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Wings Over Europe (PC CD)
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5/5 |
Gettin' on but kickin' ass!
(February 22, 2008) |
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Briefly - the best Jet Sim out there - still! You can add all sorts of stuff into the sim ( I added Tornadoes, Gripen, F22 Raptor, Migs 23, 27,29, Sukhoi 27, Victor, Vulcan - many more available), the Flight Models are pretty spot-on; not as 'tecchie' as LOMAC ( easy to get playing & having success). The cockpits are pretty OK, external views are impressive. As it's a little old now, the payoff is that you can stick all settings to max, and still have a beautiful fluid, fast Sim. The campaigns are thin on the ground, most fun had with the single mission parameters. Played on XP, Geforce 7900, Athlon FX57. |
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5/5 |
Fight the enemy in the air or on the ground.
(February 19, 2008) |
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Tried Wings Over Veitnam ? Then you will enjoy this even more, you can fly the the British Hawker Hunter, and the Harrier either in air to air or air to ground combat. Plus a variety of US Air Force, Navy or Marines aircraft (take off from the carrier), all in great realistic skins of the period. If you enjoy combat flight sims this is a must for you, for the price you pay it is very good. |
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5/5 |
There is a Time for War.
(September 17, 2007) |
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This is a follow up to Wings over Vietnam and the first version, Strike Fighters. A more serious slant for a combat sim is achieved in that the challenge with these planes (though not really the F-15) is that computers were not flying them and doing the targetting. On top of that is the whole missile/bomb challenge which is also historicallly authentic. The idea ist hat flying these planes in the respective years that they entered service against likely opponents requires more skill than fire-and-forget waepons of a later period. The impressive line up of planes is as follows:
US Air Force: A-10A Thunderbolt II, F-4C Phantom II, F-4D Phantom II, F-4E Phantom II, F-100D Super Sabre, F-105D Thunderchief, F-15A Eagle NATO Air Forces: F-4F Phantom II (GAF), Hunter FGA. Mk.9 (RAF), Harrier GR. Mk.1 (RAF), Harrier GR. Mk.3 (RAF), Phantom FGR. Mk.2 (RAF) Non-Player Aircraft: AI Planes, EnemyMiG-17 "Fresco-A", MiG-17F "Fresco-C", MiG-19S "Farmer-C", MiG-21F-13 "Fishbed-C",MiG-21PF "Fishbed-D", MiG-21PFM "Fishbed-F", MiG-21MF "Fishbed-J", MiG-23M "Flogger-B", MiG-27 "Flogger-D", Su-7BM "Fitter-A", Il-28 "Beagle", Tu-16 "Badger", Tu-22 "Blinder", An-12 "Cub". AI Planes, Friendly: B-52D Stratofortress, B-57B Canberra, O-1 Bird Dog
In campaign mode you are given a choice of one of the authentically detailed USAF, RAF or French Air Force squadrons planes. The markings are totally accurate, even down to teh aircraft numbering! You can choose different numbers for the planes too. But when you get into mission mode, the choice is blinding! Now it's time to get out your copy of Jane's All the World's Air Forces, as nearly all the worlds air forces (and some navies) are available for liveries! That isn't going to get you much truth when it comes to the A-10, as only the USAF use that Warthog (though again both camo/grey liveries are available). AS for widely used planes (the Phantom and Hunter), yes, you can fly an integral Indian air force or Republic of Korea version. Of course you can get into the realms of fiction too, with an Israeli Harrier or an Albanian Thundercheif. I was impressed that are true to life Rhodesian Hunter is possible, and the scenery looks okay for such a version too.
The scenery is claimed to be Germany, but it could be anywhere from Russia to Southern Africa. The previous sceneries from the Vietnam and desert (strike fighters) can also be loaded in. The weather/cloud and time of day can all be changed for a bewildering variety of mission experiences.
As for weapons, in A/A (Air-to-Air) mode and with the cannon selected, the gunsight is placed in lead computing mode with the reticle position governed by the sight gyro and radar range. By these means the sight effectively predicts where cannon fire will go, given your current G load and range to a selected target. There are three types of air-to-ground guided missiles available in Wings Over Europe: 1) Anti-radiation missile (ARM), such as AGM-45 Shrike and AGM-78 Standard ARM, 2) Electro-Optical (EO) weapons, including AGM-65 Maverick, GBU-8 HOBOS, and Walleye, and 3) Laser-guided bombs (LGB), such as GBU-10/12 Paveway I series bombs. Laser-Guided weapons are guided toward reflection of laser dot "painted" on the target by a laser designator. If the aircraft is not carrying the laser designator (A-10), then it cannot select target on its own - it can only attack primary targets, which are always being designated by other laser designators (such as Special Forces on the ground). The Heads-Up-Display will display a symbol indicating where the laser is designating. Laser-Guided Bomb (LGB), with Designator (AVQ-23 Laser Designator Pod on F-4. If the aircraft is carrying a laser designator (such as AVQ-23 Laser Designator Pod on F-4),
There is also the whole idea introduced about misile improvement from year to year, so that Sidewinders are not that useful until the AIM-9L, introduced in 1978 after being developed jointly by the US Air Force and the Navy, representing a major advance in the Sidewinder development. It is the first "all-aspect" Sidewinder missile, with ability to attack target from all angles, even from head-on. The pilots no longer have to manoeuvre behind the target for a missile shot, resulting in dramatic improvement in the effectiveness over the earlier models. The AIM-7E-2 Sparrow, so called "Dogfight Sparrow", is an AIM-7E missile modified for use in the short minimum-range and high-G firing required in dogfights. The Dogfight Sparrow entered service in 1970. Improved version of Sparrow introduced in 1976, the AIM-7F has dual-stage rocket motor for longer range, solid-state electronics for improved reliability, and a larger warhead for increased lethality. Skyflash is a British semi-active radar guided missile derived from the US AIM-7 Sparrow missile. It features improved seeker and electronics, making it less susceptible to enemy electronics countermeasures. The missile entered service in 1978, and is used on British Phantom FGR.Mk 2.On board fire control radars of the 1960s could only lock onto one enemy at a time, and radar-homing missiles had to "ride the beam" to their targets, not having their own independent guidance systems. The BLU-1 Napalm bomb is an aluminium canister filled with fuel gel. Tumbling end over end when released (you can actually see this animated), as it strikes a target or the ground the container will rupture, spreading highly flammable napalm that sticks to most structures. Upon impact, fuses rapidly ignite the fuel gel. The F-15A Eagle carries APG-63 radar, the most advanced radar of its time. The radar was the first US airborne radar to incorporate Programmable Signal Processor, and its capabilities are significantly enhanced over earlier generation radars, such as the one carried by F-4 Phantom.
So all in all this a combat sim for those that seek historical truth. Can it get more authentic? Well, the radio is great, but always with American (even Texan) accents. Though even that can be changed by adding other wave files! About the only thing missing is nuclear weapons, but we can thank God that they were never used in the cold war.
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