Rookie
10-02-2005, 04:45 PM
This was a new game that i picked up from an EB Games shop. I had never heard of it until the second i saw it.
It caught my eye cause of the classic WWII Fighter Plane on the cover, so i was like 8) yesssssss...
So i bought it. Its pretty much a WWII fighter plane based game.
The Graphics: The ground environment isn't the best i've ever seen. Almost, early Xbox or late PS1 type ground graphics. But, once you get over the ocean, you get some nice water visuals, right down to the water splashing up when your firing your guns at it. The clouds are pretty realistic imo. But the plains themselves are the best part. Very accurate WWII fighter planes from the American Wildcats, to the Japanese Zero fighter.
The Planes: I love WWII fighter planes. There's just something about them that appeals to me. So i was pretty excited to see an actual game that uses real planes in a fairly realistic way (As opposed to Secret Weapons over Normandy which has "secret WWII" planes).
The Plot: Its pretty much about a fighter pilot (the name escapes me at the moment) who was stationed at an airfield at Pearl Harbor while his brother was stationed on the USS Arizona (which leads to the first mission...)
Most of the plot isn't that exciting, just a side thing to go with gameplay.
Gameplay: Each level is a famous battle from WWII, Wake Island, Marshall Islands, Pearl Harbor, Midway, etc. As you go you get assigned various missions, such as defend the bombers, save at least 5 other planes. Or more exciting ones like destroy the Betty Bombers, or Destroy the enemy landing craft.
Each mission is assigned as you go along.
One of the more frustrating parts (I expect its a newby thing...) is stalling, and getting to close to the ground and crashing. I'll be pursuing a Japanese Zero thats climbing fast, so i'll go up after it, my plane doesn't get the oompf, and the Stall Warning comes on, then i Stall. Now in the flight training they tell ya how to come out of a stall, but its pretty fast and vague, so i usually crash if i stall. But occaisionally i'll pull out by speeding up and pulling out of it.
Turning too close to the ground should be obvious to me, but if your wing so much as grazes the water, you EXPLODE. They exxagerated that too much. maybe have water spray up, or if u hit too much wing too fast, have it pitch or something. But the ground: The only way to land is by going through a set of rings at a low speed, then it takes over. If i get to close to the ground and touch it, i bounce, try to pull up but blow up anyway.
The surface contact needs improvement to make it less...explosive.
The Combat: A fairly nice combat system. Enemies are marked with indicators and distance marks so you can tell how far you have to go to get 'em. The explosions, crashes, and everything are all different, so you don't get the "All the monsters die the same way ever time" thing you would find on Diablo or Morrowind.
The weapons can be adjusted synchronization to have 1 gun shoot at a different time/rate than the other. The rockets might be good for ground targets or slower aircraft, but for dogfights, :evil:
The targeting comes with a special "Lead" feature, so you can give your target the proper lead which is very nice, not having to guess how much lead to give.
The enemy AI, even in Rookie level (the most basic...its not self-glorification) is very good. The enemy Zeroes will pull up at the last second, or come down on you from above or below. I've had enemies get up behind me and not be able to shake them until i tried to fight back.
Dive bombing? Its a bit complex. The Basic Training explains it a bit, and i passed but didn't quite get the hang of it. You basicly have to climb up then as you angle down, indicators come up and its difficult to drop the bomb at just the right time and/or angle. I could drop it at the right time, but not have the angle, or the other way around.
Torpedoes are a easier than Dive Bombing. simply aim, get low enough and slow enough, then drop. I like the Torpedo feature much better then the dive bombing :)
So for Graphics: 8 out of 10
the planes and sky are good, but the ground units and ships are low quality.
Plot: 6 out of 10
Not very interesting, but gives purpose to some of the missions.
Gameplay: 9 out of 10
Surface interaction needs improvement, but the fighting makes it worth while.
Overall i'd give it an 8 out of 10. Good enough to buy and play, but there are some things lacking like graphics and plot.
It caught my eye cause of the classic WWII Fighter Plane on the cover, so i was like 8) yesssssss...
So i bought it. Its pretty much a WWII fighter plane based game.
The Graphics: The ground environment isn't the best i've ever seen. Almost, early Xbox or late PS1 type ground graphics. But, once you get over the ocean, you get some nice water visuals, right down to the water splashing up when your firing your guns at it. The clouds are pretty realistic imo. But the plains themselves are the best part. Very accurate WWII fighter planes from the American Wildcats, to the Japanese Zero fighter.
The Planes: I love WWII fighter planes. There's just something about them that appeals to me. So i was pretty excited to see an actual game that uses real planes in a fairly realistic way (As opposed to Secret Weapons over Normandy which has "secret WWII" planes).
The Plot: Its pretty much about a fighter pilot (the name escapes me at the moment) who was stationed at an airfield at Pearl Harbor while his brother was stationed on the USS Arizona (which leads to the first mission...)
Most of the plot isn't that exciting, just a side thing to go with gameplay.
Gameplay: Each level is a famous battle from WWII, Wake Island, Marshall Islands, Pearl Harbor, Midway, etc. As you go you get assigned various missions, such as defend the bombers, save at least 5 other planes. Or more exciting ones like destroy the Betty Bombers, or Destroy the enemy landing craft.
Each mission is assigned as you go along.
One of the more frustrating parts (I expect its a newby thing...) is stalling, and getting to close to the ground and crashing. I'll be pursuing a Japanese Zero thats climbing fast, so i'll go up after it, my plane doesn't get the oompf, and the Stall Warning comes on, then i Stall. Now in the flight training they tell ya how to come out of a stall, but its pretty fast and vague, so i usually crash if i stall. But occaisionally i'll pull out by speeding up and pulling out of it.
Turning too close to the ground should be obvious to me, but if your wing so much as grazes the water, you EXPLODE. They exxagerated that too much. maybe have water spray up, or if u hit too much wing too fast, have it pitch or something. But the ground: The only way to land is by going through a set of rings at a low speed, then it takes over. If i get to close to the ground and touch it, i bounce, try to pull up but blow up anyway.
The surface contact needs improvement to make it less...explosive.
The Combat: A fairly nice combat system. Enemies are marked with indicators and distance marks so you can tell how far you have to go to get 'em. The explosions, crashes, and everything are all different, so you don't get the "All the monsters die the same way ever time" thing you would find on Diablo or Morrowind.
The weapons can be adjusted synchronization to have 1 gun shoot at a different time/rate than the other. The rockets might be good for ground targets or slower aircraft, but for dogfights, :evil:
The targeting comes with a special "Lead" feature, so you can give your target the proper lead which is very nice, not having to guess how much lead to give.
The enemy AI, even in Rookie level (the most basic...its not self-glorification) is very good. The enemy Zeroes will pull up at the last second, or come down on you from above or below. I've had enemies get up behind me and not be able to shake them until i tried to fight back.
Dive bombing? Its a bit complex. The Basic Training explains it a bit, and i passed but didn't quite get the hang of it. You basicly have to climb up then as you angle down, indicators come up and its difficult to drop the bomb at just the right time and/or angle. I could drop it at the right time, but not have the angle, or the other way around.
Torpedoes are a easier than Dive Bombing. simply aim, get low enough and slow enough, then drop. I like the Torpedo feature much better then the dive bombing :)
So for Graphics: 8 out of 10
the planes and sky are good, but the ground units and ships are low quality.
Plot: 6 out of 10
Not very interesting, but gives purpose to some of the missions.
Gameplay: 9 out of 10
Surface interaction needs improvement, but the fighting makes it worth while.
Overall i'd give it an 8 out of 10. Good enough to buy and play, but there are some things lacking like graphics and plot.