However, the player is not completely helpless in combat. Because WOM has a realistic model for air-to-air and surface-to-air weaponry, the player can often affect the outcome of air combat by his actions just prior to a fight. Missiles are modeled for tracking type like heat-seeking and semi-active or active radar. They also have tracking and aspect angles to determine when they can be used against a target, so telling your flight to turn toward an enemy who is loaded with heat-seekers is one way to keep your enemy from shooting those missiles up your hot tail-exhaust. Or, if an enemy SAM is fired at you from long range, dropping to low altitude, hitting afterburners and flying away might just bring your pilots home.

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While air-to-air combat is exciting, the real meat of the game is in planning and executing air strikes. Many scenarios like the 1982 Israeli strike on Saddam’s nuclear facility near Baghdad have preplanned attack routes. The player can assign aircraft to these with just a click, or he can define the flight-path himself. The game interface is easy to learn, so setting up complex missions is a snap.

In WOM, there is more to a bombing run than just picking a target. Flight paths not only define what to attack and how to get there but also what altitude and speed to fly. This is important, because flying high and slow uses less fuel but is easier for enemy radar to spot. A good attack route will keep your bombers flying at cruise speed and altitude while out of enemy radar range but flying low and fast once in the danger zone. Flying close to ground still has to be done with care; low planes passing over enemy units are certain to be peppered with antiaircraft fire. Finally, close to the target, your flight may have to do a pop-up if the bombs they carry can’t be dropped from low altitude. Despite the complex orders, the interface in WOM makes all of this easy to do.

While the interface is easy to use, setting up successful air strikes is where players earn their virtual pay. The gamer quickly learns that successful bomb runs have to be well planned and coordinated. In WOM, as in real life, air strikes are a team event, with a different role for each participating flight.

The player can coordinate the arrival of these different elements of the air strike with a time-on-target order. If enemy SAMs are expected, the strike planes should be preceded by SEAD flights. These specialized Wild Weasels take out anti-air sites and their presence often keeps enemy SAMs from even turning their radar on. If the enemy has plenty of interceptors in the air, the bombers will need an escort of air-superiority aircraft. For long missions, air-to-air tankers need to be on stand-by to top off thirsty strike aircraft; flying low and fast uses a tremendous amount of fuel. Finally, the player must select strike aircraft with the right type of bombs for the mission: penetrating bombs for hard targets, area weapons for spread-out soft targets etc.

Along with bomb types, War Over the Mideast models quite a bit of technical detail. Even veteran gamers will need to crack open the manuals in order to enjoy the game. At first, the amount of information can seem a little daunting. The game comes with over 100 pages of documentation, and true to John Tiller’s spartan approach, there is no fluff. Gamers not familiar with modern air combat acronyms and concepts will be most challenged, but all of the information needed to play the game is in the manuals.

Even though there is a great deal of information packed into WOM, the learning curve is not as steep as you might expect. A 25-page Getting Started manual and tutorial mission do a great job in teaching the most important game concepts. One area where the manuals are weak however, is describing what the player can do with all of the editors available.

The graphics and sound keep John Tiller’s minimalist reputation intact. Graphics are professional and functional and aircraft profile pictures seem to have accurate color schemes, but the map, layout and icons are all old-school 2D. Sounds add to the game experience somewhat but are hardly impressive. There is also a constant background of military air-traffic chatter, but the loop can be a little repetitive. Overall, by today’s standards the game is a few steps back in the look and feel department.

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