Blue Max: Aces of the Great War
Forget glory, friend. Think survival.
The “Pour le Merite” or Blue Max fighter pilots were something to be both admired and feared. An award given to the best German pilots of World War I, if you ended up in the sights of a Blue Max plane, you knew your flying days were over.
Originally released in 1991 by Artech Digital Entertainment, Blue Max: Aces of the Great War is a classic flight simulator that takes you right into the fray as a World War I flying ace. Choose from 8 different planes, such as Fokkers, Sopwiths, Spads to take down enemy planes or capture surveillance behind enemy lines. If real time flying simulators aren’t your thing, Blue Max can also change dogfights into strategic turn-based battles, taking your challenge out of the sky and onto a 3D tactical map.
Step into the cockpit in Blue Max: Aces of the Great War, and experience the strategy and thrills of the best fighter pilots of their time.
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Take your dogfights to a 2D tactical map, executing turn based strategies against your opponents with an unique 3D simulation to visualize your best plan of attack
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Fly high in 8 historic fighter planes such as Albatross DIII, Fokker DVII, and more!
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Multiple 3D angles for more visibility when dodging and diving in the heat of a dogfight
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Shoot down enemy planes or fly skillfully over enemy territory for surveillance as you engage in captivating gameplay featuring multiple mission options and several historical locations.
Read More: Best Flight PvE Games.
Red Baron Pack
I recommend this game WITH EXTREME RESERVATIONS. This pack comes with three games: Red Baron Classic, Red Baron 3d and Red Baron 3d multiplayer (which I’ve never booted up.)
If you’re buying this for classic, the game seems to work fine. Both Classic and 3d do not come with a hotkey list, as near as I can tell these are direct ports and the originals would’ve had physical copies. However the hotkeys are available online here http://www.sierrahelp.com/Documents/Manuals/Red_Baron_-_Manual.pdf
for classic and here
– Real player with 69.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Flight Classic Games.
Ever since I saw gameplay footage of IL-2 I wanted to play a war flight sim. I was already obsessed with planes so it was a natural progression to start playing the sims. Now I dont have a nice computer, just a laptop that was not meant for any kind of beautiful sweeping landscapes of the IL series. IL 1946 can’t run on this thing. So I did some digging and found Red Baron 3D. While I was set on a WW2 sim, I am completely on board with Red Baron 3D. It is a little simpler compared to the more crafted sims we can get now, but it hits all of the check marks for me. Campaign is frustrating and fun, as you go through the weeks and months of the war. Some days your plane will fly high above the enemy and you can enjoy the superiority that your plane has over inferior enemy planes. Then next month the other side slips in a new plane that can outclass you and you are struggling just to survive missions. Its awesome. The load times are damn near instantaneous, and the flying is fun. I could go on and on about this game, and I wish the mods that the community made for this game back in the early 2000’s were still around. You’ll enjoy this sim 100%, and at 9.99 its just to good of a purchase to pass up if you are on the fence about it
– Real player with 67.0 hrs in game
Rise of Flight United
now when i got this game i didn’t understand why it had mixed reviews, i watch videos on youtube and the flight simulator community eats this game up like a fresch cherry pie, they seem to love the hell out of it and talk so highly out of it, so when i saw the mixed reviews i was kind of suprised, and didn’t undersand and now I do… now before i get too that lets get too the Pros of the game.
PROS
the pros of this game are simple, if you are a avid flight simulator player like myself you will enjoy the higher graphics the game has to offer, clean, smooth, the game has VERY nice graphics and seem to be somewhat realistic in appearence on the aircraft, the cockpits also are nicely detailed with working gauges, instroments and controls, and just like any other flight simulator getting kill after kill is addicting. damage effects are pretty spectacular too watch, peaces of wing come off, fires spread rather than just rapidly burst, props break, holes develope on the aircraft pretty much where you hit your target, very very nice… skins for the aircraft are also relatively easy too mod aside from the fact you have to have a higher setting for your editor so your skins don’t look all pixely.
– Real player with 640.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Flight Singleplayer Games.
Rise of Flight is a World War 1 flight sim that is a game made for flight sim enthusiast’s, thus the game tenders to a small audience and genre. The game upon start-up is a tad confusing for someone who has never really had a flight sim, but being a normal gamer I ventured into the unknown playing a quick match. After taking awhile to find the “Start Mission” button I was off.
