Air Warrior III (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.3 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Alan Dunkin
• Reviewed on: 02/19/1998
• Updated on: 04/29/2000
• Released on: 11/30/1997
• Originally published on GameSpot: Air Warrior III (PC) Review

A long time ago, Kesmai introduced one of the very first fully graphical online games, a World War II-based flight simulation called Air Warrior. After numerous revisions throughout the years, Air Warrior II, the culmination of literally hundreds of thousands of dollars of research, was produced by Interactive Magic in conjunction with Kesmai Studios. Air Warrior II not only let you fly online, but offline as well, with over 300 missions and campaigns to accompany the smooth but still-dated graphics and realistic flight models. You could now spend hundreds of hours practicing and flying offline without ever having to spend a dime.

Now Interactive Magic has released Air Warrior III, which continues to add even more to the Air Warrior series. In continuing with today's trend towards 3D acceleration, Air Warrior III features Direct3D graphics and the ability to download new textures. Also included in the new version are force-feedback support, several new aircraft, and new Pacific-area campaigns. All of the original scenarios from Air Warrior II are here, plus an extra 150 or so, to make a total of over 450 independently playable missions. And that's not including online play with hundreds of other players in free-for-all arenas or historical scenarios with 49 different types of realistically modeled aircraft.

Unfortunately the feel of a full product is just not present. The problem is that Air Warrior is an online game first and foremost (and a fairly decent one at that), but the offline air combat flight is a noticeably distant second. You still have the feeling that the offline scenarios were merely tacked on as an afterthought. Over 450 afterthoughts, in fact, if you don't count the campaigns. The fact that Air Warrior III is built as an online game is apparent as soon as you jump into the cockpit; everything in the game engine is built around providing the pilot with information in the most simplistic and understandable way.

Everything is built around the idea that you are going to fly online. Yet you have to deal with some conventions offline as a result: funky aircraft IDs, the annoying "periscope" view (though this can be changed easily), hit bubbles, and the unmistakable feeling that you are alone despite the fact that you may be flying in formation with an entire squadron. And the way the key commands are set up makes you wonder if you're flying a flight simulation or playing an adventure game.

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