After playing 1946 for so long, I figured I would try this one out. Overall, it's pretty fun. I don't expect too much on a console but I really wish they would fix a few things. I can go on forever but I won't get greedy.
1. Improved flight model.
2. Improved gauge visibility.
3. Realistic missions. (ie. You drop your bomb load & RTB. I absolutely
HATE the magically refilling ammo. I want a realistic ingress & egress & either I get it right & the right things go boom or I get it wrong & a lotta dirt gets tossed around. (Or someone looses a barn...LOL.)
4. Bombsights for the bombers. (Not a fan of the external view.)
5. Realistic combat expectations. I'm sorry there are aces out there no doubt & some really accomplished sim pilots but for the sake of realism, I wanna get a kill or two on a mission & really feel like I earned it rather than 9-12 kills like in the BoP single player campaign.
6. Mission builder. To each his own but I want the option to set up some better ground attack scenarios in "Training". Better yet, give is a mission builder. I don't like dogfighting as much & in order to fly around & knock out AA guns in this game, my only option is to throw up a single AC-20 or other bomber, ignore it, & go do my own thing. Bummer.
7. Improved padlocking. The padlocking in this game is sorta disorienting. It seems like the arrow points in one direction but when you camera zoom, he's the opposite way. Maybe it's just me. Also, without TrackIr or a head tracking device, locating aircraft/targets is much too difficult. It's because of this I only did about 7 missions on sim. I can do it but it isn't realistic. A real pilot has a whole lotta stuff to do in the cockpit as it is. Fumbling around with a hat switch isn't one of them.
9. Cockpit view in all planes. I don't care for the 109's too much but I almost died when I hopped in the Stuka & saw there was no cockpit. Bummed.
10. Model the sun right. I flew a mission in 1946 a couple of days ago & the god dang sun was in my eyes for approximately 115 kilometers heading towards the target & we had to fly low level the whole way in. To be honest, it was extremely irritating...& felt pretty realistic.
I aint knocking this game. It is what it is....& it is pretty fun. However, consoles don't give us much in the way of options. I've been flying sims since Falcon 4.0. I understand energy management. However, energy management is very difficult in this game because the flight model is so unpredictable. If I can fly a P-39 Aircobra (one of my favorites in 1946) to the limit without spinning out of control, I should be able to fly a P-51 in this game. I also feel like the planes bleed waaay to much speed in the horizontal.
That brings me to gauges. To manage energy in a turn, my only reference is the horizon (if I can see it) or the altitude bar on the side of the screen. Without being able to glance down at my instruments briefly, I pretty much have to cross my fingers & hope i don't have the plane pointed up too much. I would be willing to forgo a little realism if I had some kind of virtual gauges in the cockpit view.
Coming from the PC, this game is very difficult for me in some ways. I have had to learn to fly the planes the way they are modeled in BoP & not the way I am accustomed to in 1946. Some of these planes turn like a bus, but at other times they can behave beyond their performance envelope. For example, in 1946, I have literally ripped the wings off of a Spit pulling out of high speed dives but in BoP, you can pull it off no problem. I don't expect them to get it perfect by any means but just make it somewhat predictable. I know not everyone is having the difficulties I am having. I think it would have been easier on me if I had only played this game & came into it with a fresh perspective. I guess I just have to get passed the re-learning curve.
Planes:
1. SBD Dauntless - I have hundreds of hours in this bad boy. It flys like a bus but it brings the pain & can take a heck of a lot of damage. Great online plane imo.
2. P-39 Aircobra If you can fly the P-51 in BoP, you can fly the cobra no problem. One of my favorites because it was so unique.
3. P-61 Black Widow
4. Piper cub or a Storch (Be a forward artillery observer...sweet!
)
5. PE-2 / PE-3
6. P-38 Lightning - Why on God's green earth would they leave this one out?
