Jane's Attack Squadron

WWII sim fans with a working knowledge of flying vintage aircraft may be up and flying in no time.  They may find themselves wondering what the heck is going on.  I have played numerous WWII flight sims and have never had this much trouble with learning a new plane's characteristics.  Those new to the genre, my advice is stay clear of this one, with no flight manual that details flight characteristics and tactics you will find almost no enjoyment here, unless you want to be a turret gunner or a bombardier.

The manual that is provided is nothing more than 16 page booklet that’s fits in the jewel case that provides some help with set up and navigating the interface.  The in game tutorial though helpful is a bit annoying.  Most games now a days guide you through step by step with some helpful voiceovers to guide you through basic flight principles and keyboard entries that let you execute what you need to do.  Not here, you have many lines of text that can be brought up that tell you everything for the mission…annoying.  Ok if you don't want to add the voiceovers but even some pop up text would have been helpful rather than the whole mission objective along with command that you have to sort through to figure out what to do next.  Sorry but poor planning, did the beta testers really think this was a good idea?

The graphics are so archaic I cannot believe that this title commands a forty-dollar price tag?  For what I ask?  Product development?  I think not.  The ground looks great when you are high above the clouds but as you fly 15ft from the deck it's just an ugly blur with the exception of various ground and sea targets you have to destroy.

My last disappointment was the multiplayer capability.  I hope that there is a patch soon for those dedicated Jane's fans.  Frequent crashes kept me and many others form enjoying this title to its full capacity.  If the above wasn't enough to be disappointed about, the latter was the straw that broke the camels back.

Install: Easy
Slow, but easy.

Gameplay: 6.5
The interface was quite easy, and many options for quick missions, tutorials and missions.  Flying was a not nearly as rendered as it could be or better yet not as rendered as other titles of the genre.  Gameplay as a whole generally was disappointing.

Graphics: 6.5
Archaic.  I have played titles a couple of years ago that had the same if not better graphics. For a title that boasts the next generation of WWII gaming, I was not impressed.

Sound: 7
Typical WWII sounds, the music was kind of annoying,

Difficulty: 8
Once you get the flying down, which can take a while if your new to WWII flight sims, there are many adjustment settings that can add plenty of difficulty to even the most advance veterans.  

Concept: 6.5 
Many different aspects of the game, but just another rushed to market WWII flight sim.

Multiplayer: 5

When you are not locking up, it's ok at best.  But the frequent lock ups (which seem to be experienced by all) happen more often than not to the tune of about 75% of the time.

Overall: 6.5
For a game that retails for around 40 bucks, I would be hard pressed to spend ten.