Wings of War

I don't buy all that many video games. I'm am invariably cautious in my purchases - I will umm and ahh for ages, read reviews and comparative scores, look for comments and opinions on newsgroups and then wait until I see the game going cheap before actually parting with any money. Why did I buy this game on spec, knowing nothing more than the general theme?

Partly it was the theme. I love flying games for a start, and world war one is an appealing era. The planes were slow and therefore any combat was a close up affair - no fire-and-forget missiles targeted from beyond visual range here. The price helped too - it was a budget release, which means less than half the price of any other new game.

So, what's it like? Let's start with the bad. This is not a flight simulation by any stretch of the imagination. The flight model is very forgiving - you can chuck your plane around without fear of ripping the wings off and it is practically impossible to stall it. The action is non-stop - you are given multiple objectives, with an awful lot happening at one time, with orders barked at you over the radio (hmmm, spot the historical inaccuracy #1). You have a radar screen (that's #2). You swap planes in the middle of a mission by jumping from one to another in mid-air (#3 and counting). Oh, and there are power ups, shields and health bonuses (oh, that's it - I'm not counting any more).

OK, so let's look at the good points. Taken on it's own terms as an action shooter, this is a very good game indeed. The graphics are fabulous - the landscapes of war torn France are expansive and detailed. You can skim over the trenches and towns, with a huge amount of detail to be seen and more importantly blown up. The weather ranges from clear blue skies, to fog, cloud, rain and snow with thunder storms and sunsets to marvel at. The piece de resistance are the planes, though. All of the usual suspects of the time are on offer, immaculately recreated and with numerous camouflage options for each one. You can actually get close enough to see the struts on the wings, and then watch them disintegrate as you fill them full of lead.

As previously mentioned, the game is relentless. From taking off on a mission, you are likely to be patrolling, balloon busting, dog fighting, bombing ground targets, strafing armoured trains, escorting bombers and even taking aerial photographs. There are automatic save points at regular intervals, but they do not interrupt the flow of the game. If you are shot down, you do not usually lose more than a couple of minutes of game play. There are instant action missions, which are effectively deathmatch dogfights, but there is no Xbox Live play which is a real missed opportunity.

If you can overlook the more far fetched aspects, this game is well worth getting hold if you want a good, budget priced action game for the Xbox.