Last time Gideon told us about flying a Stealth -- now he talks about flying a Spad .... In my last review on computer flying games I covered MicroProse Software's (MPS) F-117A Stealth Fighter 2.0, an ultramodern version of aerial combat. In this review we'll turn the clock back and take a look at MPS' 1990 game, Knights of the Sky. If you like World War I aircraft this is a fine game to play. I emphasize the word "game" as this is far from a flight simulator and should not be confused with such. The emphasis here is on playability not recreating the real world. The campaign variant (there are others, but this is the only one worth investing a lot of energy in) casts you in the role of a WWI pilot-recruit. At the beginning your plane options are small and your missions are fairly simple. As your skill and successes mount you receive newer planes and may be challenged to one to one combat by an enemy ace. You also have the option to challenge opponents, but you have to figure out what aerodrome they are at -- which is when the map supplied with the game is of great value. Missions are fairly basic. There is a set of instructions and by hitting a single button on the keyboard you can see how you match up with the "ideal" flight plan. Along the way you fly over the trenches where the poor bloody infantry, jealous of your position above the fray, try their best to shoot you down. They rarely succeed. You can also anticipate that an enemy air squadron or two will attack before you reach the first of your two mission objectives. The aircraft are fairly easy to fly and landing isn't all that critical. I became lazy after a few attempts and spent a great deal of time "dead sticking" in. Unlike F-117A, these aircraft do have some glide characteristics so you don't always become part of the granulous cumulus when you lose engine power. Aerial combat proved difficult to master. First, the machine gun is in the way of a good view of what is going on. This necessitates a lot of banking to find your opponents, as once the battle is joined switching views is foolish and life threatening. Second, the programmers were quite clever in that they arranged for the bullets to maintain downward trajectory. This means that you have to actually aim above your target. Tracers are fairly good for direction but useless for range. Hence, you need to be able to guesstimate and use Kentucky windage to hit anything. This effect becomes apparent the first time you go after an observation balloon and the blasted thing still hangs here. The other "realistic" bit here is that your machine can, and does, jam. Unjamming it requires a bit of hammering on the keyboard. Rewards and punishments are also provided. Generally it is fairly hard to land up KIA in Knights of the Sky, though it can be done. More frequently you glide your crippled plane in to something you can walk away from. Usually you are able to sneak across enemy lines and rejoin your squadron. Normally when captured you are released by your captors after "they toast your good health." This seems fairly tame, but as you are being sneaky and/or feted time is passing and your race to become Ace of Aces is with the clock and the other computer pilots whose exploits are recorded but never seen. The in-between missions scenes are quite enjoyable. Rumors abound about what your opponents (friendly and otherwise) are up to. Your mechanic is a wise guy (especially if you flattened one of his machines) but he always seems to have a plane ready for you. There are also headlines, broadcasting your exploits and accomplishments to the world at large. You can be promoted up to the rank of Colonel. Medals are also bestowed on the brilliant ace. Sadly, I have never been able to figure out how the folks at MPS determine when you're deserving of either. The game also comes with a modem version, allowing you to fight your opponent in one to one combat by telephone. A word of caution here -- playing at speeds less than 9600 baud isn't worth the bother. Movement at 2400 tends to be clunky and things happen too slow to make it interesting. The game comes complete with a well written one hundred page "Guide Book" which includes a fairly good outline of aerial combat and a thoughtfully done summary of the development of aerial tactics -- from the Fokker Bounce to the Immmelman Turn. The graphics in the game tend to be uneven. Ground targets tend to look an awful lot like old CGA box pictures, while some of the aerial scenes are quite good. I also dislike trying to establish whose plane is whose when taking on an ace -- there are no easily discernible distinguishing marks, if any, to tell you who in the squadron jumping you is your target. Game length can be long, but there is an accelerator mode which allows the time to pass at a faster rate and immediately switches to the slower "normal" speed when things get interesting. The biggest problem though is the limited cockpit visibility which can never be solved by the optional views. Overall , this is a fun game but I wouldn't take it too seriously. KNIGHTS OF THE SKY MicroProse Entertainment Software, Inc. (copyright 1990) System Requirements: IBM AT or better (or 100% Compatible) or Tandy 1000 640K RAM. Supports most CGA, EGA, VGA, Tandy 1000 Graphics Cards 2 Player Requires 1200+ Baud Hayes compatible modem (9600+ suggested) Joystick & Mouse supported Back to Cry Havoc #2 Table of Contents Back to Cry Havoc List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1993 by David W. Tschanz. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com