OK, Air Warrior III is much like Air Warrior II; the flight models don’t seem to have changed all that much, the cockpits are very similar, and 300 of the single player missions are direct lifts from the earlier game. But the enhancements are major ones: most significantly, AWIII supports 3D acceleration. It’s no secret that Air Warrior II, though highly esteemed for its realism, had fallen way behind the graphics curve. No more. Under 3D acceleration the game runs smoothly and looks just great. Terrain and enemy planes at close quarters are very well-drawn, and explosions are big ugly things. No longer do the game’s graphics detract from the flight model’s realism. And speaking of added realism, AWIII also supports force feedback. If you’ve been waiting for a reason to buy a FF joystick, this game will give you one. Wrestling these planes around the sky and trying to maintain a bead while your machine gun’s recoil has your ship bouncing around is a riot, and takes the game to a whole new level. Even more remarkably , the force feedback effects feel different for different planes—some are harder to coax out of a dive, some feel the recoil of their machine guns and cannons more forcefully. The game also includes 150 new single-player missions and a useful mission editor, so you can get plenty of practice before entering the online arena.

Air Warrior allows you to fly almost fifty planes from World Wars I and II and the Korean Conflict. While it’s nice to have this kind of historical coverage, the game is clearly focused on World War II air combat, and the flight models for the other periods—especially the World War I planes—don’t seem as well-wrought. A substitute for Flying Corps Gold this ain’t. The flight models for the WWII planes, however, are exquisite. Some planes are built for zoom and boom, some for dogfights, some are turners, some climbers; some take a lot of damage, some are very fragile—learning the strengths and weaknesses of your ride is essential in this game, and if you try to fly a Zero like a Wildcat, you will neither live long nor prosper. Unfortunately, the realism of the flight models leads to a lack of variety in plane choice when you fly online—I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone flying a Yak (which is probably understandable) and you’ll find that in the online arena almost all combats take place at less than 10,000 feet—most at less than 1,000, I’d wager. This means that high-performance high-altitude planes like FW 190s and P-51s aren’t very good choices if you plan to reach retirement age. Most players stick to Spitfires and 109s and P-38s in the European arena, and while this is probably good for one’s score, it also bespeaks a certain lack of imagination.

But online Air Warrior is a world unto itself, and a thoroughly enjoyable one at that. Unlike many online games, the emphasis is not just on flying around looking for random dogfights. Rather you’re assigned to one of three air forces, and the game consists of helping your side take other airbases and destroy other planes while living through it all. Teamwork is essential, and the side that communicates most effectively is the side that does best. Flying with a wingman will work wonders for your life expectancy, and bombers that recruit fighter escort before their runs will have a much higher probability of completing their missions. However, communication can be an unwieldy affair--especially in flight--and using the awkward keyboard commands to type messages can lead to ugly results. Fortunately, Air Warrior III now has a network speech option; and all it takes is a mike and a sound card. Up to sixteen pilots can be on any one channel, and it goes without saying that this can give you a real advantage in combat.

OK; that’s the upside to the game—it looks great, has terrific flight models, is a deep online experience, and has a high fun factor. The downside is that it’s much more difficult to learn that it should be. While the game does make some concessions to new pilots—there’s a new pilots arena available, as well as a very useful and informative (though not very conspicuous) online guide to planes that gives advice on a plane’s qualities and how to exploit them—the game is not very newbie-friendly. Don’t expect hints on how to dogfight or fly—if you don’t know an elevator from an aileron or a stall from a split-s, you won’t after you read the manual, either. Adding to a beginner’s difficulties is the clumsy, counter-intuitive interface; want to turn on your dive-bomb sight? Just hit esc+s+d. Ugh. Of course, you can help yourself out a lot by programming your joystick for the most commonly-used commands, but it’s till an inexcusably awkward interface. The manual, while extensive, is poorly organized, gives no historical background, and is written about as invitingly as an army training manual. All of this is a shame, since the online players are uniformly helpful. Ask a stupid question, and you’ll get a friendly and informative answer. Air Warrior players, especially the oldtimers, have a rare though not exclusive camaraderie; they like new players because they believe fervently in the greatness of their game, and want to spread the word. Of course, they also like them because they’re easy to shoot down.

The final word on Air Warrior is that it’s a great game that deserves to be played by wider audience; unfortunately, it doesn’t really reach out to new players. It’s as if Interactive Magic decided that the game would preach only to the converted, and that’s too bad. If you’re an Air Warrior II buff, get a 3D card and get this game. If you are unfamiliar with Air Warrior, but like air combat sims and are willing to suffer a steep leaning curve, I recommend this game heartily. But if you just want to jump in and have some fun, this game will definitely and unnecessarily try your patience.