Rating: 
Summary: Very slightly disapointing (very slightly)
Review: This is a game for a air combat simulator nut. It has everything. It does however show some signs of having been put out before the final fine-tuning was complete. The feeling of historical atmosphere is not as good as in Combat Flight Simulator 1 (the war in Europe). So many good photographs of action in the Pacific are available, some in color, that the choice of comic book pictures to fill in the background and move the story of the campaigns forward is unnecesary and disapointing. Information such as take off, landing and stall speeds is missing (or hard to find). The airplane graphics are absolutely excellent. Scenery is a little boring--unending blue tropical sky and blue tropical water. Carrier landings are great fun and damnably difficult--very tough for a beginner. It is not true that you need a super fast super computer, though if you don't have one you do need a top of the line graphics accelorator card with built in RAM. My setup when used to run Combat Flight Simulator 1 (war in Europe) shows scenery that is very photographic, presumeable derived from digitaly edited photos. This games' scenery seems to be entirely painted--though very well painted. I do get some very minor hesitation and miss the totaly glass-smooth action I got with the war in europe version. Without my very good graphics accelerator it would be unplayable. Weather and cloud effects are totaly awesome--dogfighting at dawn in a thunderstorm is a blast. Basicaly--a good game for simulator enthusiasts. But, as is typical in the movie business, much that made part one unique was omitted from part two. That which replaced it is very cool, but lacks class. If you have never flown a simulator before--get Combat Flight Simulator One. If you never believed yourself capable of getting interested in computer game (thought it was for teen-agers)--get Combat Flight Simulator One. If your are inerested in history--get Part One. This game is very good--but it is a game Combat Flight Simulator One is an experience (and doesn't take up so darn much room on the hard disk)
Rating: 
Summary: Gooood
Review: Combat Flight Simulator 2 is a dream come true for historic flight sim fans. Excellent graphics, great sound effects, and adjustable realism settings make CFS2 a thrilling and accessible sortie into the unfriendly skies of the South Pacific during World War II. After choosing to fly for the Japanese or American forces, you can pick from a selection of seven ultrarealistic aircraft. Experienced flight sim fans will drool over the plane models, accurate down to the number of rivets. Newbies will appreciate the excellent flight and landing tutorials. There are over 100 missions to fly, many based on historic missions from the war. This unusual level of realism and attention to detail comes from the game developers' personal love of flight: many members of the CFS2 team are pilots. Their extensive research included interviews with Japanese and U.S. aces from the real war in the Pacific. The missions themselves are lengthy and often complex, and are just as accurate as the planes; players take part in history, but cannot change the outcomes of battles. Because the action takes place in the South Pacific don't expect to see a wide variety of ground scenery. Not that you'll miss it: the water, small islands, planes, aircraft carriers, and battleships are always very sharp and detailed. However, if you expect to play with the graphics at their best settings, be aware that you'll need a blazing fast machine with a fast video card. On lesser computers, the graphics in Combat Flight Simulator 2 start to degrade from stunning to merely ordinary.
Rating: 
Summary: Waste of Paper
Review: Unless you own FS2000 or FS2002 this book is junk, and I mean that literally. The author does not even use the CFS2 key codes but in some esoteric fit of idiocy he decided that the so called FS "standard" keys would be his reference. CFS2 manual which has to be printed from the disk is 196 pages of your ink and paper long. Nowhere is there a complete list of key codes, just two partial lists, one long one short. It's a waste of time, and this book recomended by MS is also. Typical of MS, absolutely typical. The operation of all their software has to be a big secret! Don't waste the money.
Rating:
Summary: Best Flight Game Available
Review: Two words - "Open System". Microsoft has allowed this game to be have an open system architecture. This means that you can add-on other planes, missions, campaigns, scenery, effects, etc... Sure you only start out with 7 planes, but I have over 40 or so now! Including some WWI planes and even some Korean ones, including the P-86, P-80 and a Mig-15. This keeps the game interesting. The game also includes a mission editor that allows you to create whatever type of missions with how ever many planes, ships or tanks in the area in any way you want. Don't even start me on the graphics. They are simply amazing. When you fire, you can see bits and pieces of your opponents plane just coming apart in mid air, just make sure you don't fly into them! The graphics engine display damage profile of the plane with awesome realism. The bullet holes and Flak fragments are out of this world. If you took a lot of lead on your rudder or flaps, the plane will respond appropriately. Awesome game! But remember, the game is also really big; about 900 MB on full install.
