If you remember the Memphis Belle, the famed U.S. bomber of World
War II, an era when:
Then, prepare to become a living part of those experiences with
a new Hasbro/Microprose flight simulation, "B-17–the
Mighty 8th."
Reminiscent of great World War II movies, such as "Twelve
O’Clock High," the Mighty 8th is a sim in which you can
experience graphically detailed role-playing and strategic challenges
in a single, dynamic package, with stunning visual effects and amazing
game play.
A sequel to Microprose’s 1993 sim, B-17 lets you command
a single bomber, and play every one of the 10 positions of the crew–pilot,
co-pilot, bombardier, navigator, waist gunner (left or right), engineer,
top turret gunner, ball turret gunner or tail gunner. Or you can
command a squadron of six planes and their crews, planning and carrying
out strategic missions over enemy territory. The normal 12 plane-squadron
has been reduced to six for practicality.
Whichever way you choose to play, you’ll be in control of
B-17Gs. "G" designates the model of the B-17 that appears
in this sim. Before you start, you get to name your bomber, pick
your squadron, select your nose art and name your crew–all
of them!
This last part is important to the success of any crew, because
of the personal interdependence required to survive. Your goal is
to make it safely through 25 missions that range from "milk-runs"
to deep-penetration flights (sometimes unescorted) to Germany. Game-play
options include single missions (bomber or fighter–escort
or enemy), training missions (take off, landing, bombing, navigation
and gunnery), or full-scale campaigns (historical or squadron).
Squadron campaigns require you to plan your own missions by defining
targets hit, aircraft used, routes taken during the long-range "strategic"
bombing campaign. All campaigns are dynamic, in that success or
failure determines the nature of future encounters and missions.
Seems like a lot of choices, but this remains one of the best features
of this sim–no time for boredom. Each choice has the cumulative
effect of building blocks that require you to pay attention at all
times.
You are assisted in this outstanding sim, by such features as:
Access to individual crewmembers requires moving the mouse to the
top of the screen and clicking on a portrait of each man, opening
the crew-management rose–a circular display with a command
icon in the center. Watch the men moving around the bomber in a
realistic way, carrying out their normal or emergency duties, as
circumstances require, and listen to their voices, as they call
out bandits, report damage or help a wounded buddy.
Casualties will matter, as you get further into the campaign, requiring
you to replace crew members with green recruits, something other
flight sims don’t address.
You’ll get to learn how to fly the B-17G, with all of the
control switches reproduced in detail from pilot’s position
to bombardier’s bombsight. Even battle damage is reproduced
from bullet holes, fires, even scorch marks. You can switch from
interior position to view your aircraft from the outside and see
the damage from the attacker’s view, moving control surfaces,
weathered paintwork and vapor trails. The terrain that you fly over
is amazingly accurate and in full color.
So much to do, so much to remember, in order for the mission to
succeed and return to home base safely. It is little wonder that
52 out of every 100 crewman did not make it halfway through their
tour.
An amazing change is your ability to swap positions into the fighters–both
enemy and escorts–where individual details will continue to
amaze you. Note: I don’t remember a sim that covers the ME-262
as well as this. Using the P-51 as an example, operable components
include elevator; aileron and rudder trim (port side of cockpit);
bomb-release levers; fuel-tank selectors; flap and undercarriage
handles; mixture, prop and throttle controls, all of which are moveable.
A plaque on the instrument panel reads: "Move stick forward
to unlock tail wheel." If you do what it says, it works! Even
the gun sight is fully functional. Flight models are realistic and
challenging, and bullets and tracers travel through the air, as
shown in gun-camera footage.
You may be disappointed in the lack of a multi-player mode and
fanfare when you successfully make it home after a mission, but
these are details that somehow can’t dent the outstanding
level of play that this sim offers.
The excellent graphic detail has a price: large amounts of memory.
You need a lot of computer to play this sim, but in all fairness,
if you want a sim with this much capability–and that seems
to be the trend of each new sim–you need the added capacity.
Our hats go off to Wayward Studios, developer of this outstanding
sim.
Recommended System Requirements: Windows 95/98/ME, Pentium III,
500 MHz or faster, 256 MB RAM or better, 1.5 GB HD space,16 MB video
memory, 3dfx Voodoo4 or higher, Windows compatible sound card, DirectX
vers, 7.0a or higher, DirectX compatible joystick. Microprose/Hasbro
Interactive can be found on Web site at www.hasbro-interactive.com.