The B-17 bomber was the primary bomber used for long-rangedaylight bombing in World War II. B-17 Flying Fortress lets youtake control of any of the 10 individual positions of the plane, andputs you in command of an entire squadron of 12 bombers. B-17delivers a full WWII flight-sim experience. As the bombardier, zoom inon targets 20,000 feet below to accurately destroy them. Swat downinterceptors as a tailgunner. You can even escort the lumbering B-17sin a fighter plane, or join the Luftwaffe and try to keep the bombersfrom delivering their payloads.
I finally got my hands on a copy of this. Its a version from Europe, for some reason the American release date isn't for a month or so. Regardless I'm sure the game will be the same. So let me tell you about it. My first impressions are, holy smokes. This game is going to be a huge hit. I'm not sure where to start. Well for one, the graphics are simply amazing. You can fly a huge variety of planes, be it American or German. But the best plane to fly is the B-17 of course. You can man all 10 positions in the plane, and during a mission can switch back and forth. During attacks you are so busy keeping track of everything the time just flys by. You can man a gun turret, pilot the aircraft or even be the bombadier. And if you are unfortunate enough to get shot down, well, don't fret, just switch planes and continue the mission. You can jump into any plane you want, be it the bomber, or your escorts. There are tons of missions to choose from as well. You can do the standard quick missions, training, longer missions from start to finish and various campaigns, both historic and some created ones. I'm amazed they packed this all onto one cd. This game has been in the making for so long, but it was definetly worth the wait. Anyone who likes WWII flight sims will fall in love with this game. I've only had it for a few days since it came in the mail. If you can't wait, get it from a Euro dealer, otherwise, it shouldn't be much longer till North American audiences enjoy this.
Ok first of all, let me tell you the game works fine. It didn't crash on my system, and it didn't crash on two of my other computers (one of them only runs on a PII 400 mhz). I think the problem lies with the user. During installation, DO NOT install the A3D drivers. It's just common sense. If you dont have an A3D soundcard then dont install the drivers. Plain and simple. Some users feel they need to install every thing the game asks them to install but in reality you dont have to. Basic point is to know what your computer has. This game will ask you to install Direct x 7.0a. If you have Direct x8.0a then don't install Direct x 7.0a because its an older driver.
When the game boots, you will be given the option to create a graphics cache file. If you dont set the graphics cache file, the game will crash. Most users are so hot to get into the game that they neglect the little details of setting up options. All you have to do is set the graphics cache file. The graphics cache file uses about 500 mb of your swap file. Here's a trick. Clean up your OS system drive. Remove junk files in your Temp folder; in fact, remove everything you see in your temp folder. Next, go clean the Temp Internet Files folder.
Now to the game. Patch the game before you play it. Download patch 2.0 (25mb). Ok, the game is very realistic. For rookie sim fans wanting to fly and do some sightseeing around Germany on a B-17, this is not the game for you. By the time you get close to one of the radar sites surrounding Germany, dozens of attack fighters will feed you with lead until you either crash or turn back. This is a war sim ergo no free fly mode. Graphics does the job in the game although not that spectacular, for most of the flight, you'll be looking at open pastures and green until you get to your target. The travel time is very realistic. From your airbase to your target, you'll actually be flying the whole trip in real time. Sit back and relax during this trip, its going to be a long trip---enjoy it while it lasts because once the shooting happens, you'll be scambling for dear life. Missions in the game are historical and they are very difficult to accomplish but not impossible. Flight dynamics are superb (specially after you patch the game). These bombers are just hard to fly but hey this is 1943 people, they dont have the hardware like what planes have now. Special mention to the Norden bombsight instrument. This is a bit complicated to use. It shouldn't surprise history buffs since most of the bombs dropped during WWII never really did hit their targets. Dont expect to see HUDs or targetting reticles here. Everything is DEAD aiming and pure luck.
Overall, this game is awesome. It gave me a sense of just being inside the B-17 anticipating and waiting for the coming "storm" when flaks and enemy fighters start coming at you. Buy this game, follow the tips I gave you and it should work. Oh and did i tell you the game hasnt crashed since i installed it?
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