Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Future Games Show
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
    • Newsletters
    • Total Film
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsarama
Total Film
  • home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Future Games Show
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • View Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
    • Newsletters
    • Total Film
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsarama
Total Film
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
Subscribe now
Trending
  • Dying Light: The Beast
  • Borderlands 4 review
  • Battlefield 6
  • New Games for 2025
Don't miss these
Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War 4 screenshot showing armored orcs surrounded by the Autumn preview GamesRadar+ banner
Real Time Strategy Games Help me, Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 4 is so good I've been replaying the same mission for 3 hours and pestering its devs who have "been studying the blade and bolter"
Hell Let Loose: Vietnam screenshot shows someone holding a gun, running behind two other soldiers.
FPS Games Hell Let Loose: Vietnam devs say their new shooter isn't a replacement for the OG World War 2 game, and don't want fans to "feel like we've abandoned them in any way"
Wild Blue at the Future Games Show
Action Games Get ready to blast off in Wild Blue, a reimagining of classic on-rail adventures from the '90s
An old monk in The Blood of Dawnwalker
RPGs Former Witcher 3 devs behind The Blood of Dawnwalker want the vampire RPG to set "a new standard" for the genre with a "hybrid" combat system influenced by Batman: Arkham Asylum, For Honor, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance
 Battlefield Bad Company screenshot with two soldiers, one of which is pointing out a target to the second
Battlefield Battlefield 6 multiplayer is taking inspiration from Bad Company 2, but I hope its single player campaign looks further back to the series' best story
Chip 'n Clawz vs. The Brainoids alien and machine factory designs
Strategy Games 31 years later, XCOM creator Julian Gollop says strategy games are still "where my heart lies" and he wants to make them "more accessible and immersive" – his latest attempt is out today with co-op and Pikmin vibes
A mech firing a machine gun in the desert in Menace
Strategy Games Menace is an XCOM-Warhammer hybrid that makes turn-based strategy feel like an immersive sim, and for the first time in my life I'm playing a game that seems made for me
A soldier in a jungle setting and a bandana in Call of Duty: Black Ops
Call of Duty Cancelled Call of Duty: Fog of War would have had you playing hide and seek with a B52 bomber crashing in "a scary version of Vietnam"
Black Ops 7 new screenshot
Call of Duty Black Ops 7 is fighting franchise fatigue in the most unexpected of ways with an ambitious co-op adventure which Treyarch believes can "redefine what campaign can be in Call of Duty"
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 trailer featuring space marine helmet
Real Time Strategy Games "RTS will not be the big genre again," Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 lead predicts, but it can still be a big niche: "RTS won't kick shooters from the top of the food chain anytime soon, but that's fine, right?"
Toxic Commando screenshot with GamesRadar+ Autumn Preview 2025 frame
FPS Games Left 4 Dead has held the horde shooter crown for 17 years, but John Carpenter's Toxic Commando is the best challenger yet
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 gameplay showing
FPS Games Warhammer 40K: Boltgun 2 devs reveal what to expect from the Imperium's answer to Doom, and here's a spoiler: "More explosions, more blood, and more gore"
Hell Let Loose Vietnam
FPS Games Hell Let Loose Vietnam "isn't just about the new theatre of war", creative director says, "we're introducing a bunch of new mechanics that really push the boundaries"
Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era artwork showing a beautiful fantasy city
Strategy Games Playing Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era has turned me into a Dungeon devotee, and I can't help but feel like I'm already seeing a strategy classic in the making
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle screenshot of Indiana
Adventure Games Indiana Jones and the Great Circle director says gameplay has been one of the most "challenging aspects" of development because even Wolfenstein was "very linear"
  1. Gaming

