Wings of War
Added December 8th, 2004 by Dakota Grabowski
Introduction:The Xbox isn’t known for it’s simulation flight games at all. There has been Air Force Delta Storm that was released in the near early stages of the Xbox’s life span and it didn’t go overly well. Other than that, there’s Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge that was published by Microsoft themselves but it’s not a simulation shooter at all. So when I picked up Wings of War, it was evident that Wings of War didn’t have a lot to stack up to. With so much room to prove that it can be the one simulation title on the Xbox to provide gamers with the experience that some have been yearning for, does Wings of War give us any moments of total satisfaction?
Not only is this a chance for the Xbox to be supplied a worthy simulation but it’s a chance for rookie developer, Silver Wish Games, to make its mark in the industry. The publisher backing this title is the Gathering and they haven’t made a huge impact with quality titles yet. Gathering has ported over the Mafia series from the PC which was actually quite good but the consoles sorely lacked what made the PC counterparts so fresh. Besides that Silver Wish Games and Gathering both just need an above average title that will prove that they can develop quality within their products. In other words, not much hinges on the release of Wings of War.
Gameplay:
Wings of War puts you in the position to play as an Allied fighter plane against the German forces. Yes you can predict that this is about one of those wars that are heavily over done with first-person shooters but this one happens to be about World War 1; something that gives us a fresh breath away from the World War 2 propaganda. Silver Wish Games puts forth a hectic time for your fighter plane as the war will escalade into many intense situations. The battles will never feel unrealistic but they will feel as if the A.I. has some bipolar problems. The A.I. will have some rough spots as they look like they are being driven by an underage teenager that doesn’t know how to drive a plane at all.
Two modes of play are present within the game. The Instant Action and Campaign Mode are open to play right from the get go. Campaign of course is the story mode in which you’ll be taking over the role of the British pilot. Campaign is separated in chapters with each having several missions within until moving onto the next chapter. Missions are varying from photographing enemies to full out assault on several Germans. Of course there is the escort mission that plagues many other video games that absolutely tick off the player as the escort is lacking with intelligence. The Instant Action is the multiplayer aspect of the game which I will cover later on in the review.
Graphics:
Being able to watch planes destruct in mid-air is beautiful and the environments are well thought out for you to traverse though. In fact you may actually find yourself wandering away from the game to just look at the villages and towns you fly over. Visually though, besides the great environments and nice explosions, the game fails to give off an original impression on World War 1 and how it was fought within the air. Cut scenes fail to represent any real life visualization that could detail how dog fighting was very strategic and thought out. Cut scenes aside, the graphics are average and nothing to be impressed by.
Controls:
The basic premise of the game is simplicity with a plane. The plane will throttle up and down with the triggers; controlling the plane and cameras is easy with the thumbsticks and of course the main attack button is with the A Button. The plane though is jerky and stiff so frustration will be inevitable with Wings of War with response of your plane to what you are inputting it to do with the controller is lagging.
Graphics:
Being able to watch planes destruct in mid-air is beautiful and the environments are well thought out for you to traverse though. In fact you may actually find yourself wandering away from the game to just look at the villages and towns you fly over. Visually though, besides the great environments and nice explosions, the game fails to give off an original impression on World War 1 and how it was fought within the air. Cut scenes fail to represent any real life visualization that could detail how dog fighting was very strategic and thought out. Cut scenes aside, the graphics are average and nothing to be impressed by.
Controls:
The basic premise of the game is simplicity with a plane. The plane will throttle up and down with the triggers; controlling the plane and cameras is easy with the thumbsticks and of course the main attack button is with the A Button. The plane though is jerky and stiff so frustration will be inevitable with Wings of War with response of your plane to what you are inputting it to do with the controller is lagging.
