Saitek, in cooperation with Thunderhawk Studios and some of the biggest names in the Flight Simulator community, have attempted to bridge the gap between the airline dominated world of Microsoft’s Flight Simulator X and the fast paced world of aerial combat. For years, the virtual military community has attempted to mold FSX into a combat simulator, capable of engaging in aerial combat and shooting down your enemy. Have they finally succeeded or is this going to be another failure? You now have the opportunity to choose for yourself as I give you an exclusive guided tour into the world of Combat Pilot. The approach they take to this is one of total immersion, as if the pilot has just signed on the line, accepted a commission, and then reported to undergraduate pilot training in Florida.
After logging in, you are asked to choose a nationality, branch of service (i.e. Air Force, Navy or US Marine Corps) and the type of pilot you want to be- a squadron pilot, or a command pilot. The choices you make determine what your uniform looks like, the markings on your airplane and in some cases what rank you can attain. Once you have chosen your career track, everyone gets sent to learn the basics flying the CP-T-6 at NAS Whiting Field, Florida, USA. Just like it is when you take real flight training, you’ll learn procedures on subjects such as the safe operation of the aircraft, communication, navigation and even formation flying.
There will be a series of check rides and required flight time that test your skills and give you experience in completing your tasks. Make no mistake, this is hard work. But this hard work is rewarded with your wings. Once you have completed all the tasks in the initial training, you will be assigned your next base according to what you chose at the start. Fixed wing pilots go to “Fighter Lead In”, where they learn to fly jets and get an introduction to live weapons. Once this phase is complete, you get to choose your unit. By default, everyone gets assigned to a unit flying a CP-F/A-18. However, you can choose to purchase an additional payware plane, such as the Razbam A-6 Intruder or EA-6B Prowler, and join a unit that flies those planes. For a full list of units and aircraft, click here.
The initial package comes with several aircraft and a large scenery pack that can be used outside of Combat Pilot. The basic aircraft are: CT-T-6, CP-F/A-18, CP-T-38, and the CP-T-45 in various liveries and configurations. These aircraft are all very good quality, have great avionics suites, and what I would consider good flight dynamics. I was particularly impressed with the CP-T-6, which I’ve spent extensive time flying both in and out of Combat Pilot. The flight dynamics, avionics, system complexity, modeling and liveries are simply outstanding. The developer could probably sell it individually, for good money.
The only drawback with them I find is that the weapons are not usable outside of Combat Pilot. That’s really lame, in my opinion. I understand that Saitek wants exclusivity of use, but this aspect is comparable with Microsoft Flight. I can fly the planes outside of Combat Pilot, why not let me use the weapons as well? It will not affect anyone who does not have Combat Pilot installed and I’m paying for the experience, let me have that how I see fit!
The scenery that comes with the basic pack is:
- NAS Whiting Field North
- NAS Whiting Field South
- NAS Pensacola
- Sheppard AFB
- NAS Fallon
- NAS Oceana
- NAS Corpus Christi
The airfields are faithfully reproduced by skilled scenery builders. The scenery is very high quality, but my machine took little or no frame rate hit while I was flying in those areas. My favorite is Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, Texas. They are not quite up to the level of Fly Tampa or ORBX, but I was still quite impressed with each of the airports. I send my compliments to the modeler. The case can be made that the purchase price alone is justified by the scenery packs. I think if you add in the aircraft you get, I would tend to agree that the purchase price is worth the scenery and aircraft.
But this is not just a single purchase. Just like Microsoft did with its last flight game, Combat Pilot is a subscription based game. To be fair, I believe Saitek is trying to capitalize on the success of both MMO gaming and flight games such as Lock On: Modern Air Combat or the DCS series, rather than that of Microsoft and its silly micro transactions. So, when I think “subscription” or “monthly fee” my mind instantly goes to Microsoft Flight. Micro transactions is arguably one of the biggest factors that lead the flight simulator community to revolt, and ultimately what caused the game to fail. It’s one hell of a gamble for Combat Pilot. Will it pay off? That is yet to be seen.
The next part of this review will be my journey through training. I am going to be frank and to the point about the things I discuss, and you will get to see exactly what is on offer. Some things are good, some are not and a few irritated me so badly I just about uninstalled the game. Though frank, it’s fair and at times, introspective.
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