textfiles/games/REVIEWS/btlhawks.rev

 BATTLEHAWKS 1942 

 Before the days of afterburners and heat-seeking missiles, there
were propeller-driven aircraft with manually-aimed weaponry. This is
the world that Lucasfilm's BATTLEHAWKS 1942 brings to life in its
fairly realistic simulation of World War II naval air combat. (This
review is based on the IBM PC version.) 

 Game documentation presents the history of the "carrier war" to
help explain the player's role in each mission. There were four
combat squadrons on each carrier. Dive bombers and torpedo bombers
were the attack planes. Their mission was to destroy enemy
carriers, battleships, and support ships. Combat Air Patrol (CAP) 
were fighters assigned to defend the carrier and other ships in the
task force from air attack. Fighter escorts defended attack planes
from the enemy's CAP. 

 The American planes in BATTLEHAWKS 1942 include the F4F "Wildcat" 
fighter, the SDB "Dauntless" dive bomber, and the TBF "Avenger" 
torpedo bomber. The Japanese aircraft are the A6M "Zeke" fighter, 
the D3A "Val" dive bomber, and the B5N "Kate" torpedo bomber. Each
of these planes had two or three differen models; the simulation
includes them for comparison of armament and flight performance. 

 There were four major carrier battles in 1942: Coral Sea, Midway, 
Eastern Solomons, and Santa Cruz Islands. BATTLEHAWKS 1942 provides
four scenarios from each of these battles. The player can fight for
either side, giving a total of 32 possible "active duty" missions. 
There are also 13 training missions that cover the basic tactics of
CAP, as well as escorting, dive bombing, and torpedo bombing. 

 The aircraft included in BATTLEHAWKS 1942 are simple to fly. Planes
can be controlled with the arrow keys, but not easily. This game has
a lot of fast action. I recommend a joystick. The throttle and
weapons fire buttons are basically the only controls used in
combat. There are forward, back, left, right, down, and scan views. 
Scan view lets you look 360 degrees around the plane and 90 degrees
up or down, one degree at a time. The joystick/arrow keys change the
view. A digital readout shows the angles of the view relative to the
nose of the aircraft. 

 Instruments include air-speed indicator, vertical velocity
indicator, RPM indicator, pitch/roll indicators, altimeter, 
compass, and fuel gauge. There are controls to raise and lower
landing gear, flaps, and (for the SDB Dauntless) dive brakes. The
attack planes have rear guns, which are activated by selecting the
rear view. 

 Two features make BATTLEHAWKS 1942 unique among air combat
simulators. A "camera" can take "movies" of battles, to be replayed
later. There are computer-controlled friendly planes to help you
battle foes in some of the scenarios. You can experience the action
by watching the "film" as well as by playing the game. 

 I tested BATTLEHAWKS 1942 on a GenTech 386/20 computer, with an
Everex EVGA graphics card, Mitsubishi Diamondscan monitor, and CH
Mach IV joystick. The game supports CGA, EGA, VGA, and MCGA
graphics; these are chosen from a menu or command line. My joystick
was automatically sensed and calibrated. At 20 MHz, the EGA graphics
were too fast, but VGA worked fine. 

 I found flying WWII airplanes an interesting change of pace from my
usual diet of jet fighter simulators. I began by flying the
intercept training missions with the F4F Wildcat. The F4F (and all
the American planes), even at full power, stalled easily when
subjected to a climb angle greater than 15 degrees. I needed about
ten training missions to learn aircraft performance characteristics
and to perfect my aerial gunnery skills. 

 BATTLEHAWKS 1942 keeps a roster of pilot statistics for active-duty
missions. I flew 16 active-duty missions as an American pilot, using
fighter and attack aircraft. I lost only one plane while shooting
down 77 and sinking two ships. Dive bombing was not very difficult, 
but torpedo bombing took a lot of practice. Pilots who survive 16
missions are retired. 

 I also tried active duty on the Japanese side. I expected to
accumulate an even greater number of kills, because the Japanese
planes perform better in turning radius and rate of climb. Was I in
for a surprise! The Japanese planes gained performance at the cost
of armor. In American planes, I would just wade in, guns blazing. 
The heavy American armor took a lot of punishment, and I usually
survived the exchange of gunfire. The Japanese planes lost their
performance advantage as they quickly sustained damage. My Japanese
pilot lost four planes and was killed on mission 15. 

 The lack of carrier takeoffs and landings in BATTLEHAWKS 1942
disappointed me. The planes are positioned at a set altitude at the
start of each mission. When the mission is over, a message appears
on the screen telling you to press "Q" to quit. 

 There is a very obtrusive anti-piracy measure in BATTLEHAWKS 1942. 
An aircraft recognition test -- showing various views of a Zero that
correspond to keywords in the program documentation -- appears at
the start of each mission. Flipping through the game manual to find
the proper keyword becomes quite tedious. This recognition test
should be used only at program start-up time. 

 Despite these drawbacks, I became addicted to the fast-paced action
of BATTLEHAWKS 1942. There were many times I found myself grinding
my teeth as I struggled to line up yet another plane for the
attack. Twitch/arcade players will love this game. Those who prefer
the "chess game" aspects of aerial combat would probably not enjoy
it as much. I liked it, but I'll probably be getting back to my F-16
and F-19 cockpits, just as soon as I knock out one more Zero.... 

 BATTLEHAWKS 1942 is published and distributed by ILM/Lucasfilm
Games. 

*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253