Forming on Flight Leader Charlie...

The Allied Command is disturbed by the heavy movement of German troops on the Western Front. The Sherman tanks are in a deadlock with the German Panzers. Can one man make a difference, can you turn the tide of the battle?

You have been ordered to lead your flight of Mustangs (aka P-51s) to provide close air support for your buddies on the ground. You read your briefing papers and with the rest of your men you step out onto the airstrip. The ground crew has finished patching up your baby from the last mission that you undertook. They tell you to take care of their baby and make sure that it comes back in one piece. You start the engine and as the propeller roars to life, you roll the cockpit bubble closed. The smell of petrol hangs in the air.

It looks like this will be another mission where time is of the essence. You navigate your flight to the target area and, after engaging in a dogfight with German fighters, manage to take out the enemy Panzers. The Allies live to fight another day thanks to you.

This is the way the gameplay is in Combat Flight Simulator 3: Battle for Europe.

The game is about choices. You can choose to either fight for the Allies (as the US or UK for example) or for the Axis. You can also choose to become a fighter pilot or a bomber pilot (and consequently a bombardier once you've reached the target site). You can also decide on which mission you will undertake and where the strikes will be.

These decisions affect the outcome of the war as displayed on the map of Europe, which the player can access. It shows the battle line between the Axis and Allies and also the status of the infantry and supplies (ex. oil).

As a pilot in Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator you are responsible for all of the tasks of a flight leader. You must navigate your wing to the engagement zone and also order your flight to strike specific targets as well as alerting them to incoming tangos (hostiles). However be sure to watch your ammo supply, it’s not fun to be engaged and run out of ammo (ask me how I know).

There is also anti-aircraft fire which explodes in front of your plane with the smoke clouds that you see in the movies (and I am told are very realistic). If you have a feedback joystick (which I highly recommend) you can feel the turbulence caused by anti-aircraft fire. If you are shot in a wing flap or rudder you can actually feel the resistance caused by the damage.

If you are shot in the right spot (or in this case I guess it would be the wrong spot…) you can be wounded and killed. This is why it would be a good idea to always save your game. G forces are also a factor in the game and you can subsequently black out due to them. You can also take damage that destroys your plane. As you start to lose altitude (or you see your oil pressure dropping…) you have the option of bailing out. However bailing out requires that you open the cockpit bubble which, if you are falling out of the sky, can take up time and you may die in the crash before you can bail out. This is another example of the game’s painstaking attention to realism and detail.

The graphics are fairly good, you actually see where you have been shot and the physics behind the game itself are pretty realistic (thus the G force effect). You can even see the rivets in the wings and you can see the water shooting up when you shoot into the water and miss, just like in the WWII movie clips. Sound effects are pretty good too, they sounds just like the real thing (and yes I have heard what a P-51 sounds like and its machine guns).

I would recommend this game to anyone that loves flight simulators and/or first person shooters. It’s quite entertaining and because of its online multiplayer mode it never gets old. It’s a great game and I love the realism that it involves.

Good luck soldier!