Rating:
Summary: Currently of the best flight sims available
Review: Simply put, this game is a blast to play. For true flight enthusaists it offers very accurate graphics and flight simulations. For casual pilots the gameplay can be tuned to allow any level of pilot to enjoy the game. But.. let's dig into the details: Graphics:
Overall, very nice. When the graphics level is turned up the detail is amazing, especially on the aircraft. The ground detail is good, but not very exciting -- after all, you're pretty much in the middle of the Pacific. My main criticism here is that the detail on the ships could be better. When you're on the deck of an aircraft carrier there are no other planes on the deck and the detail of the control tower isn't that great. Gameplay:
The game makes it easy to get in the air quickly. This is great when you don't feel like playing through a whole missing or just haven't taken the time to start a full campaign. Each of the aircraft have a distinctly different feel (and sound), but none of them are very difficult to fly. However, getting the plane back on the ground is a different story. With some practice you'll be able to land on a long runway pretty easily, but setting down on the deck of a carrier takes a lot of practice. If you add wind/storms to the mix it is even more difficult. Personally I found developing this skill one of the most enjoyable parts of the game. The realism of flight and damage are just great. If your aircraft is damaged in a dogfight it will fly very differently. Because of the realistic damage modelling you really appreciate the fragility of the planes. I didn't find the storyline too exciting and the cartoon sequences between sequences weren't very compelling. This aspect of the game wasn't of too much interest to me in the first place so I'm not that concerned by it. Finally, the mission builder is very well done. When you get tired of flying the stock campaigns, you can fire up the mission builder and throw something together in a few minutes. Other notes:
I highly recommend picking up a force feedback joystick for this game. Having one adds an enormous amount to the gameplay.
Rating:
Summary: a lot of good and a little bad
Review: As an avid flight simmer, I was really looking forward to this game, but also with a lot of doubts. The game itself is incredible, graphics are the best I have seen from any flight simulation. The concern when I first got it was, the same thing that disappointed me with FS2000, the frame rate. I, by no means have a fast computer (PIII 600, 128 MB RAM), but I am consistantly getting a pleasing 25-30 frames a second from CFS2, and that was with the detail turned on full blast and 4 planes buzzing around, I was overwhelmed. The only way I could get that good of frame rates from FS2000, was to fly at night over the ocean. The detail put into this game is great, everything from seeing the ripples in the water as a ship is sunk, to the sounds of the ships motors as you fly by, flying through the flak, oh and of course the damage of the planes being shot.....very nice. There were a few disappointments, one being wingman commands....they are very limited, and the limited amount of planes you can fly, I would have liked to fly a B-25 and drop 3000 lbs of bombs on a tiny island, overall its a outstanding game, 1 step above CFS Europe.
Rating:
Summary: Great flying and graphics.
