The Germans are rampaging across Europe and it is up to you and your fellow pilots to fight them back with World War II-era planes and even some experimental ones. However, this arcade-style flight game tries to be part simulation and does nothing but leave a bad taste in the mouth of gamers.

Fight the Germans, Not Your Plane!

I’m not going to lie. As much as I love WWII aviation and related games, Battle of Europe has caused me to tear a few of what ever precious hairs I have left on my head out. I was impressed with the fact that they have included numerous amounts of planes, including experimental ones like the Gloster Meteor and the Go-229, but it all comes down to how you can fly. I look at Battle of Europe as an arcade-like flight simulator. This is proved by your plane’s ability to take numerous hits and keep on flying or maintain your speed in a flat out dive or pure vertical climb. Aside from that, all you need to do is follow the objectives on your radar and blow it up/protect it/sink it without getting killed. Simple as sauce.

Sometimes. You get one life and one life only during a mission. Take too much damage (which is modeled through a life bar and smoke coming from your plane) and you’ll see your precious plane spiral to the ground. Do something stupid like forget which end is up and you’ll crash. However, once this happens, you have to start over again on your mission. While it shouldn’t be a big deal since you can take a gratuitous amount of damage, don’t be surprised if something out of your control happens to ruin your sortie. An example of this "out of your control" situation; I was attacking a flight of German bombers, sitting lazily off behind them and pumping rounds into them when all of the sudden a random Me-109 flies right into me. This would not have been a problem if there were an easier way to keep an eye for what is going on around you without having to cycle through eight camera settings. As you can imagine, it can give you a headache in some vicious dogfights.

The dogfights against the AI depend on your difficulty setting, but at normal they’ll range from stupid to Nowotny-istic (FYI, Nowotny was a famous German pilot in WWII). They’ll swarm you, attack you constantly and if you have the dumb ones, just fly in circles. I don’t mind dogfighting, I do it a lot in IL-2 and Aces High 2, but the control scheme is just too tough. Imagine an arcade-style game with simulator-like controls. You have roll, pitch and yaw, but you can never seem to have your plane under control. Don’t fret though; there is an auto-aim for the lazy (or the impatient). It doesn’t matter where you aim on your enemy to inflict damage, it isn’t location-specific and once their health reaches zero, they’ll either explode or spiral to the ground.

My biggest complaint with Battle of Europe is that in order to unlock the missions, you have to beat them. Not a problem right? Well combine the above problems and beating the missions becomes more akin to pulling teeth; it has to be done and it can be painful. There are only 16 historically based missions but you can replay them once you beat them and try it with different planes, for more variation and replay value.

So-So Visuals

The graphics in Battle of Europe can range from the mediocre to the downright ugly. As much as I favor eye-candy, I like having solid frame rates and so if you turn down the graphics, you will get the uglier looks. Even with the graphics turned up though, the graphics are at best average. While it is supposed to be an arcade-style game, the effects look cheap and the plane detail looks too simple. When you shoot down a plane, no debris flies off (unless it explodes), just smoke spouts from it and hits the ground. Tracers for your bullets are just plain, as goes for anti-aircraft fire and enemy fire. You never see any hit effects on other planes from the results of you firing hundreds of rounds into them, but you can use their health indicator as a means of determining if you are hitting them or not.

Overall, the graphics could be better, but this can help players with lower-end systems that don’t want a bad frame rate with all the bells and whistles.

You Like Classical Music?

The sound in any game is what helps players get into the action, the suspense and the fun of the game itself. A game with no sound can still be played, but is less enjoyable. Battle of Europe’s sound could best be described as generic. The engines can sound the same from plane to plane and your machine gun and cannons aren’t very much different. During the mission you may hear radio calls and announcements, but those are mainly for filler as the most important notes appear on your screen. While aesthetically pleasing, it is just an average affair. Classical music can play during the mission if you choose, but I’m sure you’ll grow tired of hearing the same kind of music over and over and opt for the sound of battle as your soundtrack.

Demands too Much?

Playing Battle of Europe can take its toll on any gamer who puts a lot of work into only to get killed easily (FYI: when you have two bars left on your health, you spiral into the ground no matter what) and have to start over. The controls can be frustrating and any semblance of actual plane physics and tactics are not there. All you do is follow the simple steps of lining up and dropping bombs, firing rockets and avoid gunfire. It doesn't matter where you are, you are the Rambo Pilot.

Just Average for the Average Gamer

Battle of Europe would be a great game for those who are looking for some filler in their arcade game lineup. While just plain average, it is great for those kinds of gamers who don't want an overtly complicated flight simulator and want a WWII-era arcade game on their PC.