Rise of Flight: Iron Cross Edition
6.9
10
12
12
A waste
This sim has so many bugs its a shame. When neoqb sold it to 777 studios it went from OK to poor. There are continuing problems with game play. Video bugs, sound bugs and you have to pay for allmost everything of any interest. When you buy planes and maps they are still the property of 777 studios and you have to be granted permission to sell your -paid for- hanger. Everytime 777 gas a new item to sell they 'update' the game and you cant go online unless you install the update-pay to play. The game requires a significant money outlay for hardware if you stand a chance in MP online. Dont waste your money there are far better games out there
3/10/13
save your money
This game could have been great but the owners 777 studios lack funds to support it. If you are a flight sim enthusiast you wont need to buy all the expensive hardware needed to play this sim properly. Everywhere you turn you have to pay for content, between planes and hardware and ' extras' you can pay hundreds if not more. So save your money, there are a lot of other games out there that dont have their hand in your pocket- support those company's
3/26/12
Very fun game
I don't often write reviews, but some of the reviews here are so much different than my experience, I felt it important to share my thoughts. First, this game offers a Demo which is the full version, but you can only do a few missions and with only 2 planes (the worst of the lot, of course). My friend, who actually is a certified small plane pilot, was very impressed with the physics for a game. I can't attest to that, but I will say that you notice torque of the engine, wind, even if you get in the *wash* of the plane in front of you. I have a middle-of-the-road PC by today's standards. It's a Win 7 64 bit, with 6 GB of Ram and an older, but decent, NVdia video card. This game runs fine on my system and the sound is fantastic. So, for me, there was nothing I needed to buy to enjoy the game from the start. My friend uses his keyboard and is fine. I use a game pad, and I enjoy it fine as well. Beyond that basics, on the demo, you can also join *some* of the Multi-player servers. The one we've been playing on has been fantastic. The way a gaming community should be. Very helpful and mature people who are happy to help you learn the ropes, even if you're *the enemy*. Special note: You will die a lot! They are VERY good players. Kind, but merciless. If you think you'll start playing and shooting down people, you're wrong. It will take some time to get good, and that's ok with me. It seems to me, any quality sim should be hard. Then, when you do finally get your first kill, you've actually earned it through skill. In short, if you're looking for a fun and "realistic" flight Sim based on WW1, this game really is fantastic. Even the AI, for single player, is challenging. If you're looking to jump in and just blaze through content, perhaps you'd be better off with an arcade-type of game. All that said, this game comes with a decent tutorial mission. I did 3 of them and jumped into a Multi-player server. It's not hard to get the basics and be competitive, once you learn what keys do what. The user Interface is smart, easy to read and understand, and doesn't muck up the screen too much. I will add, that I am looking at investing 25 dollars for a flight stick because I am sure it will help you fly better. Not just this game, but any flight sim. MS Flight is coming out soon too! :) Now I'll be ready for two games!! Just my .02. (I would have given this game an 8, but the negative reviews were lacking anything constructive, so I felt it needed a 10 on balance.) Happy Gaming!
2/21/12
Best air sim ever made
This game is the best air sim ever made, bar none. It is really absurd for some of these pathetic posters that state absolute lies about having to buy additional planes or TrackIR etc , to play. The overwhelming players are mature adults such as real pilots, IT people , engineers, military personnel and adults from all over the globe in all kinds of professions.. This game does need you to have a good PC with a quad core processor. Graphics are fantastic as is the flight model and damage model. The developers are in close contact with the customers via the Rise of Flight forum and their response is the best. of any development team I have ever encountered. This game is constantly updating with new planes for optional purchase of about 8 dollars for a fighter and about 12 for bombers and additional content or effects are patched about every month . This is a sim and not an arcade type game but you can have a lot of options to chose to make the game easier for noobs. With a extensive career mode to released very soon this game a must for anyone that like air sims.
4/6/11
prepare for a costly let down
to play this sim you will have to buy- a quality flight stick probably rudder pedals and certainly TrackIR4 or 5, thats 300 bucks. Now, can your PC run this well? better have Win 7 or a multi core proc cause it gets costly fast. Dont expect online players to be adult 3 of 10 are. The iron cross edition is the same disk as the first ROF - you only get new planes if you buy them, save your $ for Duke nukem
3/30/11
Outstanding WWI Flight Sim!
Rise of Flight is a great flight sim and probably the best WWI sim since Red Baron.
The graphics are exceptional and the planes are depicted in amazing detail. While I'm no expert on the flight characteristics of WWI aircraft, the planes in Rise of Flight handle like the books suggest they should - the rotaries have serious torque, the triplanes climb nicely, and Camel is a spin waiting to happen. There are options to simplify the flight models in various ways, but each of the planes remains unique in its own way. And all are a pleasure to fly with any standard joystick.
In addition to the scouts, flyable two-seaters and bombers are available, and you can man the gun turrets in them.