Combat Wings Making World War II more like Wing Commander

Features
By Tyler_ Nagata published 21 September 2011

We take the Great Battles of WWII for a test flight

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Page 1 of 24
Page 1 of 24

Page 2 of 24
Page 2 of 24

Page 3 of 24
Page 3 of 24

Page 4 of 24
Page 4 of 24

Page 5 of 24
Page 5 of 24

Page 6 of 24
Page 6 of 24

Page 7 of 24
Page 7 of 24

Page 8 of 24
Page 8 of 24

Page 9 of 24
Page 9 of 24

Page 10 of 24
Page 10 of 24

Page 11 of 24
Page 11 of 24

Page 12 of 24
Page 12 of 24

Page 13 of 24
Page 13 of 24

Page 14 of 24
Page 14 of 24

Page 15 of 24
Page 15 of 24

Page 16 of 24
Page 16 of 24

Page 17 of 24
Page 17 of 24

Page 18 of 24
Page 18 of 24

Page 19 of 24
Page 19 of 24

Page 20 of 24
Page 20 of 24

Page 21 of 24
Page 21 of 24

Page 22 of 24
Page 22 of 24

Page 23 of 24
Page 23 of 24

Page 24 of 24
Page 24 of 24
Tyler_ Nagata

It may feel like World War II games have been done to death, but City Interactive hopes to breathe new life into the crowded space of games covering the conflict between the Allies and the Axis by capturing the essence of what makes flying fun – and for creative director Jakub Majewski, that means making Combat Wings: The Great Battles of World War II more like Wing Commander…

“It was a very different kind of air combat compared to what we have today. The normal range at which you really wanted to open fire was at fifteen meters. So it was much more intense,” explains Majewski. In fact, close quarter air combat in World War II meant that sometimes, pilots would actually see the faces of the people they were trying to gun down out of the sky.

And that’s where Wing Commander comes into play for Majewski. “I remember, especially from the 1990s, the Wing Commander series, which everybody says was basically World War II in space. The combat there was really close. Not only could you crash into enemies, but you could also get really close to them and shoot them when their planes were taking up half the screen.” Majewski doesn’t like the way that air combat titles have turned into a game of chasing dots across the screen. He wants air combat to feel real, up close, and personal – the way it was in World War II – and the way it was during the halcyon days of flightsticks, keyboard, and Wing Commander.

You may like
  • Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War 4 screenshot showing armored orcs surrounded by the Autumn preview GamesRadar+ banner Help me, Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 4 is so good I've been replaying the same mission for 3 hours and pestering its devs who have "been studying the blade and bolter"
  • Hell Let Loose: Vietnam screenshot shows someone holding a gun, running behind two other soldiers. Hell Let Loose: Vietnam devs say their new shooter isn't a replacement for the OG World War 2 game, and don't want fans to "feel like we've abandoned them in any way"
  • Wild Blue at the Future Games Show Get ready to blast off in Wild Blue, a reimagining of classic on-rail adventures from the '90s

You can see what City Interactive is aiming for when using the Ace Mode feature. Activate it, and it’ll give you a helping hand with aiming, helping you gun down enemy fighters left and right. Your Ace Mode won’t last forever, of course; it regenerates slowly over time. But when used in quick controlled bursts, it’ll be your best friend when flying through skies littered with planes gunning at you from all angles.

But the honeymoon ended once we started sampling Combat Wings’ other mission types that veered away from plane-on-plane violence. Although dog fighting felt fun throughout our time with an early build, a bombing mission we ran felt surprisingly imprecise and unforgiving, resulting in frequent failures and crashes. The precision required for bombing felt awkward and was especially frustrating after tasting the title’s more forgiving and arcadey air battles. Another frustrating mission found us trying to fend off enemy fighter planes in a slow bomber while desperately trying to land the clunky plane on a runway in the forest.

City Interactive is aiming for a release before the end of the year – and if the studio can make bombing runs and landing as fun as air combat (or at the very least, less painful), we think it’ll have the chance to shape up into a decent flight game that sits a little more on the arcadey action side of the World War II game fence. The game will release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 (with Move support), PC, and Wii. Of course, the screenshots on show in the gallery below are more indicative of what you can expect from the 360, PS3, and PC version.

Sep 20, 2011

See more Gaming Features
Read more
Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War 4 screenshot showing armored orcs surrounded by the Autumn preview GamesRadar+ banner
Help me, Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 4 is so good I've been replaying the same mission for 3 hours and pestering its devs who have "been studying the blade and bolter"
 
 
Hell Let Loose: Vietnam screenshot shows someone holding a gun, running behind two other soldiers.
Hell Let Loose: Vietnam devs say their new shooter isn't a replacement for the OG World War 2 game, and don't want fans to "feel like we've abandoned them in any way"
 
 
Wild Blue at the Future Games Show
Get ready to blast off in Wild Blue, a reimagining of classic on-rail adventures from the '90s
 
 
An old monk in The Blood of Dawnwalker
Former Witcher 3 devs behind The Blood of Dawnwalker want the vampire RPG to set "a new standard" for the genre with a "hybrid" combat system influenced by Batman: Arkham Asylum, For Honor, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance
 
