In CFS1, you can fly on-line, single missions, or campaigns. Using the MSFS engine, it is as adaptable as any edition of "Microsoft Flight Simulator" in terms of add-on aircraft, scenery or missions. (Be aware, that while there's no shortage of modern military aircraft available for sale or for download, the inherenent design of this game is towards pre-modern aircraft. Neither the sophisticated systems nor guided weapons are available). There are actually 2 campaigns - the Battle of Britain (summer of 1940) in which you intercept (or escort) waves of the Luftwaffe's medium level bombers or dive bombers against industrial and defense targets in England or Channel shipping and the daylight bombing campaign against Europe starting around 1943. CFS1 is entirely a fighter-driven game - barring user customization, you can't fly big bombers. On the flip side, fighters can be armed with rockets or bombs. While you can fly for the Luftwaffe in either campaign, your choice on the allied side is limited. I can understand being stuck with the RAF for the Battle of Britain (the attack on Pearl, and America's entry into the war was still over a year away), but didn't the RAF fly at all in 1943-45? The campaigns are short and scripted: you fly the same mission until you get it right. To be honest, the mission goals aren't demanding (I'm more likely to get snagged by crashing into a wingman or getting too close to an enemy), and the repetitive aspect of pre-scripted missions would be little improved by a dynamic campaign, since most missions would be the same anyway (how much of a Mustang pilot's time wasn't spent escorting waves of B-17's?). One tip for escorting the bombers - you may have caught Edmund O'Brien as a P-47 driver in "Fighter Squadron" (1948) who chafes under rules that require his pilots to stick with the bombers and not chase enemy planes to the deck. Just remember, the time you've spent after you break formation to chase an Me-109 away, will easily be exceeded by how long it will take you to rejoin, especially if you went for the deck and must now claw back up to your formation's flight level. This is especially critical since other Me-109s will exploit your absence to cut into your formations. Stick with the bombers!

I can't say how realistic flight modeling was - I'd expected worse remembering how pitiful I was on the WWI mission included on the original BAO Flight Sim (c. 1982). Visually, the planes are lovely, though this is an old game, and it won't bowl you over. Damage modeling is suspect - CFS1 is stuck in an era of sims in which your plane will have a fixed response to damage; this is despite a more effective damage model in "Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe" (1990) in which a given hit from an enemy will lead to progressive deterioration in your plane's condition. Ground targets and ships are completely implausible - one hit from your rockets and destroyers, u-boats and merchantmen (which remain parked like sitting ducks) disappear in fireballs ala "Battlestar Galactica", which hints that this project was rushed to shelves. (The other hint is the appearance of Me-262 jets - they only appear in one mission, and as ground targets. How did that happen?)

So, what's really wrong? A weak mission generator and the same aircraft we've seen in over ten years in flight sims. MS probably guessed that it wasn't worth their time to do more than add guns and damage models to the FS engine - people would just download the missions, flight panels, scenery or aircraft files they wanted anyway. Sure the game has the big planes of that theater of the war - but then did CFS1 have to wartime Europe? With its flight engine, CFS1 would have been the perfect vehicle for a Korean war sim - an idea that MS inexplicably ignored for this and the next 2 additions. WWII Europe simply has been simmed to death. Terrain is incredibly flat and, especially down low, doesn't even look like terrain. It's almost at the point where, unless you go on the `net for add-on files, there really isn't anything to simulate here. In short, MS was hot to create a military flight sim that would adapt to any user's preference, they forgot to give it features that people would prefer to keep. I couldn't get decent performance on my P200mmx/Voodoo2 PC. Obviously, hardware wasn't an issue when I moved up to a P4 (no Windows XP compatibility issues here).

On a final note, CFS1's disappointments are not completely covered by CFS2. I own both games since I wanted a Pacific war sim. Though CFS2 is obviously an improvement, CFS1 holds up pretty well - CFS1 owners can download or buy add-on files to capture the Pacific experience. In short, if you've got CFS1, don't feel like you've got to spend $$ for CFS2 or to upgrade your machine.