The graphics and flight model variety come with a cost: Rise of Flight requires an upper mid-level system to run well. Take the system requirements seriously.
The game has numerous scripted and quick missions, and a few mini campaigns, but it currently lacks a robust campaign system ala Red Baron. The developer has one scheduled for the next update, though. The product is very well supported with periodic updates and has an active multiplayer community. There also are a wide variety of user-made airplane skins, many of which the developer has added to the official game.
The game requires online activation upon first installation and for updates, but can be played in offline mode otherwise. As anti-piracy measures go, it's pretty benign.
Rise of Flight is a very good flight sim that continues to improve and is a worthy successor to Red Baron.
What's great about it: One of the best flight sim experiences, with the fun of flying planes and look and feel like real WWI aircraft.
What's not so great: Fairly heavy hardware requirements and no Red Baron-like campaign (yet).
3/26/11
RoF - A Year Later, Still Needs Work
The reviewer: I purchased RoF when it first came out. I own most of the historically significant flight sim titles; I have training and experience flying actual aircraft. I'm a fairly avid gamer and my experience with PCs would be considered expert by most. Also, I strongly encourage the reader to see the last few paragraphs for an explanation of the "ratings system" I apply when doing reviews. I believe my system is fair, even if not like many others. Controls: Typical for a flight sim; nothing really special, though managing some joystick 'response curves' can be excessively complicated. Not for you if you want to enjoy a game without having to spend a lot of time adjusting, tweaking, testing and so on. I gave it a 5 for being average to somewhat difficult. Interface: Latest patches have substantially improved the interface, so plus for that. However, RoF has always suffered from a very complicated interface. It's gotten better, but the patches only improve on what was a poor design to begin with; improvements on a poor design only lead to a highly polished poor design. A 3 here, with the hopes that someday it might be a 5 - unless completely re-done (which isn't likely, in my opinion). Sound: Again, nothing special, though it has been suggested that 'on-board' sound can cause issues; this might lead to having to buy a sound card where your machine already has one. Most of these on-board sound chips these days are simply consolidations of what used to be sound cards, so a game shouldn't be bound, in my opinion, to requiring an (additional) $50-100 card it technically already has, just so the game will perform properly. A 5 here, since on-board sound shouldn't be an issue and could cause some problems and/or extra cost. Graphics: This is an area where RoF shines. It is truly a beautiful game; lighting, shadows, and the magnificent renderings of these historic warbirds is just remarkable. On the downside, the scenery (for me) is a little too colorful; the effects, though dramatic, are a little too overdone (light glare/reflections for instance are very intense). A 7 here; it is impressive, but perhaps a little too overdone. Realism: Flight sims are a genre where realism is paramount. Being a 'simulator' to begin with, they should immerse the player in realism - credible aerodynamics & physics, flight modeling that is accurate to the featured craft, that sort of thing. But, for combat flight simulators, it goes even further...the damage model, overall environment, and other features that really only apply in a combat situation. RoF does fairly well in some of these areas; not so well in others. The immersion is served well by the graphics as mentioned above, the flight model(s) seem reasonably accurate (where accurate historical data on planes so old is very difficult to confirm and hotly debated). If it were graded on these areas alone, it might garner a 5 or even a 7. I don't find anything truly revolutionary here, so it doesn't get an 8+ I'm afraid. The problems with "realism" in RoF have to do with it being a combat filght simulator - as compared to (just) a flight sim. The war environment seems fairly lifeless overall; this was a huge conflict involving millions of people, incredible amounts of material... a war in reality takes on a life of it's own. But RoF seems to be rather quiet and dull in this respect. Sure, you can fly/create missions where there are a lot of planes, but there's not much else going on. Even though this is a flight sim, there should be more to a combat flight simulator than just the airplanes. Things like flying over no-man's land, 'targets of opportunity', the squadron one belongs to and squadron activity overall...all things that, in my opinion, need a lot of work to improve this sim's 'realism'. There are also other issues as well. One involves the visibility of aircraft at a distance - surely a major concern to any fighter pilot in any war, but poorly handled in RoF. You
8/14/10
Too Difficult it seems you must be a pilot to do well
First off I have been playing Sims for over 20 years so I was eagerly waiting for this game to come out. When I saw the reviews for the game I just could not wait so when it arrived at my local game stop I ran to the story during work hours just to pick it up. I must say this game was the biggest disappointment for me in my 20 year gaming history! I had a difficult time even getting through the training stages even after selecting easy flight etc. My only guess is that this game was designed for pilots and or people with all of the "flight controls" pedals, throttle, and joystick. The game is virtually unplayable with the keyboard and mouse when using an Xbox wired joystick. So my dilemma I have to go and spend another $100 or so on flight controls or just put this game on the shelf! I think for $60 they should have thought of the normal gamer and not the pilots. From what I can tell all of the people that give stellar reviews are actually pilots! I think the problem for me is the game is too realistic and if I wanted to be a pilot I would have gone to flight school! What happened to the flight Sims like wing commander that can have you doing air combat battle without the need of a pilot’s license! I feel like I wasted my money here sadly the PC game market is in a decline!
