Posted on: July 21, 2016
ColBashar
Games: 333 Reviews: 8
Historical Game Makes History
I bought Knights of the Sky on release and at the time it was one of my favourites. I remember one morning I decided to play a few missions before school and was so engrossed that I lost track of time and missed attendance. Among the WWI simulators of the time, it doesn't have the same level of charm as Wings or the sophisticated flight model of Red Baron but sits comfortably between the two. You're a career pilot for the Allies (no German campaign) and over the course of the war you'll receive several events between missions. New planes will become available or retired on both sides. Maybe an enemy Ace will challenge you to a duel on your next mission, providing a secondary objective. Rival squad mates will join your squad, achieve promotions, or be tragically killed in action. Each campaign plays a little differently. Your squadron may be transferred to a different aerodrome along the front, or, once you achieve the rank of Captain, you may move it yourself. Your areodrome is your spawn point, which decides your field of operations. Missions range from patrols, bombing enemy bases, to eliminating balloons. Beyond that, you are free to explore the 3D map so far as your fuel tank will let you. This game taught me to manage my throttle to conserve fuel so that I could visit far off Brussels and return to a friendly airstrip. It also taught me to conserve my ammo and the importance of dive bombing. It was simple to learn but challenged me to become a better gamer. A few years ago I loaded up my original disks and ran it in DosBox. Does the game hold up? Frankly, there are simply more modern flight simulators available with improved physics and graphics. Taking off the nostalgia goggles, I found the terrain bland and the polygons blocky. It's functional, though and, as a piece of history, KotS is a worthy title that featured one of the first instances of dial-up multiplayer in a flight sim.
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