[parsig9]

Maybe I missed it but can somebody give me a little FB on Heroes of the Pacific please?

[panzercommander]

Originally Posted by parsig9

Maybe I missed it but can somebody give me a little FB on Heroes of the Pacific please?

It first I was impressed with it but tired of it quickly. It's very arcadey, no sim elements at all. You have unlimited ammo, have an engine overdrive that can almost double your planes top speed, and can't fly above 4000 FT so there really isn't any tactics to the game. Dogfights are limited mostly to flat sides and stern chases. Unfortunately, all planes take the exact same amount of damage to destroy no matter where your bullets strike. The missions follow the course of the Pacific War but lack any real history. There is a nice variety of aircraft all of which can be used on any mission once the game is completed. Any plane can be launched from a carrier, at one point you even land an ME-262 on a carrier. Some missions are rather difficult and you'll have to play them several times to figure out exactly what needs to be done. Perhaps the game's biggest flaw is the aces you have to fight every couple missions. Their planes have some kind of turbo boost that leaves a lightning trail when its activated...that and the F6F-5 is only available in a FAA scheme...what?????!!!!!!!!!!!

There are 6 "historical" missions that can be unlocked, such as O'Hare's defense of the Lexington, but again the lack of altitude and time limits your options on attacking bomber formations. All in all, its ok for a weekend rental or a cheap ebay purchase. IMO, the Ace Combat series is still the best flight games available on a console.

[panzercommander]

As part of the latest update I have 2 guest passes to give away for Red Orchestra. They last until the end of the month and then you decide if you want to buy or not. Check out the site, see if you meet the system requirements and if you are seriously interested PM me.
http://www.redorchestragame.com/

[Checking...]

Originally Posted by parsig9

Maybe I missed it but can somebody give me a little FB on Heroes of the Pacific please?

I am. In fact I work for a PC gaming magazine. I definitely recommend the latest collection of IL-2 games called 1946 which includes Pacific content as well as the titular experimental stuff.

[Canucklehead]

I like that word - "titular." I find it "titillating" for some reason. "Titular." Hee hee! Sounds better all the time!

[RockJock]

I'm with Checking... I play IL-2 1946. I have all the IL-2 PC games,, since day one. Great mission's and fantastic graphics. I will also be getting Battle of Britain when it comes out. If you have a PC that will handle it, I highly recommend buying it.

[Folgore]

I agree: the Il-2 series is fantastic! And even with a mediocre rig (for example, I had to remove my video card a while back and haven't replaced it yet), it runs acceptably. I've also gotten into Silent Hunter III of late -- great immersion and a great "in-between" games for those nights when a flight sim is a little too intense but a grand strategy game would put you to sleep. (I hear the SHIII follow-up, Wolves of the Pacific, is a miss, though.) As far as grand strategy goes, ya can't beat the Total War series. Build the Roman Empire -- or tear it down! Or, for the naval-minded among us, Matrix Games' War Plan Orange: Dreadnoughts in the Pacific 1922-1930. I'm looking forward to the release of Harpoon Commander's Edition, too. So many games, so little time...

[PappyB]

Originally Posted by Folgore

I agree: the Il-2 series is fantastic! And even with a mediocre rig (for example, I had to remove my video card a while back and haven't replaced it yet),.

Wow, you're running the game without a video card -- come one, what's your secret

[Folgore]

Ummm... 96 megs of shared video memory on the motherboard. To be honest, I really can't see much difference in graphics between my current video card-less configuration and my original with-GeForce FX5200 128MB-card configuration. Although my more computer-savvy friend tells me my Silent Hunter III crew wouldn't look they're wearing tie-dyed uniforms if I had a video card... Mostly what I need is more RAM. 512MB just isn't enough. (Boy, I remember when 64K was the pinnacle of RAM-dom. And the ASCII-graphics games were astounding!)

[panzercommander]

I revive a thread that's been dead since December offering guest passes for RO and it becomes an IL2 discussion.