 
 Battlefield Bad Company screenshot with two soldiers, one of which is pointing out a target to the second
Battlefield 6 multiplayer is taking inspiration from Bad Company 2, but I hope its single player campaign looks further back to the series' best story
 
 
Chip 'n Clawz vs. The Brainoids alien and machine factory designs
31 years later, XCOM creator Julian Gollop says strategy games are still "where my heart lies" and he wants to make them "more accessible and immersive" – his latest attempt is out today with co-op and Pikmin vibes
 
 
Latest in Gaming
Playseat Challenge X set up on a carpet
Playseat Challenge X review: "An excellent option for living room racers"
 
 
Dreams
Holiday Long Read: Edge magazine in conversation with Dreams developer Media Molecule
 
 
The latest cover of Edge, which features Star Wars: Outlaws
Star Wars: Outlaws will be all about “what ‘open world’ means to the player”
 
 
Visceral's Star Wars game: What we knew before it was canceled
 
 
Atomic Heart
Atomic Heart review: "A messy game with big ideas that are in desperate need of refinement"
 
 
Forspoken screenshot
Forspoken review: "An exceptionally middling experience"
 
 
Latest in Features
Man of Tomorrow concept art showing Superman and Lex Luthor teaming up superimposed over a group of heroes from the cover of Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?
Almost 90 years after Superman was first called the Man of Tomorrow, James Gunn is reviving the name for his big sequel
 
 
Pokemon Pokopia screenshot showing Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle all gathered around a Ditto in human form between two green trees
Pokemon Pokopia: everything we know about the Pokemon game that looks a lot like Animal Crossing
 
 
A taurus-shaped robotic figure with flaming innards, against a dark background with rocks visible
Helsmiths of Hashut review: Fear this new Warhammer Age of Sigmar army, because it's gonna kick ass
 
 
A screenshot of the upcoming Switch 2 game, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave with a character using a purple energy blast
Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave – Everything we know about the strategy game's Switch 2 debut
 
 
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
Downton Abbey helped me through the toughest times, but The Grand Finale feels like the perfect time to wrap things up
 
 
Upcoming video game movies: Mario, Princess Peach and Toad in The Super Mario Bros Movie.
Super Mario Galaxy Movie release date, cast, plot, and everything else you need to know about The Super Mario Bros. sequel
 
 
  1. Gwent: The Legendary Card Game box on a wooden surface, with cards visible in the background
    1
    There's now a real version of the Witcher Gwent card game, and it's just as engrossing as the original
  2. 2
    Borderlands 4 review: "Undeniably an excellent looter shooter, but one that requires a bit of tunnel vision to fully enjoy"
  3. 3
    This enormous exploration board game won't be for everyone, but it's a masterclass in narrative and sandbox gameplay
  4. 4
    Hollow Knight Silksong review: "Worth the wait and then some, this isn't just more Hollow Knight but an evolved, spindly beast all its own – even if it's fiddly at times"
  5. 5
    Cronos: The New Dawn review: "An unabashed mash-up of survival horror greatest hits, from Dead Space to Silent Hill, with plenty of its own gory ideas"
  1. Vera Farmiga as 'Lorraine' in The Conjuring: Last Rites
    1
    The Conjuring: Last Rites review: "Not bold or memorable enough for the Warrens' final chapter"
  2. 2
    Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle review: "Roars past Mugen Train as Demon Slayer's best adventure yet"
  3. 3
    The Long Walk review: "One of the best Stephen King adaptations ever made"
  4. 4
    Frankenstein review: "A classy, if somewhat safe, adaptation"
  5. 5
    Weapons review: "A twisted fairytale that bests Barbarian"
  1. Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams, Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams, Luis Guzman as Gomez Addams, and Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley Addams in Wednesday season 2 part 2
    1
    Wednesday season 2 part 2 review: "Ortega shines, but it's a zombie who steals the entire show"
  2. 2
    Peacemaker season 2 review: "Darker and sadder than the first year, but there's still a lot of fun to be had with the 11th Street Kids."
  3. 3
    Wednesday season 2 part 1 review: "Complex and exciting but weighed down by too many subplots"
  4. 4
    Alien: Earth review: "Arguably the franchise's strongest outing since James Cameron's Aliens"
  5. 5
    King of the Hill season 14 review: "Hank Hill himself has evolved into a much more open and accepting person"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...