I have tried so many flight simulators throughout the years and have been disappointed time after time. "Red Baron 3D" was full of bugs, "European Air Wars" just didn't add up to much, "Jane's World War II Fighters" was kind of boring. But Combat Flight Simulator 2 (CFS2) has redeemed the whole air war gaming genre. It is FUN! Where all of the other games were half-hearted attempts at getting a good game out to the public or whole-hearted attempts at making lots of money and then ignoring the users, Microsoft has given us a game that is virtually bug-free and immensely expandable. Just take a look at all of the planes, missions, sounds, etc.... that people have designed just for this game. It's incredible! When I first looked at the box, I kind of thought that it might be a dud. After all, the Japanese have only 3 kinds of plane to fly (and 2 of the 3 are variants of the Zero). But as easy as pie, I scan the web and guess what? There are literally dozens of extra planes that are easily downloadable for CFS2.

The level of game immersion is up to you. If you want to, you can make the game so realistic that you will go through the exact engine start-up procedures (magnetoes, cowl-flaps, carb priming, etc...). Or you can simply jump in and fly with a push of a button. With 3 different flight levels (easy, medium, hard), as well as options for damage strength of ammo, choice of bombs, etc..., no one is left to suffer through simplicity or an intensely difficult game.

Microsoft has made the game easy to set up. There are options for just about every conceivable piece of hardware. This is how games should be created.

So what about the downsides? Well, there aren't too many. The enemy planes don't attack too well. In fact, you have a better chance at being shot down by flak or bomber gunners than by enemy fighters. Also, one thing that I miss is that while flying, you don't just happen upon a fighter or bomber. Everything seems kind of scripted when it comes to encounters. The dogfights themselves are wild and woolly (certainly NOT scripted), but it would have been nice to simply go on a fighter sweep and just see who might show up. Red Baron 2 had that feature, but they blew it in every other catagory.

The bottom line? Buy it! I am a huge cheapskate when it comes to software. $45.00 for a game is outrageous! But this game is almost worth it. It is fun, exciting, and other than missions that tend to repeat themselves at times, it is the best game that I own. Considering the amount of 3rd party support (i.e. the gaming public), it is sure to be a classic.

Recommended: Yes