Right Thumbstick- Camera Control; toggle map (tap)
Left Thumbstick- Control Plane; Call for a duel (tap)
Left Trigger- Slow Down
Right Trigger- Speed up
D-Pad- Cycle camera angles
A Button- Primary Weapon
B Button- Secondary Weapons
X Button- Pick Target to Lock on
Y Button- Zoom in/Binoculars
Black Button- Secondary Weapon Switching
Audio:
What is usually tagged along with games in the war theme is great audio. Wings of War falls a little short of what is expected. A lot of the explosions are there and so is the gunfire but you’ll find at times that it’s absent and missing to further along the game dramatically. No way should there be any missing elements of the audio while my adventure of taking down the Germans continues. Meanwhile the voice acting doesn’t do such a choppy job and prevails as the best part of the audio division if there has to be one. The music and score proves to be useful to give a more emotional experience all throughout the game.
Replay:
The campaign is located with lengthy chapters so the game will take about 15-20 hours to complete if you take your time. Bonus missions can be found within the game too but not enough make up the entire game to make it worthy to go back and play if you missed one. The campaign isn’t too attracting as it feels redundant and boring about half way through so what’s left to keep you playing? The multiplayer of course is still available for those who can find a friend that shares the shame joy with aerial combat.
The Instant Action is multiplayer and it offers everything that should be default with any game implementing multiplayer. Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch are there so be prepared to bring your best dogfighting to the game. What was unexpected included was the availability of bots for your own use. Bots spruce of up the multiplayer that’s missing with no inclusion of Xbox Live support. Without Xbox Live, Wings of War is missing that key component that is found with Crimson Skies and Secret Weapons Over Normandy. Only thing left to mention is that you can unlock new planes through the campaign to use in the multiplayer so make sure you don’t miss them the first time because you won’t be dragging yourself to play the campaign again.
Audio:
What is usually tagged along with games in the war theme is great audio. Wings of War falls a little short of what is expected. A lot of the explosions are there and so is the gunfire but you’ll find at times that it’s absent and missing to further along the game dramatically. No way should there be any missing elements of the audio while my adventure of taking down the Germans continues. Meanwhile the voice acting doesn’t do such a choppy job and prevails as the best part of the audio division if there has to be one. The music and score proves to be useful to give a more emotional experience all throughout the game.
Replay:
The campaign is located with lengthy chapters so the game will take about 15-20 hours to complete if you take your time. Bonus missions can be found within the game too but not enough make up the entire game to make it worthy to go back and play if you missed one. The campaign isn’t too attracting as it feels redundant and boring about half way through so what’s left to keep you playing? The multiplayer of course is still available for those who can find a friend that shares the shame joy with aerial combat.
The Instant Action is multiplayer and it offers everything that should be default with any game implementing multiplayer. Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch are there so be prepared to bring your best dogfighting to the game. What was unexpected included was the availability of bots for your own use. Bots spruce of up the multiplayer that’s missing with no inclusion of Xbox Live support. Without Xbox Live, Wings of War is missing that key component that is found with Crimson Skies and Secret Weapons Over Normandy. Only thing left to mention is that you can unlock new planes through the campaign to use in the multiplayer so make sure you don’t miss them the first time because you won’t be dragging yourself to play the campaign again.
Summary:
Wings of War may not be an “AAA’' title but it certainly has its own moments to shine in glory. Missing is Xbox Live and System Link to extend the replay of the game. If you absolutely must have the latest aerial combat game, pick up Wings of War. I’d suggest a rental if you are still new to world of dog fighting and jaunting through skies in fighter planes. It’s only $19.99 now so the price isn’t too far of a fetch of the quality of the game.
Wings of War may not be an “AAA’' title but it certainly has its own moments to shine in glory. Missing is Xbox Live and System Link to extend the replay of the game. If you absolutely must have the latest aerial combat game, pick up Wings of War. I’d suggest a rental if you are still new to world of dog fighting and jaunting through skies in fighter planes. It’s only $19.99 now so the price isn’t too far of a fetch of the quality of the game.
