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	Combat Flight Simulator 3: Battle For Europe
	Developer: Microsoft Publisher: Microsoft Genre: Simulation Players: 1-8 Similar To: IL-2 Sturmovik Rating: Everyone Published: 10 :30 : 02 Reviewed By: Ryan Newman Overall: 7.5 = Good

Screenshots

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Intro
It's pretty impressive how quickly Microsoft's Combat Simulator series has grown and improved. In light of the fact that what was once a thriving genre is losing steam, it's especially refreshing to see companies still releasing new offerings to a rabid fanbase. With a bold change in its basic playing structure, this latest outing in the series proves to be one of the biggest departures from the standard formalities of flight sim titles, and manages to do it well, despite some drawbacks.

Gameplay: 7.5/10
Foregoing the traditional - and arguably, better - standard of having a story-driven campaign, Combat Flight Simulator 3 (CFS 3) uses a dynamic battlefront approach. Using this method, players pick sectors along the frontline and chose from a list of missions that accompany them. These missions range from destroying cargo ships, factories, bunkered troops, columns of tanks and supply trucks, reconnaissance, escort missions, fight patrol, and more. Once the mission is complete, the frontline advances and the war is taken to the enemy's front door. Whenever combat gets on land, players can call in ground troops to soften an area before they launch their mission -- that is, if they have the appropriate prestige points. These points are gained by completing missions and are crucial as they not only allow for ground troops, but also for acquiring new planes.

This would be a sound method, if it had been perfected. There were many times when a successful mission wouldn't advance the front. Sure, I would get prestige points, but it would feel like I was making no headway. This is when I feel a more story and objective-oriented style would have been more successful as the player gets immediate recognition for accomplishments and feels like they're really advancing through the war. With that said, this new approach is interesting, but seemed as if it needed to be fleshed out some more.

One of the more interesting aspects of the title was the ability to upgrade your pilot's stats. Similar to an RPG, the more wins you earn, the more points are allotted to spend 'upgrading' their abilities, from sight, how they handle g-force, to health. Even though the number of what can be enhanced is limited, they are all vital if one hopes to win the war.

There are certain oddities I found with CFS 3 though, some of which make the game feel unfinished. On the main screen, there's a section for news. While this is a great way to really put the player into the timeframe and enhance the atmosphere, it was rarely used during the German campaign; I can't recall ever seeing news there throughout the missions. I also found it odd that after being shot down, a screen would come up telling me I failed, and then a screen telling me I died; did I really need to be told I failed? However, if you complete the objective and then die, a screen comes up congratulating you for the success, and then the death screen appears informing the player that their campaign is over. The tutorial was also split up into handbooks, movies, and missions - all of which are separated. While the handouts were extremely helpful and informative, complete with diagrams and thorough explanations, they were in Acrobat format; the movies were accessed through a help menu within the game, like the handbooks, but the movies don't require the program to minimize, and the training missions are really just combat missions without excess enemies and much explanation. For such a complex genre, a thorough and well put together tutorial is a strong asset, and it just seems like someone forget to put the pieces together here.

Where CFS 3 really succeeds is with the combat itself. With a wide variety of missions, including the ability to fly bombers and switch between all positions - pilot, bomber, and all gunner spots - there's no lack of things to do. With U.S., Germany, and England all having campaigns and unique aircraft, there's plenty of variety. The planes come complete with customizable paint jobs, and they both look and control great. The aircraft also range from the old favorites, to newer - and odder - jet fighters; they're interesting additions, but stand out as a bit awkward. That's the game's strongest asset: the planes, new and old, are a joy to fly, and it carries over well into missions. So, while the structure is quirky, the planes and missions are a blast. It's just a shame it wasn't more fulfilling on the home front.

Graphics: 8.5/10
With some phenomenal aircraft models, gorgeous explosions, and lovely weather effects, the skies of CFS 3 never cease to impress. Zooming up on aircraft is a small wonder as their detail and design are simply outstanding. Circling a fleet of cargo ships and watching one of them sink in a ball of flames is nice, but it can't quite match the thrill of chipping away at a bomber and watching the debris fly past as the final blow is sent and the plane explodes into a glorious ball of fire with pieces falling down to the earth, complete with thick smoke trails.

The same can't be said for the ground though; while trees, bridges, and scattered buildings attempt to make the ground look lively, the poor textures end up being a real eyesore. It's always weird to circle over a train and see how well it looks, a few scattered trees around the track, and the ground looking like a huge green polygon. Warping will also distort the surroundings by breaking objects up, making islands out of bodies of land with no water nearby, and stripping any and all detail away from the surroundings. These transgressions aren't completely against the game as it is focused on the sky and the warping anomalies are the product of a game needing a machine that won't be available for another two years.

Sound: 8/10
Ah, what's better than hearing the hum of an engine, the wind flying past the cockpit and the sound of flak tearing through the sky? Not much, I tell you. While Combat Flight Sim 3 may be light on music, the effects are just right; turn too quickly and the plane will begin to creak and settle against the wind. While something a bit dramatic would have been nice when warping to a combat situation, the silence does to well as a segway to AA guns and destroyers bombarding the skies with flak.

Control: 9/10
For this review I used Thrustmaster's Top Gun Fox 2 Pro, and, surprisingly, it works perfectly. I say that because it so rarely happens, so you'll excuse me if I enjoy that for a moment. Now then, the large number of options are all configurable due to the Realism option, so the player can really get out of the title as much as they wish to put in. If you're a gamer that knows your stuff, or just loves to tinker with all the controls, making it more realistic will give you plenty to do as the controls span both the joystick and keyboard. If you happen to want to use a more straightforward approach, the keyboard hopping is put to a minimum.

The planes differentiate a great deal, which is a crucial component to a flight sim, and all handle magnificently. If there was one thing I found odd, it was that the menus, while fairly easy to navigate, looked a bit slapped together in parts; while some fit in well with the motif used, others came off as HTML links that were slapped onto the background. The fact that the handbooks for the planes and other objects were in Acrobat Reader also made the tutorials feel too separated.

Overall: 7.5/10
While the approach was interesting, I can't help but feel that a more story-driven campaign wouldn't have made a much more enjoyable experience. The portions that seem unpolished are particularly odd since the rest of the game comes off as a solid product. This new approach to the campaign mode certainly makes for a great deal of replaybility, and it's a unique approach, so those looking for something new will certainly enjoy it. For flight sim fans, there are slim pickings but Combat Flight Simulator 3 is a fine title, and if you have the system for it and don't mind a more loose campaign structure, you'll be playing this for months on end -- like myself.

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