Play Blue Max: Aces Of The Great War Online

Blue Max: Aces of the Great War is a flight simulation game released in 1990 for the MS-DOS platform. Developed by Artech Digital Entertainment and published by Three-Sixty Pacific, Inc., the game is set during World War I and combines elements of historical air combat with turn-based strategy. It presents its action from a first-person perspective, placing the player directly in the cockpit of a biplane.

Players assume the role of a World War I fighter pilot, undertaking missions that involve dogfighting enemy aircraft and attacking specific ground or aerial targets. The game supports both single-player campaigns and a distinctive two-player mode that can be played cooperatively or competitively on a single screen, with adjustable camera angles for the 3D flight segments. A central and unusual gameplay system allows players to optionally convert real-time aerial engagements into tactical, turn-based battles. When activated, this mode freezes the 3D view in a window and shifts the conflict to a separate hexagonal grid map, where players plan and execute moves in a more deliberate, chess-like fashion before returning to the simulation.

Progression is structured around completing these varied combat missions, which test skills in both direct piloting and strategic decision-making. The core experience alternates between the immediacy of hands-on flight controls during standard play and the methodical planning afforded by the unique turn-based system. This dual approach to air combat defines the game's structure, offering different layers of engagement with the historical setting and its warfare.