The flashes do seem brighter than they should. When shooting a .50 I don't recall ever much noticing the flash, even at night. In fact, I would say the day flashes in AH are brighter than the night flashes appear in RL. What you notice is the smoke, but I imagine that would be a real FPS hit to model.
IMO this is a minor point, and something that likely adds a lot of appeal to the more casual gamer. The flashing through the cockpit walls is a bit distracting though.
Charon
