European Air War
Developer(s)MicroProse
Publisher(s)MicroProse
Producer(s)Martin DeRiso
Designer(s)Tsuyoshi Kawahito
Programmer(s)Tsuyoshi Kawahito
Composer(s)Roland J. Rizzo
Platform(s)Windows
Release
Genre(s)Air combat simulation
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

European Air War is a combat flight simulator developed and published by MicroProse and published for Microsoft Windows in 1998. It is a sequel to 1942: The Pacific Air War.[2] It simulates the Battle of Britain, and the Allied Air offensives in Western Europe during World War II in 1943–1945.

Gameplay

European Air War has three modes: a Quick Start option, which allows immediate undefined play; a Single Mission option, which allows selection of aircraft and mission type, and a campaign mode called Pilot Career.

The Pilot Career mode, allows the user to take the role of a pilot in the RAF, Luftwaffe or USAAF and play in any of three time eras, the Battle of Britain in 1940, the Allied Air offensives in 1943, and the Air offensives before and after D-Day until the end of the war in 1944–45. During a Pilot Career player actions will directly affect the progress of the war, including delaying or bringing forward the invasion of Europe. Players may also rise up the ranks, starting as a non-commissioned officer to full officer commanding a fighter squadron (or staffel) and assuming responsibility for the men and machines under the player's command. As a squadron commander a player can select the rosters and weapons loadouts for use in missions, selecting between disposable fuel tanks, rockets, or bombs to assist in completing assigned missions.

The AI in European Air War is flexible, with several difficulty settings that can be altered by the user to ensure the game remains challenging for a long period of time. AI pilots within the player's squadron can be controlled by the user in Quick Start and Single Mission options, and gradually become available as the player receives promotions within their squadron in a Pilot Career.

Reception

The game received favorable reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[3]

The game won Computer Games Strategy Plus' 1998 "Simulation Game of the Year" award. The staff wrote that the game brought the fine balance of campaigns, flight modeling, graphics, and gameplay.[14] It similarly won Computer Gaming World's "Best Simulation" award, and the staff raved that it captured the feeling of being in a living, unpredictable combat environment better than any other WW2 flight sims.[15] It also won "Best Simulation of the Year" at IGN's Best of 1998 Awards,[16] "Simulation of the Year" at GameSpot's Best & Worst of 1998 Awards,[17] and the Best Combat Flight Sim award at the 1998 CNET Gamecenter Awards.[18]

The staff of PC Gamer US nominated the game as the best simulation of 1998, although it lost to Falcon 4.0. They wrote that the former was "easily the most engaging and authentic-feeling WWII sim" of that year.[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ Mullen, Micheal (November 3, 1998). "European Air War Ships [date mislabeled as "April 28, 2000"]". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 11, 2000. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  2. ^ "NG Alphas: European Air War". Next Generation. No. 29. Imagine Media. May 1997. pp. 83–84. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "European Air War for PC". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 2, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  4. ^ Smith, Nick. "European Air War - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  5. ^ Gaudiosi, John (November 10, 1998). "European Air War". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  6. ^ Mouneimne, Neil (December 3, 1998). "European Air War". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on May 18, 2003. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  7. ^ Nolan, John (February 1999). "Thick Atmosphere (European Air War Review)" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 175. Ziff Davis. pp. 196–97. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  8. ^ Mahood, Andy (1999). "European Air War Review for PC on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on October 1, 2004. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  9. ^ Johnny B. (January 1999). "European Air War Review". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on February 19, 2004. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  10. ^ Atkin, Denny (November 30, 1998). "European Air War Review [date mislabeled as "May 1, 2000"]". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on January 4, 2005. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  11. ^ Berg, Gordon (December 28, 1998). "European Air War". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  12. ^ Poole, Stephen (February 1999). "European Air War". PC Gamer. Vol. 6, no. 2. Imagine Media. Archived from the original on March 10, 2000. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  13. ^ Wells, Jeremy (Christmas 1998). "European Air War". PC Zone. No. 71. Dennis Publishing. pp. 126–27. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  14. ^ CGSP staff (February 11, 1999). "The Best of 1998 (Simulation Game of the Year)". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on February 9, 2005. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  15. ^ CGW staff (April 1999). "Computer Gaming World's 1999 Premier Awards (Best Simulation)" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 177. Ziff Davis. p. 98. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  16. ^ IGN staff (January 29, 1999). "IGNPC's Best of 1998 Awards". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on April 27, 1999. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  17. ^ GameSpot staff (1999). "The Best & Worst of 1998 (Simulation of the Year)". GameSpot. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on October 25, 2000. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  18. ^ Gamecenter staff (January 29, 1999). "The CNET Gamecenter.com Awards for 1998! (Combat Flight Sims Winner)". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on September 19, 2000. Retrieved August 27, 2021.
  19. ^ PC Gamer staff (March 1999). "The Fifth Annual PC Gamer Awards". PC Gamer. Vol. 6, no. 3. Imagine Media. pp. 64, 67, 70–73, 76–78, 84, 86–87.

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