Our Chuck Norton gave CFS3 such a drubbing in his preview back in September people are still talking about it. Sadly, despite one bright spot, most of the final release code is bad. Just how bad? Read on to find out.

It's obvious that MS doesn't give two dumps for the "serious" combat flight simmer...and that's too freaking bad. FS2002 was such a huge leap (not gonna use the word "quantum"--no way no how) over its predecessor that allowed my self a shred of hope that CFS3 would be an improvement over the overhyped turd that was CFS2. Nope. Not even.

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Not knowing much about FMs myself, stalls are a personal benchmark.

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LOL. I demoed FlightGear on a four-day fair once. Obviously different people tried different things, but interestingly the first thing pilots did was test the stall.

The really small kids dove as fast as possible to the ground to see the airplane explode .

I have pre orderd CFS3 and should have it on 15/11/02..... Did I do the right thing??

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Not being able to share your mind through some sort of Vulcan mind meld, I don't think I or anyone could really conclude whether you've made the right or wrong decision.

Flight sims are just like movies, scotch, and stinky cheeses: a matter of taste. And acquiring a taste for many complex products takes time. To some, however, scotch will always taste crappy no matter how many times it is tried and some sims will never seem worth playing. It's all so subjective.

You've already ordered the sim so you'll just have to spend some time with it and see if it takes a hold of you. Spend enough time and it just might.

As a rule of thumb, however, you are well-advised to read all the reviews you can find and then, based on your knowledge of the reviewer's past recommendations and how well they lined up with your own tastes, make your decision to buy or not to buy.

In fact, I think we'll just have to start tracking all the different opinions on this sim because they are all over the map. So far as I know, however, Chuck's review is by far the most negative, whereas Viking1's review over at Frugal's is possibly the most positive.

As more people buy the sim, more opinions will get added to the pile of info and then, over time, many people's opinions may actually change. Remember EAW? It stunk out of the box but then went on to be one of the classics of all time.

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I find it difficult to understand how the CFS3 team are not addressing the punters with regards to the issues, including patch(es).

Oh, welcome to Combatsim Cobra22.

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"Thingmies? We don't need no stinking Thingmies"

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By the end of the fourth mission I had three air to air kills and had also hit two ground targets.

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That quote from Len's review over at Frugal's about says it all, for me. Too easy. And the campaign sounds like kiddie-car stuff, casting the player as some sort of uberpilot. I'm saving my bucks for Forgotten Battles.

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Can't say I disagree with you. It's a shame that it wasn't included in the review and you have a right to be pissed about that. We're working on a follow-up article that focuses strictly on the multiplayer aspect, however.

Try to look on the bright side, I've read the other CFS3 reviews out there and they only trump Chuck's lack of comment on MP with a sentence or two at most. Fact is, there are relatively few folks who have copies of the game and, so, well, it's just too early to make any sort of enlightened comments about it.

But don't get me wrong, I appreciate your outrage . . . it's not entirely out of place.

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Originally posted by Equinox:
Ya know, I really like Chuck's reviews but I think it's pretty inexcusable for him, and CombatSim not to be able to provide a review of multiplayer capabilities of the product, simply because he has ISP problems?? Come on guys, we pay for this service! Are you really telling us someone couldn't have given him a temporary dial-up account to use for the purposes of completing this review??

Great review, but slack on the MP cop-out sorry.

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Hey, Equinox. Man, I couldn't agree with you more, believe me!!! I feel like a total schmoe not being able to include a review of MP. I play (Er, well, played) Il-2 online all the time and generally find it more fun than offline, so I was actually looking forward to testing out this aspect of CFS3. Sadly, my ISP is a bit more than just a "problem." It is actually a total failure. I have zero internet connection from my home. Additionally, I tried to connect using my old standby 56K, but it failed too. Don't think I didn't try, man. I did!

I agree with you, Eq. Someone should take a thorough look at CFS3's MP features, but until I get my new connection running in December, it can't be me. But, it sounds like Doug & Co. are already on top of this one, so the wait shouldn't be too long.

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"Thingmies? We don't need no stinking Thingmies"

Chuck nailed it.

It is my duty, however, to wring out the multiplayer feature in CFS3. Is there anyone out there with a copy of this thing and an internet connection? If so, please email me for a possible go-around or two.

bmarks@atg1.com

Thanks!

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Flies like a limp rag too. Some of the others pits are passable, but generally they are all pretty lame. Aestetically this is an unattractive game. Ugly terrain, ugly cockpits, and ugly effects. I have never returned a combat flight sim, and I probably will not return this one. It will most likely go on the shelf next ot Luftewaffe Commander, Wings, and Janes Attack Squadron.

I have tried just about every setting I can on my 1.7 gig, 512mb DDR ram, G3 TI200 carded system, and still get stutters, and routine lockups.

There is some serious unfinished code in this game, and I don't think that even a miracle patch will get all of the uglies out of it. I hope I am wrong, though.

Shame on Microsoft, for releasing a game in such a sorry state.

Cheers

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Originally posted by Forward Observer:

I have tried just about every setting I can on my 1.7 gig, 512mb DDR ram, G3 TI200 carded system, and still get stutters, and routine lockups.

There is some serious unfinished code in this game, and I don't think that even a miracle patch will get all of the uglies out of it. I hope I am wrong, though.

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Get all of the uglies out! LMAO! I am gonna have to take a look at this thing. I
have a copy from a friend I am going to test this weekend. I shot you an EMail Groucho...

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