Eagler, you don't want to fly the planes, the controls are ludicrous compared to a real flight sim. You can only use a mouse and keyboard to fly with.
Needless, to say, I stick to just the ground vehicles and foot soldiering.
You're right, it is a lot like Doom. It's wild, chaotic, mindless fun. Something you can jump right into and jump right out of no matter how much time you have to play. At this point in my life, being busy with my job and my family, a game like BF1942 fills the bill nicely.
Eagler_Johnson.....has a nice ring to it, don't you think?