Air Warrior
| Air Warrior II | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Kesmai |
| Publisher(s) |
Konami (Air Warrior SVGA) |
| Platform(s) | Windows, 3DO |
| Release | Air Warrior II - 1997 Air Warrior - 1995 |
| Genre(s) | Combat flight simulator |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Air Warrior III | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Kesmai |
| Publisher(s) | I-Magic |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release | 30 November, 1997 |
| Genre(s) | Combat flight simulator |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Konami (Air Warrior SVGA)
I-Magic (Air Warrior II)
Air Warrior was a multiplayer on-line air-combat simulator launched by Kesmai in 1988. It was hosted on GEnie and used that service as a server for client software running on a variety of personal computers available in that era. It underwent continual improvement through its decade-long lifetime with Kesmi, appearing on new platforms and host services. Electronic Arts purchased Air Warrior in 1999, and became provider of the game, but it was discontinued in 2001.
Air Warrior was one of the first massive online games, hosting hundreds of users during busy periods. It inspired WarBirds, which in turn inspired to Aces High. Today there are a number of similar games, like WarThunder, most of them based on a freemium model.
Introduced in 1988 by Kesmai,Air Warrior was played over modems and hosted on the GEnie online service provider. Players could choose one of a number of World War II aircraft to fly, along with ground vehicles, and play in a multiplayer "arena" with hundreds of other players. The game focussed mostly on dogfighting, with a secondary strategic role of capturing forward airbases near the center of the map. Several updated versions were released, and additional service providers were added over time.
The original version of Air Warrior ran on Apple Macintosh, Commodore Amiga, and Atari ST computers, had simple black and white wireframe graphics, and cost over $10 per hour to play. Over time, Kesmai produced improved versions of the game, starting with SVGA Air Warrior (AWSVGA) in 1993, and continuing with Air Warrior for Windows (AW4W) in 1996, Air Warrior II (AWII) in early 1997, Air Warrior III (AWIII) later in 1997, and finally Air Warrior III Millennium Version (AW:MV) in 2000.
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