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Red Baron II continued She's
Breaking Up The largest bug, however, can be summed up simply as Red Baron Multiplayer. Sierra is still working the kinks out of its new online gaming service, World Opponent Network (won.net). But I'm not sure if the problems lie within the new service or Red Baron II itself. Aside from the usual lag you would expect, crashes are a constant problem. I also flew several battles where my opponents thought they had shot me down, but I never saw them, heard them, or died on my computer. There is a bug that causes your wings to rip off for no reason, and it's a requirement to reboot your computer after each game. Even if multiplayer was working perfectly, it is not a leap of technology over the original. There is a maximum of four players per game on won.net, and there is no ability to join a game in progress. This isn't any better than the original Red Baron, and we were using 9,600-baud modems at the time. The biggest addition to multiplayer is the historically inaccurate, but wholly necessary, in-flight chat. So it seems that seven years wasn't enough time for the Baron to recover. If he would have waited another three to six months to reappear, things might have been different. Instead, I've been forced to review a beta release masquerading as a final. I genuinely believe that Sierra will continue to patch this game, and it will eventually become a classic. The problem is that RBII will get so much bad press and word of mouth over the next few months, that it will never achieve the following it deserves. By the time it is a fully functional game, interest will have waned for all except the hard-core fans. I will be one of those fans still playing in a year or two, but I'm going to move on for now. I want to re-emphasize that Red Baron II has great potential and, even with the bugs, is a truly enjoyable single-player game. However, the Baron is not feeling well enough to have visitors yet. So I will ask the musical question once again, shaking my head ruefully this time. "What has become of the Baron?" Tips If you like this type of game, you might want to check out Flying Corps. Hugh Falk believes that all video games are really tests in which the best players will one day be swept up by aliens to fight for the freedom of the universe. He has dedicated his life to critiquing and hopefully improving games for the sake of Earth and the universe. Agree or disagree with the review? Let us know.
Sierra On-Line, 800/757-7707 Price: $50.00 ![]()
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