Dawn of Aces Debuts

DALLAS - It is the first day of the third annual WarBirds Convention and Interactive Magic Online (IMOL) is set to unveil Dawn of Aces today to the public - with a giant release party to be held at the witching hour of 10:00 tonight.

Dawn of Aces (DOA) is IMOL's newest online multiplayer simulation. It puts players in the cockpits of World War I aircraft battling for supremacy in the skies. Action takes place over a trench-warfare dominated Europe.

DOA will initially feature six aircraft: the Bristol F.2B, Sopwith Camel, Spad S.VII, Fokker Dr. 1, Albatross D.Va, and the Halberstadt Cl II. As the game develops, more aircraft will be introduced, as will other improvements and features.

Unlike its predecessor WarBirds, DOA offers only two sides to fly for: the Allied and Central Powers, with aircraft restricted to those particular camps. Dogfighting has an extremely different feel as well. While aircraft are generally slower and turn better, visibility and aiming in general is much more difficult. Kills occur at a much closer range, which means more patience and more maneuvering is required.

However, everything that makes WarBirds great is featured in Dawn of Aces. DOA makes use of the same Direct3D engine that WarBirds 2.01 does (although a non-D3D version is available). Graphics are available in both 640x480 and 1,024x768 resolutions, and expert trainers are available to ask questions and get shot at whenever a player has a question. The cost of playing DOA is the same as well ($10 a month and $2 an hour after the first five hours). DOA will be downloadable from the IMOL servers in different formats.

If you just can't wait for the game to come out later on Thursday, be sure to check out the new screenshots GameSpot News has included in this story.

WarBirds Convention 98 continues through Saturday. GameSpot News will bring you full coverage during the convention.