Combat Wings: Battle of Britain Demo

World War II saw more than its fair share of aerial battles, especially between Germany and the British Forces, due to the fact that the countries are separated by the sea. Hence, dogfights were the preferred method of conflict resolution and the Royal Air Force battled the Luftwaffe on a regular basis, with great losses on both sides each time.

Combat Wings: Battle of Britain presents the struggle between the two superpowers and allows you to take control over famous WWII planes, in order to bring down the Nazi forces and defend Britain from destruction. Along the way, you get to sit in the cockpit of some legendary aircraft, such as the Spitfire, Hurricane, or even the Westland Whirlwind.

Naturally, the opposing side features authentic planes as well, although you don't get to see them as much, since they are always either shooting at you, or on fire. Fortunately, the arcade mechanics means that you do not have to worry about realism too much and just focus on shooting, which might disappoint the hardcore fans, especially since there are some physics glitches as well, from time to time.

Unlike most flight simulators, the title at hand makes it very easy for you to control the planes and use them in dogfights, since you can utilize the mouse to aim and perform various maneuvers. Naturally, the keyboard also comes in handy for various shortcuts, but it is not nearly as indispensable as it is in other titles, since there are only a handful of functions that can be accessed up in the air and two of them involve shooting at something.

One aspect that did not receive too much attention is the graphics engine, since everything looks old and unpolished, not to mention cheap. However, the visual quality would not be a problem in the right conditions, as various indie titles repeatedly proved, but in this case, none of the other components are worthy of praise. Hence, the poor graphics does not really have an excuse, since the effort does not seem to have been concentrated somewhere else.

In the end, Combat Wings: Battle of Britain fails to deliver on most accounts, except for the fact that it is very easy to control and handle. However, the lack of originality and content, as well as the poor execution make the easy controls rather redundant, since you cannot really enjoy them as you should.