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> Results: FirePower for Combat Flight Simulator 3
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A must-have if you're a CFS3 player.I think it's fair to say that everyone was disappointed with Microsoft's Combat Flight Simulator 3. The franchise laudably tried taking some bold steps but it missed the mark. The dynamic campaign didn't work right, wasn't very realistic, and could be numbingly boring. The flight models went wacky and the lack of strategic bombers cramped the game's ability to simulate the air war of WWII's Western Front. A quietly released patch for the improved it only a little. Fortunately, the game's extensible nature left the door open for a third party to step in. Third parties have saved many a flight sim in recent years, and they may have done it here too.  FirePower fills in many of CFS3's gaps, and then some. Strategic bombers like the B-17 Flying Fortress and the Avro Lancaster fill one of the biggest holes, but there's much more. New aircraft and variants really add variety, adding many experimental German aircraft, plus several of the night fighters and medium bombers. Each craft comes with new missions, and the B-17 missions trace the missions of the crew from the famous Memphis Belle. Each craft also comes with some really nice historical notes, so there's great educational value here. The developers behind FirePower claim to have interviewed several veterans in their research. They've also tweaked the flight models to be much more realistic. This makes the game much more difficult because flying is more dangerous. It's much easier to stall aircraft into a spin now, and realistic ammunition loads mean you've got to make every shot count. For flight sim fantatics, that's a good thing. For GamerParents, it's not a bad thing, but if you're going to play with your kids, you will probably stick to the easier difficulty settings. FirePower also adds more color and detail to the game's special effects and pyrotechnics, so the game looks better too. The FirePower aircraft are absolutely beautiful too, and the cockpits look fantastic. This is simply an excellent expansion that makes the overall game better. Kid Factor: Air combat is a violent thing, even with the abstraction of moving the combat to individual aircraft. FirePower doesn't really change any of that, and with the inclusion of more thorough explosions and the B-29 and nuclear bombs, there's even more for the responsible gamer to think about when playing with their children. But flight simulations have always had excellent teaching elements for children with an interest in aeronautics or history, and FirePower only feeds that with excellent historical information for each aircraft. Ages: 8+ ESRB Rating: Teen Producer: GMX Media Developer: Shockwave Productions Score: 5 
Air combat is a violent thing, even with the abstraction of moving the combat to individual aircraft. FirePower doesn't really change any of that, and with the inclusion of more thorough explosions and the B-29 and nuclear bombs, there's even more for the responsible gamer to think about when playing with their children. But flight simulations have always had excellent teaching elements for children with an interest in aeronautics or history, and FirePower only feeds that with excellent historical information for each aircraft.
Kid Factor by Bernie Dy
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