50 Mission Crush - Gameplay

Gameplay

As compared to many of SSI's other games, 50 Mission Crush is a fairly "light" play, and does not require grand strategic planning. Each mission is self-contained, and the player does not have to worry about resupply or repairs in between missions. Every position on the plane (for example, tail gunner, ball gunner, radio operator, and so on) is manned by a character named by the player who gains experience with each mission survived. The more missions a character survives, the more competent he becomes.

Each mission requires that the player bomb a specific target from a specific altitude. There is no strict time limit, but the amount of fuel the plane can carry is limited. The player decides upon take off how much fuel to carry and whether to carry an extra-heavy load of bombs. The player then moves his plane to the target using the number pad keys, and on each turn may ascend or descend in 5,000 foot increments. When the bomber is over the target, the player is meant to wait until there is no cloud cover before dropping the bombs. When the player is over an enemy target and there is no cloud cover, the enemy will typically fire flak, which can damage the plane, injure or kill crewmen, or set the plane on fire. The lower the bomber's altitude, the more intense the flak will be. The bomber may also be strafed by enemy fighter planes, such as the Focke-Wulf FW 190, Messerschmitt Bf 109, or Messerschmitt Bf 110.