Battle of Britain Review

Last year was the sixtieth anniversary of the Battle of Britain. In 1940, the German forces ran swiftly across Europe leaving it in ruins and flames. This campaign should have been gloriously finished with conquering of the Great Britain. The main goal of German air-force general Goering and his Luftwaffe had been to soften the British defenses and to support German ground troops that would invade the island as a part of the "Sealion" operation. When Germany finished its campaign in France in mid 1940, Luftwaffe and RAF started a series of skirmishes over the English Channel and the green fields of England. These air campaigns saved Britain from the invasion.

This game has been designed by Rowan Software, well known for its last year's flight-sim mega-hit - Mig Alley. They also designed some older sims like Dawn Patrol and Flying Corps. This reputation suggests that the Battle of Britain simply cannot be a flop. Battle of Britain (BoB) uses an enhanced version of the Mig Alley engine. Of course, as Mig Alley featured jet planes, the engine had to be severely changed and enhanced. Flight Model is realistic, but you can still determine how realistic you want it to be by setting flight preferences. Your plane's performances will be influenced by airframe stress, wind and torque. The most interesting thing is that the designers did a lot of research and tried to recreate realistic models of the plane from the forties. For instance, Spitfire 1A cannot initiate a negative G dive without shortly having its engines turned off. The realistic flight models will make the game even more challenging and interesting.

BOB can be played in several different modes. You can choose to play one of about a dozen of single player mission, on the missions for up to eight players over the net. The core of this game is however, presented through the two separate dynamic, real-time campaigns. This means that if your German bomber manages to cripple enemy supplies and production facilities that will show in the next battle. If you manage to destroy enough radar stations, you'll be able to enter deeper into the island with less danger coming from the air defenses. Resource management, supplies and squadron deployment are crucial as they determine further course of events. Each decision will be up to you. Those of you who only want to enjoy the flying; you can let the AI do the rest of the job for you. In that case you only control one, currently active squadron. As a squadron leader, you can only issue orders and waypoints to your wingmen, according to the spy reports.

I was particularly impressed by the verisimilitude of the Battle of Britain campaign. First missions will require you to protect the transports in the channel, then as you advance through the game you will have to defend your airfields and factories. In the end of the campaign you will have to fight off night raids and prevent bombings of civilian structures and cities throughout Britain. If you choose to play the German campaign, you'll play the same missions on the opposite side.

The campaigns are very long and difficult, especially if you play as an RAF pilot, which only realistically shows the poor condition of the British air force in the beginning of the WWII.

The designers went to the extent of checking the weather conditions for every single day of the Battle of Britain. The weather conditions will influence the plane performances, and can be used to determine proper tactics. AI pilots will use the clouds and lurk on your bombers, which is a well-known tactic that the British used in the WWII.

You know those driving sims on PSX, where you can record your race? Well, the designers decided to include such an option in the Battle of Britain, so that you can use several cameras to record the entire battle and then examine it in peace and learn on your mistakes. The choice of planes isn't too big, but considering the fact that a great number of non-flyable models also participate in battles, I must admit that the numbers had been fairly balanced. RAF is guarding its homeland with Supermarine Spitfire MK I, 1A and 1B, and the somewhat slower, but better armored Hawker Hurricane MK I 1A and 1B. If you decide to play on the German side you can pick one of the two fighters: Messershmitt Bf 109-E4 or Bf 110-C4. The most appealing choice for any passionate flight-sim fan would be the fighter-bomber Junkers Ju87 B-2. Non-flyable models include Junkers 88, Dornier 17 and Heinkel 111, as well as Bolton Paul defiant fighter and Bristol Blenheim light bomber. I only wander why they left out the swastikas on German aircrafts. This reduces authenticity as all German planes had to have swastikas on their tails during the Second World War.

Each model has unique design and specific characteristics. The cockpit has been done in full 3D, and you can use your mouse too look around within the cockpit. On lesser altitudes you'll even be able to pop your head out! Communicating with wingmen is especially interesting. They will inform you of potential targets, which will (supported by the little British circles and German crosses) make playing a lot easier. When you fly a German aircraft, the wingmen will speak to you in German! Fortunately, the game feature subtitles for those of you who are not that good at German language.

What Rowan did here has not yet been seen in any other flight sim. During a single mission you can see hundreds of planes in the sky. This is a sight to behold. Unfortunately, it will take great skill to join an air combat of these proportions and stay alive for more than two minutes.