Jane's Attack Squadron

Jane's Attack Squadron is a World War II flight simulator computer game for the PC. It was created by Looking Glass Studios, then finished by Mad Doc Software. It was published by Xicat Interactive, Inc.. It was released in the North America on March 22, 2002

In Attack Squadron, players control World War II aircraft across Europe. There is an array of missions to carryout such as bombing targets, including a torpedo dropping mission. Depending on the mission, players may take control of different types of aircraft such as a Boeing B-17 or Germany's Ju-88. Other flyable aircraft in the simulation include the P-51 D Mustang, P-38 J Lightning, P-47D Thunderbolt, Supermarine Spitfire Mk1a, Supermarine Spitfire MkIX, Bf-109 E-4/B Emil, Bf-109 G-6 Gustav, FW-190 A-4 Wurger, FW-190 A-8 Wurger, FW-190 D-9 Dora, Me-262 A1-b Schwalbe, B-24 D Liberator and the Avro Lancaster Mk1. Ground units featured in the simulation include on the Axis side a diesel locomotive, steam locomotive, Volkswagen Kubelwagen 2, Opel Blitz 3-ton truck, 4 and 1/2 ton diesel fueltanker, Sdkfz 251, Jagdpanzer IV, Pzkfw IV, Pzkfw V Panther, Pzkfw VI Tiger, 2 cm Flak 30, 2 cm Flakvierling 38, 8.8 cm Flak 34, Flakpanzer IV Ostwind, Flakpanzer Wirbelwind, 15 cm s. Feldhaubitze 18, Wespe. Allied ground units include the Studebaker 6X6 2.5 ton tanker truck, 1/4 ton utility truck "Jeep", Deuce and a half truck, F3 GMC petrol tanker, M3A1 Half-Track, M18 "Hellcat" GMC, M4 "Sherman" medium tank, Bofors 40mm Anti-aircraft gun, M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage and the M12 "King-Kong" 155mm GMC. Naval units featured in the simulation include on the axis side the German torpedo boat "E-boat", GN type VIIC U-boat and GNS Bismark-class battleship. Allied naval units include a Royal Navy rescue launch trawler, Liberty Ship and a US Navy Buckley class destroyer. Merchant Ships can be either Allied or Axis.

The multiplayer mode offers players the chance to take part in deathmatches allowing players to have dog fights.

Single Player mode has 5 missions total for either the USAAF, RAF or Luftwaffe. The missions include for the USAAF Operation Ratchet for bombing a German Rocket factory and Airfield Attack for attacking a Luftwaffe airfield. The RAF mission is called Wehrmacht Convoy in which you attack a convoy of German trucks. The Luftwaffe Missions are Channel Strike, attacking allied merchant ships, and Enemy Bombers Spotted, intercept allied bombers attempting to destroy a Luftwaffe airfield.

Quick Player mode is an option to choose the combat environment (fighters or bombers, altitude, target type etc.) and to choose friendly flight aircraft for a maximum total of 12 aircraft against a maximum enemy flight aircraft total of 12.

Campaign mode has just one Axis campaign, The Kanal Front, in which you attack English targets in the Channel and in southern England after 1943. The Allied campaign is Fortress Europe. The objective of the campaign is to attack Axis positions in the European Theater of Operations during 1944 before and after D-Day. The campaigns each feature 10 missions total.

Pilot Training is an area in which there are five training features for this simulation, some of which are not exactly Pilot Training missions. There is a Takeoff Lesson, a Landing Lesson, a Torpedo Attack Lesson, a Norden Bombsight Lesson and a Fixed Bombsight Lesson.

Jane's Attack Squadron also has a game options screen and a credit screen. The simulation plays 1940's style swing music in the menus just like the earlier Jane's WWII Fighters in feel. However the musical selection is much more limited than Jane's WWII Fighters. The simulation doesn't have the Ace Pilot interviews or the Museum Area that Jane's WWII Fighters has. However, it does have a reference area for the featured aircraft, ground and naval units. A mission editor is included with the game.

Development

Looking Glass Studios spent two and a half years developing the game, but Electronic Arts decided no longer to publish simulators and so pulled funding. After Looking Glass had stopped developing the game, an online petition was initiated by an employee of the company to encourage Electronic Arts to let the team complete it. Over 2000 signatures were gathered.

A deal between Xicat Interactive, Inc. and Jane's Information Group was made which allowed Mad Doc Software to finish the game and Xicat Interactive, Inc. to license and publish it

Source: Wikipedia, "Jane's Attack Squadron", available under the CC-BY-SA License.

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