As a fan of PC flight simulators and an avid researcher of the Second World War, especially in the Pacific, I had to buy Microsoft's Combat Flight Simulator 2. At first I was kind of disappointed with the 'pop art' style introduction video and menu system, but once I took my A6M2 to the skies, I was hooked.

Historically Accurate
You can choose to fly for either the Japanese or the Americans, in any of seven flyable fighters:

* Lockheed P-38F Lightning
* Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat
* Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat
* Vought F4U-1A Corsair
* Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero
* Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero
* N1K2 George

Each of these has its own strengths and weaknesses, for example, the Zero can outmaneuver anything else in the sky, but get hit and it becomes extremely difficult to control.

Other non-flyable, computer controlled aircraft include the B-24 Liberator, C-47 Skytrain, P-39 Airacobra, TBF Avenger, Ki-43 Oscar, B5N2 Kate and G4M2 Betty to name just a few.  The damage works similar to the way it works in real life, for example, if you get shot in the wing, the aircraft will handle just like that.  You see an aircraft going down, with it's engine on fire, then an explosion (with shrapnel that can damage your own aircraft) as the engine blows up.

The game starts off soon after Pearl Harbor throwing you straight into the Second World War.  Most of the missions you fly are carrier-based (landing on one is definately a challenge) and include objectives such as interception, ground/sea attack and escort duties.

Enhancements
Like most games being released these days, CFS2 allows room for expansion.  By this I mean, you can literally download hundreds of extra aircraft, sceneries, missions and so on.  My favourite of which would be In Defence of Australia 1942.

In this campaign you join the RAAF's 75 Squadron at Port Moresby and take on the Japanese in one of two P-40E Kittyhawks.  This starts off the day the squadron arrived at Moresby and sticks to the squadron history perfectly.  It also includes a computer controlled G4M3 Nell.  Version 2 (available to download HERE) includes a more accurate Kittyhawk model and the ability to fly against the Australians as the Japanese.  If there are any RAAF fans out there, this is the one to get!

Reuirements
One of the best things about CFS2 is that it doesn't need a super-fast PC to run on.  A Pentium II, running at 266MHz with 32MB RAM and a 4MB video card is all that is required.  Although, it looks a treat running on something like a Pentium 4, 1.6GHz machine. To borrow the Microsoft Flight Simulator catch phrase, this game would have to be As Real As It Gets!

Review by Daniel Leahy

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Last Updated
February 4, 2018