by Chris “BeachAV8R” Frishmuth
In the interest of fair disclosure, a reminder SimHQ Staffer Scott “Blade 124” Gentile is an employee of Shockwave Productions. Scott did not provide any editing or content regarding this review.
When I was initially contacted to write a review for the newly released Wings of Power II, I have to admit I wasn’t sure if I was the right reviewer for the job. I’m a self-admitted “jet guy”, and while I’ve played many prop sims my heart has always been in the go-fast camp. Imagine my surprise though when I loaded up the aircraft in Wings of Power II and found myself completely enamored with a bit of old school flying in these classic aircraft from World War II.
Wings of Power II is the follow-on product that brings together many of the superbly modeled aircraft in theWings of Power series. In this package you will get to experience the joy and challenge of flying the All-Stars of WWII fighter combat:
- Republic P-47D-20 “Thunderbolt”
- North American P-51D “Mustang”
- Messerschmitt Bf109 E4 “Emil”
- Mitsubishi A6M5 “Zero”
- Supermarine “Spitfire” Mk 1a
The retail package contains a CD-ROM and three superbly detailed 17” x 14” foldout data and checklist sheets for each of the aircraft. I have to confess to being excited at the prospect of actual printed documentation coming with a product these days; and these sheets are very nice! The foldout sheets contain detailed guides to the cockpit layouts, general history, performance figures and recommended checklist procedures. They are printed on heavy stock, glossy paper and are a very nice addition to the package. I was surprised to find however that the sheets are all the guidance you are going to receive; despite my searching the CD and directories, I could not find PDF files that had expanded information. The levels of detail to which these aircraft are modeled almost beg for more instructional and educational material.
Installation is quick and painless. One interesting thing is that the installation menu gives you the option of installing to FS2004 or the yet to be released FSX. With development on FSX continuing I would be interested to see if this package integrates seamlessly with the future Microsoft release or if patching will be required. An important note during the installation process reminds you that in order to benefit fully from the realism of these aircraft you must setup your FS2004 realism settings to allow for maximum flight fidelity.