8/12/10
The Great War Gets a Great Game
Rise of Flight: Iron Cross Editon (RoF:ICE) has been a refreshing trip for me into the world of simulation. I believe that the First World War is largely underrepresented in the video game industry, so when I saw this game in development a few years back, my interest was piqued. Un-Boxing and Installation: Initially released as a downloadable game for U.S. residents, to be able to buy this game in a physical disc format is great. The contents of the box are handsomely executed. There is a large, full color map, hot key sheet and instruction manual. Installing the game was straightforward enough. While there have been some reported problems about loading this game onto Windows 7, I didn't have any trouble with it. There are some extra files that you are asked to install after the main game files are finished installing. The manual "strongly recommended" that these are installed, so I went ahead and installed them. They are mostly extra skins for the planes, which is neat for anyone interersted in other nations that flew German planes. The fantasy skins are a pretty, if unnessessary, addition. The interface of RoF:ICE is very easy to use. All the main elements of the game can be accessed through one menu bar at the bottom of the home screen. My only complaint is that so much of the game can only be accessed while the user is logged in online. On the flip side, this game does provide one of the richest leaderboard systems that I have ever seen, and that is probably due to the fact that so much of the game is tracked while a user is logged in online. Gameplay: If you expect to be an ace an hour after you sit down and you only want to see planes falling all around you in flames, you will be sorely disappointed. The game modes offer a rich variety of activities, but they are all challenging. Thankfully, they are challenging for the right reasons. The controls are what you would expect from a simulation, and the physics engine provides some downright scary moments, like the dizzying flat spins that occur when you push your aircraft too hard. Shooting down these fragile planes, surprisingly enough, is actually quite hard. As the wind buffets your plane around and the enemy dances in your crosshairs, you really start to feel like this is all real. When you do manage to land a few rounds into the enemy crate, you'll notice that every part of the plane is damage modeled. Bullet holes appear where bullets hit, and the engine' radiator even gets dented when hit by a spray of hot lead from the observation gunner in a two-seater plane. Sound plays an important role in this game, and thankfully, its well executed. There isn't any musical score for the in-game dogfights, but this is a good thing. World War I planes are so special because they really talked to their pilots. Your engine's pitch will let you know if there is a bullet lodged somewhere in a piston and the wooden ribs and spars on your plane will groan according to the stress you put on them, as if the plane is complaining about your flying. The level of detail and difficulty this game provides may be frustrating for some, but you would be hard pressed to find a game that gives you the same level of satisfaction for winning an objective. When you get your first kill, it really feels like you worked so hard to get it that this is really another part of what this game simulates. The exhileration and pride is very *similar*, I imagine, to what the real pilots felt like. Obviously, without the fear of dying for real, the emotions aren't as strong, but again, I can't emphasize enough how real this game feels. Modes of Play: Campaign: I didn't delve too heavily into the campaigns, but they are set up in a logical way and the mission objectives are clear; shoot down the enemy, flame the balloon, strafe the convoy, or stop the enemy from doing the previously mentioned actions. I will mention that the tutorial 'campaign' is worth doing. For those who are interested in WWI aeria
8/1/10
The Greatest Flight Sim Ever of the "Great War"!
This reviewer is a life-long player of flight sims and a life-long pilot. Combat flight simulators form a small genera that has long since been relegated to the distant shadows of FPS and RPG games in minds of the gaming public. It's a shame, really. There is rich gameplay that comes naturally to a good sim. That's what makes Rise of Flight stand out among an already talented field. Each plane is modeled beautifully. The massive map of Western France is historically accurate and beautiful to behold. And the sense of flight is like nothing I have ever played. In fact, it is that true feeling of flight that blew me away the first time I flew (and crashed) in the Rise of Flight world and still blows me away now after hundereds of hours behind the stick. Every year my job puts me in a $15 million simulator and the suspension of disbelief there does not come close to the awsome sense of flight that Rise of Flight brings to the player. First and foremost, however, Rise of Flight is a Combat sim. We don't play to hedge-hop, chase trains, and dance among the clouds. We play to kill the other guy. And it is Combat where Rise of Flight shines. Aerial combat in the First World War was a very close and personal affair. You got close enough to your adversary to see the type of fur lining his jacket before firing. So a WWI flight simulator must be able to provide an amazing level of close detail and damage modeling in order to bring a satisfying experience to the pilot. In Rise of Flight, wires snap, spars crack, fuel tanks leak, and control surfaces fly off and piroette gently down to earth. In a "furball" of dozens of fighting airplanes, it's not uncommon to see parts of planes and planes themselves fall like rain down onto the villages and farms below. Rise of Flight will bring to the player two things not found anywhere else: The most accurate flight modeling ever available on a PC, and the most intense, hair-raising feel of real aerial combat currently available to the virtual pilot.
8/1/10