Wings over Vietnam

[deSelys]

Prologue:

Soooo I wanted to come back to AH2... I downloaded the latest version, shook the dust off my hotas and gave it a spin offline. The game sure looks nice and the new skins and cockpits are gorgeous. I enjoyed making touch-and-go's on the carrier with the Me-262 and doing other silly stunts but I quickly realized that a nasty bug would ruin my online flying: every hour or so, the game locks up pretty badly, forcing me to hard-reboot my computer 

So I decided to wait a bit until next patch but the flight sim itch was back with a vengeance and I had to do something else in the meantime. Having just re-read Paul Gillcrist's 'Feet Wet' for the Nth time, I looked for a Nam jet sim and found this jewel.

The sim:

It's really easy to find as you can buy it online (29.99$) and download it directly from the website. The transaction happens on a securized Paypal page and it went without a hiccup for me.

Installation and configuration are also pretty straightforward (multiple controllers are supported)

In a nutshell, the good and the not-so-good:

Pluses:

- planes are very well modelled graphically, lots of realistically moving parts, historically correct (AFAIK) loadouts, nice cockpits
- no need to have a couple of PhDs to be able to use the avionics in 'hard' mode, not overly simplistic though
- huge choice of flyable planes: F-4 (different models), A-4 (different models), A-6, F-100, F-105, F-8, A-7 (2 models). I have found an abandoned official mod (copyright problem with Lockheed apparently) for the F-104 too.
- 3 nice campaigns (Rolling Thunder, Linebacker I & II) covering the entire war, you chose to fly for USAF, USN or USMC then you pick up one of the 6-10 available squadrons, non-scripted missions with LOTS of plane in the air at the same time...
- nice impression of speed, it's damn hard to see the enemy at those speed/distances, dogfights will give you a sweat with those primitive radars and unreliable missiles.
- Air to ground is said to be good too, I haven't tried it yet as I'm mostly flying air cover and fighter sweeps missions in the campaign I've started
- decent flight model / fuel consumption in the 'hard' mode
- nice graphics, runs well on old computers (even with mirrors activated)
- USN carriers
- multiplayer allows you to fly the MIGs (17, 19 and 21) albeit with an A4 cockpit
- lots of new planes, skins, mods and guides available on the web

Minuses

- flight model is a bit 'light': the planes bleed E nicely in turns but stalls and spins are never violent nor vicious. Landings are a bit too forgiving IMO. But you can bring the plane nicely on the ground if you don't rush the approach.
- no air-to-air refueling
- carriers are not moving
- AI isn't very bright (for both sides)
- manual is lacking (fortunately guides by players are available)


This being said, the immersion is excellent and the dogfights are intense. I highly recommend it.

[Wanker]

I enjoy the dogfights in WoV, too. I like that period of jet combat, because it doesn't take 200 page manual to use the Hud. As you say deSelys, it is a bit light on the physics, but I still enjoy the fun of the fights!

[deSelys]

A short update:

- I was wrong with the carriers, they are moving with this service pack.
- landing on the carriers is much harder than in AH2. You need to come down with a nose up attitude and fly with instruments as you don't see the carrier in front of you (unless you cheat and remove the cockpit). The carrier lacks a Fresnel lens (or a LSO on the radio) to guide you on the glide slope, tho. I usually need to bolter 3-4 times before being able to trap correctly, and I still crash too regularly to my liking.
- F-8 and A-6 are hawt!