July 15, 2005 - The year is 1943; I'm stationed in Northern Europe, flying tactical air strikes against German air bases. I have no idea when this war will end and I will finally be able to return home, but at least I have the opportunity to serve my country.

Welcome to Combat Flight Simulator 3: Battle for Europe. This is, quite obviously, the third title in Microsoft's wildly successful combat flight simulation series, set during World War II. This time around, you have the choice of playing as an American, a British, or a German pilot during the peak of the tactical air period of the war. The first priority on your mind is saving your own behind, followed closely by the successful completion of your missions. (As a side note, at first I had a hard enough time protecting myself from enemy fire and keeping my plane in the air that I did not even consider the possibility of destroying the enemies who were firing upon me.) However, there is always that thought in the back of your mind that you might, and I emphasize might, successfully turn the tides of war for the better.

And this is precisely what Microsoft has allowed you to do. Not only does the outcome of your missions affect the movement of ground troops through France, but the quality of equipment available to you and your troops varies as well as potentially the outcome of the entire war. This is your chance to either replay or rewrite history as we know it.

The play modes in Combat Flight Simulator 3 are divided up as follows: quick combat, in which you can jump into any of the available flight types and test or hone your skills; single missions, including historical, hypothetical and training; the campaign, which plays from a point in 1943 when the Germans control most of Europe (Fortress Europa) and the Brits and Americans begin the Allied invasion; and multiplayer, where players can fight each other or join forces to complete cooperative missions together over the internet or a LAN. Available flight types include free flight, dogfight, intercept, escort, and ground attack.

Of these, the most rewarding and interesting by far is the campaign. As mentioned previously, the Germans have control of Europe. As the Allied forces, your mission is to take the one million troops stationed in Britain and invade the beaches of Normandy, pushing the Germans back to eventually capture Berlin. As the Axis, you will be attempting to stop the Allied invasion in their tracks, drive them back to the sea and capture London. However, neither of these is a task for any one single man. The war was fought by groups of courageous men fighting together, and thus, so are these missions. Pilots are able to issue orders to their wingmen, order a strategic ground offensive and much more. One of my favorite features of the game is the ability to warp to the next action sequence. Not too interested in flying long, boring stretches between your current location and your impending target? No problem. A single key press will take you there in a jiffy.

Alright, now it's time to discuss some of the basic features of this game. The countries included in the missions and campaign include Belgium, France Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands. Pilots can fully customize their aircraft before embarking in battle, including choosing the paint for the nose, fuselage, wing and tail, creating their own unique identifier, selecting their fuel levels, ammo levels and ordnance. Also featured are three real pilots from each country involved, complete with background information. Or, to make it a more personal affair and to cement your involvement in this historic event, you can create your own. This is where the role-playing elements come into play. Players can earn medals for their efforts, skill points (towards vision, g-tolerance and health) and a wealth of statistics are accumulated (bombing, rocketry and gunnery accuracies, air, ground and ship kills, successful missions completed, crash landings, bailouts... well, you get the idea).

So, what kind of aircraft can you expect? Well, there are 33 available in total for the RAF, Luftwaffe and USAAF combined. These range from multi crew medium bombers, to single or dual seat fighters or bombers. Some of the more memorable ones include Spitfires, Tempests and Typhoons. As for what one can expect on the ground, basically anything and everything. I counted 49 different ground vehicles, ranging from tanks, to ambulances, to rail cars. Ground weapons that I've seen (much to my chagrin) include flak towers, howitzers and many other nasty anti-aircraft weapons. Let's just say there is no lack of detail in this game, or historical accuracy for that matter.