The game is visually stunning, even for me with a relatively old gaming rig. The detail to the airplane is stunning and really helps capture the feel of playing in one of these vintage aircraft, from the seat to the gunsight everything seems authentic and comes alive as you fly around and if you have any interest in airplanes this game takes you right in.
– Real player with 182.3 hrs in game
Warplanes: WW1 Fighters
I’ll start by saying it’s a REALLY fun game. Lots of missions, lots of planes, lots of upgrades. Well worth the price. however, there are several really annoying things about it. This is all in the campaigns.
1. planes with gunners are DUMB. I’ll line up right behind an enemy plane for him to take out, and he’s shooting way off to the side at some dumb thing in the distance. Enemy bombers RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU about to take out your base and lose you the game? That’s not a priority for him, he’s wasting ammo at a plane way off to the side in the distance. Strafing run lined up with a clean shot for him at AA guns? doesn’t matter, he wants to shoot the damn balloons until the AA guns kill you both. I don’t know what criteria is used to decide what he shoots at, but it’s way off. There’s only one plane on the screen and he’ll find one off screen to shoot at. jeez, it’s aggravating. He also likes to overheat the gun failing to lead a plane, then when it’s lined up nicely, he’s got an overheated gun and just sits there missing the clean shot. His stats are absolutely maxed out too. This is the BEST he gets.
– Real player with 36.7 hrs in game
Updated Review:
If you’re coming to this expecting a faithful sim of wrestling one of these kites through bouncy air – well that’s not what this is. That game deserves to be made, but this is something else.
While there is HOTAS support, using the default VR controller to grab a virtual stick is unique and perfectly efficient. It’s actually a very well-done control system. And.. your other hand is free to grab a flare gun. OMG the flare guns. No they’re not for just taking out barrage balloons. Tired of eating lead from a bomber’s defensive guns? Blow him up with a flare from below. Enemy fighter suddenly zooming at you and you can’t get your nose around? Quick draw that flare gun and bust one in his ass as he’s going by. It’s actually hilarious fun.
– Real player with 18.2 hrs in game
Flying Corps
It is a flight simulation game which is based on the theme of the World War 1 and is one of those which has really depicted a realistic flight war gameplay. You have 6 different planes in the game which are the ones that were famous in those times.
The planes have been modelled perfectly and have been given a lot of details.
You have both instant playing mode and the campaign mode for doing a wide variety of missions.
Coming to the planes again, the inner dynamics have been made with a good number of details which allow you to check the speed, the height of the aircraft, the targets, situational awareness and many other on board options which you can easily use and implement in the gameplay.
Wings! Remastered Edition
14 hours in, 130 Missions, 264 Kills in normal mode…
I would like so much to recommend this game but I can’t… This is NOT our beloved Wings (Amiga).
The Amiga game was HARD! I remember being toe to toe with the great heroes of WWI, a thrill when you manage to surpass the score of one of them. I would spend the entire mission time trying to shoot one plane will my mates killed every one else. The AA where very accurate, specially in balloon busting, and the strafing missions where hell. In this remastered, every one in my squadron has 30+ kills (but not when flying with me - with me they are totally incompetents, in 7 enemies planes I kill all 7) and I easily make “ace in a mission” (5 kills). Not once Oswald Boelcke or Georges Guynemer where close to me or to my squadron mates. In a month, in real life, the allies downed 300 axis planes in total. I had 100 and the rest of the squadron 100+
– Real player with 18.2 hrs in game
Everyone who owned that game in the early 90’s will love it. The graphics changed but unfortunately you can still play for the Royal Flying Corps only and not for the Germans.
What changed to the original version:
There are 2 funeral scences (In the old version there was just one but you could see the age of the killed pilot)
you can choose the colour of your aircraft (green or yellow)
ability to change the difficulty
The controls by keyboard are a little bit difficult but there is an option to use a joystick (couldn’t test this option)
– Real player with 15.2 hrs in game
Knights of the Sky
Still a great game dispite its obvious age….However you can find better versions out there on abandonware sites that will automatically give you full access. Meaning you dont have to identify the squadron logos. All you have to do is click any old logo and it will let you have full access to the game.
UPDATE: Originally you could find this game in abandonware but someone obviously bought the rights to it. So seeing as you cant find this game in abandonware anymore…I recommend it. Its a great game despite its age. Yeah the little copy protection thing is a bit annoying but at least the game comes with a manual so you can get passed it.
