It's been years since I've played Aces over Europe, but the one thing I remember the most about this game is how realistic it seemed to me at the time. The graphics were cutting edge, sure, but the realism for me was the attention to the history of the time. "Crossbow Mission" was a mission that was an Allied mission against V1 rocket launcher sights. "Crossbow" was the historical name of the British committee on the threats of rocket type weapons against Great Britain. This little known historical fact, among others, permeates this game, showing an attention to detail, story, and depth that many games these days lack.
It's been years since I've played Aces over Europe, but the one thing I remember the most about this game is how realistic it seemed to me at the time. The graphics were cutting edge, sure, but the realism for me was the attention to the history of the time. "Crossbow Mission" was a mission that was an Allied mission against V1 rocket launcher sights. "Crossbow" was the historical name of the British committee on the threats of rocket type weapons against Great Britain. This little known historical fact, among others, permeates this game, showing an attention to detail, story, and depth that many games these days lack.
The flight models were revolutionary for their time. The ME 109, while maneuverable, was as flimsy and
lacking in punch as history shows. The ME-262 was fast and hard hitting, yet very sluggish to control, yet again, as shown by history. Above all, the realism of coming upon a formation of bombers who then lit you up like a Christmas tree has yet to be repeated by any game.
The methods of rewarding your efforts, medals and other awards for heroism and whatnot are reminiscent yet again of the depth that was devoted to the development of the game. Today's games are all glamour and glitz but very little depth. Today's medals are for random kills and etc... This game awarded consistent successes, numbers of kills, how many wingmen survived, and etc... Oh if only other games would still include this much depth of development.
My most vivid memory, however, was the manual for Aces over Europe. This manual, in and of itself, was a virtual history book of the air war over Europe. Different air battles were catalogued, photos were available to show the reality of the war in Europe and the men, women, and equipment involved. The manual also included many different portions involving air to air tactics, as well as air to ground tactics. This manual, could have, not only acted as a history book, but almost as a limited training manual for future generations of pilots. When I joined the USAF I found that I was drawing back on the memories of the tactics involved in playing Aces over Europe to be able to make the correct moves while flying a T-38 Talon trainer over the deserts of Texas and Oklahoma.
It amazes me that today's games don't put as much depth into development of history as before... Maybe the developers could learn a lesson from yesterday's generation and realize that there's more to a game than just cool graphics and realistic flight models. Bring a depth to the games again that draw the gamers in.
