Eagles (1983)

Back of Box

When Eagles first ruled the skies...

Eagles flies you over France in 1917 and 1918--when men of war first rose to the skies like some glorious birds of prey.

Eagles is as simple as the wood-and-fabric airplanes of the First World War, and as challenging and varied as the battles they fought.

You don't have to memorize a book of rules to play this remarkable simulation. You'll learn the same way the real pilots did--by doing it. And like flying, the more you do it, the better you'll get.

You can play solitaire against enemy planes flown by the computer, or against other players. You can fly balloon-busting missions, set up duels between single aircraft, or create grand dogfights involving as many as twenty planes. You have a choice of flying one plane, a squadron, or all twenty planes. You can choose historic scenarios, or let the computer set up the battles.

In all cases, you'll fly the real aircraft of World War I, performing with their realistic speed, rate of climb and maneuverability.

If you'd like to fly planes of your own design, Eagles lets you endow them with greater (or less) maneuverability and speed--all at the press of a button.

During a dogfight, you don't simply hold your thumb down on the trigger until something blows up. You must decide on a short, medium, or long burst from your machine gun. Your guns can jam at the worst possible times. And unless you hit the engine, pilot or other vital part of the opponent's plane, it will keep flying just like a real canvas-and-plywood plane. Now that's realism!

If one mission over the trenches only whets your appetite, there's the Campaign Game to fully satiate you. You'll join a squadron in early 1917 and fly mission after mission. You'll have to worry about the sobering aspects of serial combat that will literally bring you down to earth: fiery death, wounds, recuperating time--to name a few.

Should you survive and improve your shooting and flying skills, you'll score kills and be on your way to becoming an ace--or even a super-ace! You'll even be given newer and better planes to fly--in recognition of your superior status.

Now open this box and you'll find the wings to take you to the skies--and to the challenge that awaits you.

By Robert Raymond