Secret Weapons Over Normandy

Flight Journal, Aug 2003 by James, Jeff

If you've been playing PC games and flight sims for a while, you're likely familiar with the award-winning WW II air-combat flight simulators produced by LucasArts and developer Totally Games during the last decade. Although most of these titles have faded into obscurity through the years, I still have fond memories of splashing Zeros in Battlehawks: 1942, defending the British Isles in Their Finest Hour and test-driving the German Reich's most advanced aircraft in Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe.

For years, fans have clamored for additional series installments that would take advantage of the latest PC and console hardware. Now, those prayers have been answered.

Just before presstime, LucasArts revealed that it has once again joined forces with Totally Games to create another WW II combat flight simulator: Secret Weapons Over Normandy (SWON). Like the original games in the series, the emphasis in SWON will be on story, character and atmosphere as much as on the planes themselves. Close to three dozen story-driven missions will span the Pacific, North African, Chinese, western and eastern European theaters. More than 20 combat aircraft will be modeled for play, with more aircraft being unlocked and made flyable as the player progresses through the game. Given the cross-platform nature of the game, dedicated PC flight-sim aficionados who look for intense flight model fidelity on the order of IL-2 Sturmovik and Combat Flight Simulator 3 may be disappointed, but the inclusion of a PC-specific mission editor should give PC owners some extra play features.

That said, those gamers who look forward to a story-driven flight experience-and the chance to revisit one of the most popular WW II air-combat franchises in recent memory-should keep their eyes peeled for more information on this one.