Fly With the Few in the Battle of Britain.

In a few short summer months--from July to September 1940--a colossal struggle occurred, its outcome determining the victor of what began as a European war, but emerged in history as World War II. Given the record of each of the combatants, the odds heavily favored the all-conquering German Goliath, with an air force, the Luftwaffe, that had not yet met its equal.

That campaign has been recreated in "The Battle of Britain," a sim that concentrates everything in those critical months into a game that captures, precisely, the true scale of this epic adventure.

From the developers of MiG Alley--Rowan Software--we have a battle re-creation that could well be rated as the "most realistic" air-war game yet released.

The RAF's finest hour allows you to be one of the special few to fly, fight and command a Spitfire or Hurricane high above the English countryside fighting hordes of ME-109's, ME-110's, and JU-87's. You can even try and change history by becoming a German pilot or commander, or, unbelievably, a gunner in a Dornier DO-17, Heinkel HE-1ll and Junker JU-88 bomber. The scope of the sky battle covers 800 square miles of England, with more than 1,200 aircraft in the sky at any one time, and you are in the middle of all of this.

There are three ways that you can play this sim--a campaign, a quick mission or a historical sortie, based on an actual engagement. In the campaign mode, you can select any one of four starting points to enter the air war: Attacks on British shipping in the English Channel, attacks on British radar installations, raids on factories and airfields, and finally the London "Blitz." You can view the battle as an overall commander utilizing authentic campaign maps or as a pilot.

Your quick missions take you from basic training to combat-formation flying and finally to dogfighting. Every mission is a recreation of a real engagement, until you reach Adler Tag (Eagle Day)--Sept. 15, 1940, still celebrated in England as Battle of Britain Day. Need more challenges? Multiplayer options for up to eight pilots are available via the internet.

Accuracy includes hi-res landscapes carefully portraying the English countryside, interactive virtual cockpits and an AI program that makes your enemy eager for combat and super-intelligent to boot. Even radio charter--in both English and German--adds a touch of realism to this great sim. Other key features include 28 specially designed missions, ranging from training, to familiarization flights, to actual historical engagements.

With accuracy foremost in their minds, the developers painstakingly have recreated all of the British RAF fighter stations, as well as the Tower of London, Trafalgat Square, Buckingham Palace, Parliament, Big Ben and Sr. Paul's Cathedral, just to mention a few historical landmarks. Add to this list of options realistic weather effects that can provide either safe refuge or deadly obstacles.

What if this is your very first flight sim, and you're a novice pilot? Never fear. The program will teach you how to start your engine, get up into the air, and--with a little luck--land safely.

This game is geared to help you run the gamut of emotional experiences and leave you in a sweat after an air-combat encounter with more enemy airplanes than you can handle.

The scope of the game is so realistic that you really understand Churchill's tribute to the Battle of Britain pilots. History records this struggle as the first setback that the German military juggernaut suffered up to that time, and it was those few pilots that made the difference.

A really significant feature of this sim is that you have the ability to "tweak" your setup screens. For example, there are two screens for adjusting your video settings. We recommend a joystick to get the most out of the games capabilities. The flight model can be set anywhere from arcade simplicity to the most challenging realistic sim plot that you can handle, such as airframe stress failure and manual propeller-pitch control.

You have, in this unique sim, a combination of a great combat-flight sim and a real-time, historical strategy game. Our advice is to take advantage of the opportunity to go on training flights in each of the aircraft depicted.

Each of the planes have quirks that you have to master. The ME-109 was notoriously dangerous to handle on the ground, and the Hurricane and Spitfire engines would falter in a negative G-maneuver (British carburetors are monsters, as those who ever have owned a British sports car know only too well). One of the unique features of this sim is the ability to play "what if," by flipping over to the German side and trying to reverse history.

Empire Interactive is the U.S. distributor. More of this firm's game titles are available on the internet at www.empireinteractive.com. System requirements include: Windows 95/98/Millenium, Pentium II with 333 MHz or higher, 64 MB RAM (minimum), 6X CD-ROM Drive, 450 MB free hard-drive space, 8 MB DirectX compatible 3D video card, DirectX compatible sound card, keyboard and mouse (minimum). Joystick recommended.

Dr. David LL. Silbergeld is a member of the Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict Division of the National Defense Industrial Association.