Subject: REVIEW: Red Baron
From: Mark D. Manes <[email-masked]>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews

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Easily the best World War I simulator, and perhaps flight simulator for the
Amiga--if you have enough CPU power!  This game gives you the feeling that
you are not alone in the air!  A lot of the program seems to be AI for the
pilots you fly against; rare is the easy kill.  I simply love the game, but
it needs an accelerator and perhaps a few bug fixes.  If you are into
'flashy graphics' and 'arcade flight models' this is _not_ the game for
you.  If you like a realistic simulation and the heart-pounding excitement
of flight then this is truly a must buy.

Red Baron
"World War I - Flight Simulator"
Sierra Online/Dynamix
Retail $59.95

-----------
Setting the Scene...
-----------

It is World War I.  Planes and men meet for the first time in the air.  Men
were literally fighting to the death in what would become the first real
evidence that planes were a real military advantage.

Dynamix has brought World War I to your Amiga computer in a way that has to
be seen to be believed.  At first glance the game seems to lack the polish
that some have come to expect from flight simulator.  There is no
heads-up-display; there is no missile lock-on feature.  The 32 color mode
that was used seems to make the program look 'chunky'.  To be perfectly
honest, at first glance I was terribly disappointed by this game.
However, after a bit of coaxing from other Red Baron fans on the PC and the
Amiga, I was talked into taking a second look.  This time I was looking for
depth in game play and ignoring what was an obvious bad port of the 3D
engine.  I am _glad_ that I did try it again!  You really have to be able
to fly an airplane and kill your enemy before he kills you.  Heck, you
don't even have a parachute!  After a bit of flying I did notice that there
was incredible detail on the ground, as well as on the other planes that
flew with me, and against me.  My world, for 256 colors, though. :-)

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The Game
----------

The game is not copyprotected, and it comes on two disks.  It will install
on a hard disk.  The game starts with a nice music title and opens to a
main menu where you can select 'Fly a Single Mission' or 'Career Play'.
'Fly a Single Mission' offers you the choice of ten randomly generated
mission types and allows you to tailor your squadron and the conditions of
simulation play.  'Career Play' allows you to enlist as an officer in
either the German Air Service or the Royal Flying Corps.  You will fly
multiple missions, progressing through the war until you are either killed,
grounded, or the war ends.  In Career Play you are given much less control
over the mission conditions.  You must earn your right to command, transfer
and change plane types!

Missions in both Fly Single Mission and Career can be recorded and saved to
disk.  These saved missions (or tapes) can then be replayed with the
Mission Recorder.  You can record, save, playback, and manipulate any of
your missions.  You can even re-enter a saved mission, completely altering
the mission's outcome!  Altered missions can then be saved to disk for
later viewing or manipulation.

In the 'Fly a Single Mission' you can fly ten different types of missions.
They are: Fly a Historic Mission - Relive the great aerial battles of the
war.  Dogfight a Famous Ace - Have you got what it takes to go head to head
with the mighty Red Baron himself?  Find out as you go up against the war's
greatest pilots.  Dogfight a squadron - Engage an enemy flight of fighters
and try to clear them from the sky.  Patrol the Front - Patrol the front
and engage any enemy recon or fighter airplanes that you come across.
Escort a bombing raid, Stop a bombing raid, Hunt a Zeppelin, Escort Recon
flights, Balloon Defense and Balloon Bustin'.

As you can see there is an entire war for you to enjoy!  The career play
mixes these types of missions as you climb your way to the precious Blue
Maxx!

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Conclusion
-------

What I believe separates this game from the only other WWI game that exists
for the Amiga ('Wings') is the realism.  In 'Wings', while an excellent
game in its own right, suffers in the realism department.  To shoot down
aircraft in Wings you need the ability to fly in a circle.  If you can do
that, kills are easy to rack up.  In fact, I had over 450 kills in Wings.
I sure wish I could make a quarter of that many kills in Red Baron.  Heck,
I have only made five kills in Red Baron and that was using the 'save the
pilot' function.

One of the aspects of this game that I truly enjoy is the effort by Dynamix
to capture the feeling of flight, including real clouds that you can fly
through and above.  There are challenges from the famous aces if you get to
be too 'good'. I am looking forward to the day when I get enough kills that
the German Air Service awards me a plane that I can paint!  (Yes, you can
really have your own plane and yes, you _can_ paint it!!).

Folks, this is a must-buy game.  It is the first game that clearly
advertises that it is for accelerated Amigas.  It is nice to see some high
powered programs for the Amiga.  The game does have a few problems that
Dynamix has promised to fix.  It currently won't play the IBM tapes (being
the biggest problem) and it does not have analog joystick support.  Dynamix
has promised to support the Amiga community, and from the looks of things
they intend to do just that.

If you like flight simulators and want a game that truly makes you wish you
could fly--this is your game.  Two thumbs up!

-mark=
[email-masked]