You know as I read all the good discussions going on here about whether Wings of War is a sim or just an arcade game, and whether it can be modded or patched into something more, I've got to just smile and relish in the positive turn of events that have transpired here in these past few weeks............we have a new WWI flight game to talk about, and to consider for purchase!
Now even though some may think WoW may fall well short of what they value in a simulated flight experience, we have all gained something with the release of this new game; the potential to attract new interest for our hobby and for this historical period of WWI combat aviation in particular.
As Tom Cofield noted in his recent SimHQ editorial
The Future of Our Genre, we need games (or sims if you prefer) just like Wings of War to revive this atrophied hobby of ours (especially for us interested mostly in the neglected era of WWI combat flight simulation)!
While we all wait now for KOE (revised), and Richthofen's Skies to make their way along their respective development cycles, we can now say we have a new, and fun, and perhaps excellent "introductory" WWI flight game to bring more interest (and folks) back into our flight sim hobby in general.
In fact, I cannot think of a better "cover" for KOE to resume it's eventual development, than to have a fun game like Wings of War arrive to take up the call for WWI flight gammin', as we continue to wait for that "serious" WWI flight sim to come along.
Sure, we might see a realism patch or some mod tweaks come to ramp up the realism and challenge to WoW, but if they don't materialize we still have all gained just the same, for we've got something new and fresh to experience in a WWI flying game, a game which may serve as the perfect draw and introduction to this hobby of Great War flight simulation (and/or flight simming in general), and it'll all give us something to do while we wait for KOE, or RS, or even BoP to debut in the future.
The future is starting to look a lot brighter than it did just a few months ago in fact, and who would have thought we could mark renewed interest for us WWI flight sim fans from the unlikely bebut of a twenty dollar "arcade" game?
I could've never seen this comin', but now realize that beautiful things can come in unlikely packages, and for all it's potential flaws of maybe never "deserving" to be called a true WWI flight sim, the real beauty of Wings of War is that it has arrived perhaps just at the right time for our hobby.
Sometimes timing is everything!!!
