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"Officially endorsed by RAF No. 617 Squadron" boasts the cover of this flight simulation, and as soon as I saw those words I was ready to be bored stiff. Licensing deals are becoming more important than game content these days, and I wasn't expecting anything particularly special from this one.

I was, though, pleasantly surprised once I loaded the game up, to see how complex and challenging the game was, but without being a dry technical exercise as many flight simuations prove to be. The link with the RAF is due to the fact that the program allows you to re-enact the World War II bombing raids upon a series of Dams along the Ruhr, that brought the industry of the region to a halt.

What I liked most about the program was that it doesn't just present you with the view from the pilot's seat and a few dials to indicate the plane's status. Instead, Dam Busters allows you to play the parts of all eight members of the bomber's crew - from pilot to engineers, navigators, and gunners. Each crewmember has his own tasks and controls to handle, and these are depicted using a different screen for each crewmember, showing different views depending upon their position in the plane. Completing a mission (or just getting off the ground safely in my case) depends upon successfully switching between all these positions and getting the balance of controls just right.

The controls themselves are extremely well drawn on-screen and there are additionally a variety of difficulty options to allow you to get started; you can even choose between digital readouts or old-fashioned analogue (dial) displays. Response from the controls is excellent, and there are also reports at the end of each flight to let you know what went wrong.

Once you get into a bombing run you are also faced with enemy flak and the task of getting your bomb sights accurately lined up, and all this not only adds to the complexity of the game but also adds a bit of old-fashioned arcade excitement to the proceedings.

This is about the most playable and enjoyable flight simulation that I've seen. The complexity of the different sets of controls ensure that the game will be challenging for a long time, but the responsiveness of the controls and variety of flight options allow you to get into the game quickly and without becoming bored and discouraged as I have found other flight simulations can tend to.