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Battle of Midway by Abacus Review

Abacus is renowned for its range of add-ons for Microsoft Flight Sim but with the launch of the Combat FS it has released some additional aircraft and mission packs. One of these is the Battle of Midway mission pack.

The Battle of Midway was the turning point in the war in the Pacific, the first time after Pearl Harbour that the Americans beat the Japanese fleet. The action was fought almost entirely by planes launched from aircraft carriers and was the first naval battle in history that the opposing fleets did not sight each other. Installing the battle of midway is very simple, using the auto install it places all the aircraft, scenery and maps into the correct folders and places a launch icon on your desktop. To start the game with the correct maps, (or you will end up fighting over France) it is a case of clicking on the Battle for Midway icon, which will launch the new scenery and then CFS automatically.

The game offers the choice of fighting the campaign for either side or flying the individual missions in the single mission option. It is advisable to fly some single missions first to get the hang of taking off, and far more difficult, landing on an aircraft carrier, those decks seem very small as you approach! The aircraft included in the mission are very good models, the attention to detail is bordering on the obsessive (if you don't believe me, look at the flaps on the Devastator). It is almost worth the money just to fly the Zero on the zone, something to finally beat those Hurricanes! The aircraft are let down by the panels within them and you will see the instruments are taken from the stock CFS aircraft. There are some inaccuracies with the flight files. The Wildcat is out-performed by the Buffalo, whereas in reality the reverse was true and if you are flying an American dive bomber you may well find as I was, that you are taking on the Japanese fighters to protect your fighters! A problem that I found for all of the aircraft was that the fuel would run out if the unlimited option were not selected in the options screen. This is an annoying habit to anyone who likes to fly on 100% reality.

Another bug is that when the aircraft are sitting on a carrier, waiting to launch, if you go to the outside view, you appear to be sitting on the sea with the ship nowhere to be seen, this is a little disconcerting but easily avoided. In the same sense, whilst on the ground, your squadron will appear to be floating in the air, wheels up before they take off and whilst this does not affect the playability of the game it is annoying and detracts from the overall quality. The planes don't attack the ships in the way that you would expect. Dive bombers don't dive, and there are no torpedoes. While I accept that this sim was not designed for torpedo attacks, I would have expected the bombing to resemble something closer to the Stuka attacks in the original.

The missions included are an accurate portrayal of the campaign and as such are quite challenging. Trying to fight the Japanese fighters in the inferior American planes is a real challenge and requires some very different techniques if you are used to throwing your 'stang around. Even if this is a little irritating at first, it is an accurate portrayal of the respective air forces at this time. If you try and fly each mission in real time, navigation can be a real problem, with no landmarks; it takes a lot of luck to get to the right places. At $25/ £25 the cost of the add-on is approaching the price of CFS itself and is a little too expensive. To those on a limited budget it is hard to recommend. With so many free downloads, it is possible to construct something that will give you feel of fighting in the Pacific for much less. But for those whose wallet will stretch and want the challenge of learning how well the Americans flew to win this battle, then I can say that this is a decent package with plenty of diverse action, good aircraft and scenery and for those with deeper pockets, worth trying.

Wes Kangurs

Buy it here - $24.99

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