The game includes more than 100 missions plus multiplayer support via LAN, Internet, direct connection, and free play hosted on the MSN Gaming Zone. The multiplayer is the same as that in the original Combat Flight Simulator, currently confined to deathmatch with up to eight players. Performance on the Zone continues to be very good, considering it's free and my modem connection is limited to 26.4kbps. Better still, Combat Flight Simulator 2 includes a complete mission builder that's fairly extensive. At the time of this writing, the game was barely a week old in the retail market, yet user-made missions and flight model tweaks were available, and there were numerous players on the Zone.
Players certainly receive considerable play for their money.
This is, however, hardly the product's only selling point. The CMP Game Media Group announced today the top game development projects that have advanced to the final round of the third annual Independent Games Festival . McNally succumbed to cancer after sweeping last year's Festival for his game Tread Marks, and the award was subsequently named in his honor. Microsoft Corporation is a primary sponsor of this year's festival. The awards ceremony is scheduled take place on Friday, March 23, during the GDC Expo.