Review: As an avid flight simmer, I was really looking forward to this game, but also with a lot of doubts. The game itself is incredible; graphics are the best I have seen from any flight simulation. The concern when I first got it was, the same thing that disappointed me with FS2000, the frame rate. I, by no means have a fast computer (PIII 600, 128 MB RAM), but I am consistently getting a pleasing 25-30 frames a second from CFS2, and that was with the detail turned on full blast and 4 planes buzzing around, I was overwhelmed. The only way I could get that good of frame rates from FS2000, was to fly at night over the ocean. The detail put into this game is great, everything from seeing the ripples in the water as a ship is sunk, to the sounds of the ships motors as you fly by, flying through the flak, oh and of course the damage of the planes being shot.....very nice. There were a few disappointments, one being wingman commands....they are very limited, and the limited amount of planes you can fly, I would have liked to fly a B-25 and drop 3000 lbs of bombs on a tiny island, overall its a outstanding game, 1 step above CFS Europe. Also, I bought my first FS software to fly the number one freeware aircraft simulator on the Internet - The TR-3B Flying Triangle. I flew fighters for the Air Force in late Vietnam, specifically the F-111 and am rated commercial also. The TR-3B Flight Simulator for Microsoft's Flight Sim, is based on the writings, lectures, and TV interviews of Edgar Fouche who wrote "Alien Rapture." (See amazon) Why? This is what the genius who developed it wrote: "For the experienced flight simmer on FS2002 PRO, I have developed this complete exotic amphibian TR-3B package, which is now available as freeware for download. It includes 3 models - the purple Astra, blue Locust and white Hellas - and as an extra 4th model the TR-3X with its own speedy attacker flight dynamics. The package includes TR-3B panel & gauges, noise cancellation sounds, fsuipc and special lights effects. This TR-3B is a heavy tactical reconnaissance aircraft equipped with a magnetic field disruptor that reduces the weight by 89 percent (it is not the same as anti-gravity, though). It has been created for Microsoft Flight Simulator. All gauges are included. The TR-3B can float like a speedboat at Mach 1.5 over water, fly like a heavy helicopter, like a bush plane, a business jet, like a military jet and lift like a rocket. Cruise speed is approx Mach 4.7 at FL340 and above, and approx Mach 2 at sea level. Service ceiling approx 69,000 feet ASL. Super stable. FSFREEWARE, SURCLARO, FSPLANET aircraft simulator sites have reported as many as 5000 downloads in one week! I searched and read many many web pages about his book and the author, Edgar Fouche including; startfinish(put in the dot com.)biz/wise Click on links for Fouche and Flying Triangle. You will find his full presentation, and the download links for the TR-3B. Get the Great TR-3B Top Secret aircraft simulator and X-Plane, which I highly recommend.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent WWII Flight Sim
Review: First the problems. You DO need a fairly powerful computer to play this game, otherwise it's jerky. The ships don't do anything but put up AA fire. They don't attack each other. Some ships, like the transports, don't follow the rest of the ships in their group. The lack of torpedos on player aircraft is unrealistic, as are the bomb loads.
On the other hand. The graphics are outstanding. The planes are very realistic in look and performance. I'm a real WWII Pacific Theatre buff and especially like the way that the F4U Corsair performs. When you roll to the right and dive away from a Zero you usually can outrun them, just like in real life. The locations, Midway, Henderson Field, etc. are also very well done.
After a couple of weeks I started using the included Mission Builder to create my own missions. Some are based on historical events, like my "Remember Pearl Harbor" mission. Others are just major fleet, air engagements. The Mission Builder should ensure that you don't get bored after beating both the single missions and the campaign missions.
Whether you like to fly US or Japanese aircraft, you'll like this game.
I highly recommend playing this game with a force feedback stick, like the Microsoft Force Feedback 2. I also recommend at least a P2 or equivalent processor at 550mHz or higher, and at least 128megs of RAM.
Personally, I think this game could be even better if Microsoft issued a supplemental update to correct a few of the realism problems (no torpedos, bomb loads). With those things fixed, I'd give this game 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Waste of Paper
Review: Unless you own FS2000 or FS2002 this book is junk, and I mean that literally. The author does not even use the CFS2 key codes but in some esoteric fit of idiocy he decided that the so called FS "standard" keys would be his reference. CFS2 manual which has to be printed from the disk is 196 pages of your ink and paper long. Nowhere is there a complete list of key codes, just two partial lists, one long one short. It's a waste of time, and this book recomended by MS is also. Typical of MS, absolutely typical. The operation of all their software has to be a big secret! Don't waste the money.
Rating: 
Summary: Good fun for its time
Review: I bought CFS2 when it first came out, and it has given me much pleasure over the years. It remains my favorite of the CFS series, with good graphics and an enjoyable player interface. Runs well too, especially on today's computers. There are a host of free and commercial add-ons that enhance every aspect of the game. I have to say that since the advent of IL-2, it has been outclassed as a combat flight sim, but it can still offer the user a lot of enjoyment.
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