"A good game"
Combat flight simulator is a fun game to play. You can play as the British, Germans, or Americans. I at first though that this game was super-awesome until I played European Air War. There are two cons to this game. First, you can not talk to your wing man which makes no sense. There are many times when you need help getting the enemy off your tail and you can not "ask" for help. Secondly, there are only a few airplanes that you can fly. Even with these two drawbacks, it still is a very enjoyable game.

"A Fine Flight Simulator For World War II buffs"
If you are a World War II buff and love flight simulators, Microsoft's Combat Flight Simulator - WWII Europe Series is for you.

Using the same attention to detail as in its Flight Simulator series - indeed, you can import "worlds" from the civilian game to this war one - Combat Flight Simulator allows you to fly in two Campaigns, The Battle of Britain and The Battle for Europe, as a pilot in the RAF, Luftwaffe, or USAAF (U.S. Army Air Forces).

Combat Flight Simulator - Europe lets you fly many of the famous fighters in service in those three air forces. If you fly as a British pilot, you can expect to be at the controls of a Hawker Hurricane Mk. (Mark) I, a Supermarine Spitfire Mk. I, or a later variant, the Mk. IX. As a German pilot, you'll fly either the Messerchmitt Bf 109E or the Focke-Wulf Fw. 190A fighters. Finally, as a Yank in the USAAF, you'll man either the sturdy P-47D Thunderbolt or the sleek P-51 Mustang. All of these planes have their strengths and weaknesses, so try to read the manual (or the Help files) and do a bit of research before you hook up the joystick and take flight. Particularly challenging are the ammunition load limits to each plane; each plane has its own ammo load capacity, and players more familiar with fighter jet simulations (such as Microprose's famous F-15 Strike Eagle series) may find themselves shooting away all their ammo at one plane (if they choose realistic presets) and then being unable to shoot at anyone else because they have no bullets. I would advise rookie pilots to use Unlimited Ammo settings until they have had enough practice to shoot down enemy bombers and fighters without wasting precious rounds.

The simulation not only has the two Campaigns I mentioned earlier, but it has Free Flight, Quick Combat, Single Mission, and Training modes. Quick Combat, particularly, is good for players who like both flight simulations and arcade games. This option lets you choose what and how many enemy planes you can face off against, where the fight takes place, what weather conditions are like, time of day, and tactical situation. The enemy comes at you in waves, like in an arcade game, and as soon as you dispatch one wave, another appears. The challenge here is to shoot down as many planes as you can before you either run out of gas or are shot down. (Unlimited Ammo should be your choice in this sort of game no mater how good you are, unless you can shoot down one plane with one bullet. Here, skills learned in a jet fighter simulation will not help you!)

For players weaned on jet fighter games, it would be advisable to use the non-1940s HUD (Heads Up Display) view option. I (since I am new to this game myself) still use it in the Campaign mode since the "Cockpit" view option, while more realistic, is still a bit overwhelming to me. Purists and/or experienced pilots can set realism to 100% to their heart's content, but casual players or rookies should start out easy then gradually increase the realism settings.

The graphics are excellent, even for a 1998-era game. Being a Microsoft game it runs on most Windows platforms except 3.1, and I am sure no one reading this review still has that operating system. I particularly like the "worlds" depicted: you actually get a sense of flying over 1940s Europe. The sound is also good, and you can even hear your fellow pilots' radio calls. (Like the more advanced flight simulations, the Single Mission and Campaign games are very realistic in that you fly with a squadron, something I never experienced in F-15 Strike Eagles I-III. I did once own Microprose's F-14 Fleet Defender, a game that had AI wingmen, but I could never get it to run on any of my machines!)

Microsoft also offers a Pacific series counterpart, which I am hoping to get soon. Check to see if they have expansion kits. Many simulations ranging from flight to Star Wars starfighter games have them, and I believe Combat Flight Simulator is no exception.

Oh, yes. Good luck, happy landings, and good hunting!