– Real player with 17.7 hrs in game
There was a spate of ww1 flying sims in the nineties, of them Red Baron seems to be the one that is the most highly regarded, however if you do happen to enjoy even for the nostalgia, old games, or the history of ww1 fligth sims then get this one too. Its not a smooth game and flying using the keyboard is better than using the mouse, also your plane and enemy planes will get shot down with the barest of shots. To make up for this though, there are a good number of enemy planes in missions and also they are pretty relentless in maneuvring to get on your tail .
– Real player with 4.5 hrs in game
Tactical Warfare Simulator
I’ve only played in VR with a HOTAS. Beyond the fact that it’s wildly overpriced, this game needs a serious overhaul by someone who understands UX.
The menus are amateurish and bewildering, particularly in the campaign mode. There’s no way to recenter your view. It seems to be impossible to start a campaign game in VR, because you have to type in a name for your squadron, and it won’t accept keyboard input as typing. When I hit the F key I get some performance numbers. I had to restart in desktop mode, create the campaign, and then restart again in VR mode to play it.
– Real player with 3.1 hrs in game
this game does not fell finished to me. at this time in VR you have hand tracking but can not interact with anything just ghost hands. that sucks would have loved to fly the planes with my VR hands. but im so far happy with what i got. the joysticks on the VR controls work. game brings me back to playing red baron long long ago. for that feeling i like the game. and for that i will give it a thumbs up. if you go into this expecting a full VR exp you will be a little upset. but the controls work the game plays and is fun. maybe wait for a sale if you are unsure.
– Real player with 1.5 hrs in game
Warplanes: WW1 Sky Aces
Funny enough and strangely as this sounds coming from a geriatric gamer from the 1970’s, this game is actually quite enjoyable and relaxing to play. It reminds me of fond memories of the original “Red Baron” DOS game for a PC way back then. I played many hours on that game and loved it, by today’s standards it would probably suck badly from a graphic point of view.
This is not either a world beating flight simulator or another dull dumb arcade kiddies run around, but they have managed to get something right here. The plane models are awesome and the game play brings back all those memories of the original PC game “Red Baron”
– Real player with 22.1 hrs in game
If you like a not too complicated and straight forward World War 1 Flight combat Game that allows for fast action and thinking skills and doesn’t overemphasize too much mouse click coordination, this is the game you might wish to consider. The game offers different nations, planes, and types of combat missions. There is a learning curve of course in the maintenance screens, but this is a good part of the overall strategy. No joystick needed as minimal keystrokes do the job to control the plane and you can customize to make it more challenging. For a free to play game, the graphics and options to customize and modify are really broad and the overall look and feel is great and lots of respect goes out to the game designers in crafting a simplified and enjoyable experience. Aces, get your goggles on and enjoy the dog fighting and strategic thrill of yesteryear in the 1914-1918 Era of air combat !
– Real player with 18.3 hrs in game
Aircraft Evolution
Control a plane that flies towards your pointer, drops bombs and fires missiles so you can wipe out hordes of enemies.
Its a close one here, the controls work fine, its quite neat getting new planes and upgrading them, and the variety of bombs and missions is pretty solid.
but it feels a lot like a mobile game that had microtransactions and wasnt balanced quite correctly when it was ported back to PC. Things go at a fair clip through the first part of the game, but around chapter 2 the difficulty ramps up faster than your money does and you end up in a sort of grind, particularly because even with the best plane in the game your bombs never do that much damage and there are a lot of enemies.
– Real player with 11.5 hrs in game
Aircraft Evolution is a casual indie sidescrolling shooter that follows in the footsteps of the 1987 classic Wings of Fury. In my opinion fans of WOF game most likely wont be disapointed acquiring Aircraft Evolution as it does a great job at it. The gameplay of Aircraft Evolution is pretty much about bombing the living hell out of the enemies of differnt eras of the history of airplanes and fending off attacking airplanes in different missions while upgrading and buying new planes. In the current early access build the plane is controlled with the mouse and 3 keyboard keys (z,repair -x,fuel-space,speed) and its rather simple to master. The graphics are hand-drawn and really nice to behold. I bought the game for 3.99 euros and feel i got great value for the money. I’ll rate the game 8/10.
– Real player with 10.6 hrs in game