Pacific Fighters [E3 2004]

Kamikaze? Oh yes you can.

Jumping ship from the European theater, Oleg?s team is hard at work on their next flight simulator, which takes place in the Pacific. With Microsoft remaining silent about a successor to Combat Flight Simulator 2 (CFS2, a PTO sim), 1C is poised to reign supreme in the Pacific realm as well, previously taking the thunder away from Microsoft?s Combat Flight Simulator 3 with IL2 and IL2: Forgotten battles.

When first seeing the game, it is immediately obvious that strides have been made in the aesthetics department. Clouds are more voluptuous, vastly improving upon the sparse little puffs seen in FB. Water effects have been greatly enhanced, with waves, wakes, and even the clouds and sky reflecting in the ocean. Planes have beautifully rendered cockpits and textures, consistent with the level of quality prevalent in past 1C games.

Intricate detail has been paid to ground and sea objects, with actual soldiers manning AA guns and mortars. The company boasts over 100 new objects specifically for the Pacific theater, with Chi-Ha tanks, landing barges, and pillboxes.

But what fans of the theater want to know are the planes and carriers in the game?and Pacific Fighters promises nine types of carriers, over 40 flyable planes and 100 AI planes. A partial list of the known planes is as follows:

Japanese
Ki-27 Nate (AI)
Ki-42 Oscar (flyable, types I & II only)
Ki-46 Dinah (AI)
Ki-61 Tony (flyable)
Ki-84 Frank (flyable)
N1K1 George (probably AI)
A6M Zeke (A6M2, A6M3, A6M5, probably some late-model variants including the A6M8)
A6M2N Rufe
D3A Val (flyable)
Nakajima Kate (AI in initial release)
B6N Jill (AI)
G4M Betty (flyable)
MXY7 Ohka (likely in later patch)

Allies
F4F Wildcat (flyable)
F6F Hellcat (flyable)
F4U Corsair (flyable)
SBD Dauntless (flyable)
SB2 Helldiver (AI)
PBY Catalina (AI, possibly flyable in future)
TBD Devastator (AI)
TBF Avenger (flyable)
B-25 Mitchell (flyable)
A-20 Havoc (flyable)
B-29 Superfortress (Possibly flyable)
Bristol Beaufighter (flyable)
P-38 Lightning (flyable)
P-40 Warhawk (flyable)
P-47 Thunderbolt (flyable)
P-51 Mustang (flyable)

Like FB, the company plans to release more planes with patches, so fans might see their favorite planes change from AI to flyable. As hinted with the possibility of the Ohka suicide plane, Kamikaze AI has been modeled in Pacific Fighters, so expect Kamikaze escort and intercept missions?of course you can always make any mission a Kamikaze mission by plunging your own plane into a target. Each plane promises a wider variety of skins, with 10-20 for each major plane.

Using authentic WWII recon photos, the islands in the Pacific war have been faithfully recreated, allowing for even more historical accuracy than FB. And as in previous games by the company, the Pacific theater is broken up into individual maps, rather than one huge map spanning the whole theater.

Although the physics and flight modeling have been tweaked, those familiar with FB will find the feel to be identical. Wing stalls give a rude awakening even in the docile Zero, so careful attention must be paid to wing buffeting. The emphasis on low altitude combat has been retained, with altitude modeling capped at around 30,000 feet. Arrestor cable modeling looks eerily realistic, as a track was shown flinging a Corsair landing at high speed jerked backwards, splitting in two and plunging into the flight deck.

Pacific Fighters is slated for a holiday release for the PC, likely in October or November.

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