European Air War (Windows)

Discuss Review + Want + Have Contribute

Description

European Air War is an action based flight-sim which features 20 flyable aircraft: On the American side, P-51 (B, D), P-38 (H, J), P47 (C, D); For the RAF, the Spitfire (I-A, IX-C, XIV-E), Hurricane (I), Typhoon (IB), and Tempest (V); and for the Luftwaffe, the Bf-109 (E-4, G-6, K-4), Bf-110 (G-2, C-4), FW-190 (D-9, A-8), and Me262 (A1). Also, the game features several non-flyable aircraft: B-17 (F, G), B-24, B-26, Mosquito, Ju-88, He-111, Ju-87 Stuka, and Me410!

The game is meticulously detailed. The physics of flying are accurately modeled, the markings on the planes are historically accurate, and the map takes into account the curvature of the earth.

Your wingmen speak German if you fly for the Luftwaffe, and speak with an English or American accent if you fly for the RAF or US. When you play a "career", the choices of units to fly in are actual historical units and you will attack the same targets they attacked. Your unit will even refit with new types of aircraft when they did historically (P-51B to P-51D, for example)!

The game is highly customizable. You can turn on or off: wind, stalls, the torque effect on single-engine planes, black/red out, engine overheating, structural limits, mid air collision, etc.

You can attack tanks, trains carrying guns and tanks, ships (freighters and destroyers!), halftrack/car convoys, and lots of other types of ground targets. Pretty much everything can shoot back.

It also features several newsreels that show familiar black & white footage from WWII documentaries, complete with narration.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Alternate Titles

• "EAW" -- Common abbreviation

Part of the Following Groups

• Aircraft: Focke-Wulf Fw 190
• Aircraft: Hawker Hurricane
• Aircraft: Hawker Tempest
• Aircraft: Hawker Typhoon
• Aircraft: Messerschmitt Bf 109
• Aircraft: Messerschmitt Bf 110
• Aircraft: Messerschmitt Me 262
• Aircraft: P-38 Lightning
• Aircraft: P-47 Thunderbolt
• Aircraft: P-51 Mustang
• Aircraft: Supermarine Spitfire

User Reviews

Solid, yet linear...	Quackbal (51)
Immersion	Vegar Vatne (5)
If only SWOTL had these graphics...	Raphael (1261)

Critic Reviews

NUKE Computer Gaming	2001	9.5 out of 10	95
Gameplay (Benelux)	Nov 30, 1998	91 out of 100	91
Power Play	Nov, 1998	86 out of 100	86
PC Joker	Oct, 1998	85 out of 100	85
Gamesmania.de	1998	85 out of 100	85
Jeuxvideo.com	Nov 09, 1998	17 out of 20	85
GameStar (Germany)	Nov, 1998	84 out of 100	84
PC Action (Germany)	Nov, 1998	84 out of 100	84
Power Unlimited	Oct, 1998	8.3 out of 10	83
Svenska PC Gamer	Jan, 1999	80 out of 100	80

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
Behind the Scenes: Cool Cam	1	Shoddyan (14411) Aug 17, 2007

Trivia

Development

During the development process, the game was nearly cancelled many times, when half of the team and the head producer quit during the "great exodus" of MicroProse in 1996. The remaining team faced tough questions regarding every obvious bug, such as "wings falling off of planes after shooting guns", "planes crashing into ground will fly into outer space" and such infamous bugs. When a new programmer is recruited into the team, you'd thought the programmer would start squashing the bugs. Instead, the programmer went on to program a "CoolCam" feature, that will randomly pick out a dogfight, a flaming wreck going down to the ground, a B-17 dropping bombs, and so on and so forth. The existing team said nothing, as it's likely the project was doomed. So at the next weekly meeting, instead of answering the tough questions the management has, the new programmer levelled the plane, and hit the CoolCam button. The management is captivated, but kept asking the question. The team hemmed and hawed, deflecting the question. The next question went completely unanswered as everybody was captivated by the CoolCam focusing on various actions around the player's plane.

Subsequent weekly meetings became much easier as the management became less critical and more encouraging. The game eventually was released in 1998, and received high praises from all segments. All because one new programmer saw the need for the one missing feature nobody else saw: the CoolCam.

A link to the article "The Cool Cam", which is the basis of this information, can be found in the related links section.

German version

The German version of this game was changed: All swastika markings on the German planes have been removed. This change can be reversed by applying the US-version patch to an installation of the German version.

Mods

Fans of the game have created mods for the terrain textures and plane textures. You can now fly planes marked like the famous squadrons, such as the 357th. Terrain patches will let you simulate winter, spring, or fall colors.

Awards

• Computer Gaming World
  • April 1999 (Issue #177) – Best Simulation of the Year

Information also contributed by Kasey Chang and NGC 5194

Related Web Sites

• Aces Rising (Fan site offering many plane skins and other upgrades for EAW)
• Charles' EAW and SF Website (Fan site containing new and modified aircraft, and other add-ons and utilities, for use with EAW and SF)
• "EAW Dispersal Site" by Scott 'Flying Sheep' Harper (Fan site offering modified aircraft skins, 3DZ models and add-ons)
• EAW - Tally Ho (Large website offering EAW related material)
• max188's European Air War Add-ons (Hi-res terrain, airfields, sky files, smoke & fire effects, and other mods for EAW)
• Migge's EAW Pages (EAW Archive) (Fan site offering many plane skins)
• The Daily WTF: The Cool Cam (An article about the game's development)
• vonOben's Flight Sim Mods (Fan site offering plane skins and various add-ons for EAW)