games have led to an array of bizarre experiences such as flying UNDER the terrain and having no plane model at all, just a pilot flying along naked (sorta like wonder woman's invisible jet!). Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Summary CFS3 is an utter disappointment. Don't waste your money on this game when you can buy IL-2 Sturmovikfor $5 less. Please, do yourself a big favor and get something else other than this buggy junk.Sound Again, just fancy and not realistic. It's like comparing the movie Windtalkers to Black Hawk Down. Windtalkers is action packed, guns ablazing, but it's only a John Woo movie that you forget after watching once. On the other hand a game like Sturmovik is similar to Black Hawk Down, where its down to earth, not a bit as flashy, but never gets old. The sound will get annoying pretty soon like Yahzee did in Windtalkers. Get Sturmovik, listen to some Russian jargon and some real engine sounds.Gameplay At first you express an implication of awe. Smooth flight, ruthless AI, beautiful cockpit. But after a couple of flights, you think: hey where did the WWII atmosphere go? You can expect the game to be seemingly awe-inspiring, but, cmon it's Microsoft, don't expect it to be realistic. If you want the real thing get Sturmovik, if you want some flashy fake stuff this is the game for you.Oh, by the way, this is one of the buggiest games I have ever played. I won't go into details because Microsoft will probably hire a hitman to assasinate me for undermining their greatness. But check out the other reviews and see their complaints on bugs. Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Summary Every time I buy a fighter plane game I regret it. After buying it I promise my self that I won’t ever buy any fighter plane game again until I get the best of the best PC game for Flight Combat. But again my love for Air combat makes me do the same mistake again & again. This time too I made a mistake & I regret WHY THE HELL I GOT THIS GAME. You know I can’t understand why can’t anyone make a perfect flight combat game. I tired F-15, F-18, Isrealian air force or whatever your call it, IL2 Sturmovik (I don’t know what is so great in it), Combat Sim 2 & now this master piece of crap. I am not going to waste my & your time so please don’t buy this game & make the same mistake I did IT SUCKS!! The only games I liked in flight combat were Dogfighter & Crimson Skies. |
2.51 of 5
