I felt that after playing through half the campaign, I had to write a review about this game.
http://www.airwargame.com/eng
I haven't played the multiplayer, so I can't really comment on that.
The storyline is crap, the voice acting is worse, but what did you expect? Don't play this game waiting to see some amazing acting or anything, that's not what the game is about.
No, it's about dogfights, and lots of them. There are three different modes/difficulty levels for each mission. "Arcade" lets you play the game as it probably was on the Xbox 360. There's very little flight dynamics, you can barely get the plane to stall (I'm not even sure I managed to do it at all), the enemies are basically dummy targets, and heavy bombers are taken down by one cannon burst.
There's a "Realistic" mode, which offers some added difficulty, but I haven't really played it other than on the training missions, so I won't talk about it here. I guess it adds some physics and makes enemies tougher.
I've played through the campaign using the "Simulator" difficulty, which according to the game adds full flight dynamics, limited ammo (although you have much much more than you would have in real life), and pretty hardcore enemies. It doesn't give you any advantages, either. Rather disadvantages. I often felt like the campaign was developed mostly around the "arcade" mode, as the objectives often require you to know exactly what to target or what to do (the target icons have been removed in the Simulator mode). For instance, in a recent mission, I had to "Rescue Johnson". I flew over the little checkpoint on the map, not knowing what I had to do at all. Then after a couple of fly-overs, I see a Spitfire that has landed in a filed. Alright? So I figure I have to land next to it (is Johnson going to sit in my lap on the way back home?), but this was extremely difficult. Not only does landing require a fully flat area (and the terrain isn't that well-made), but it was very hard to figure out if I was level or not with the terrain. This brings me to another point.
It's hard to get a sense of your plane's velocity. Sure, there's an airspeed indicator, but you don't really feel like you're going that fast. When I tried to land, I felt like I was gliding, barely able to keep the nose up. But in reality I was still going over 200 mph, which I felt when my plane bounced off the ground and buried itself in a ditch. I'm not asking for Burnout type indication, but some clue as to how fast I'm going besides the meter would be nice. Maybe show tiny water particles or wing flutter or something (when it rains, though, it looks like you're flying in warp speed).
Also, trimming is difficult. I'm not sure if this is the flight stick I'm using or the game, but aileron trimming is much less sensitive and more accurate than elevator trimming. It's hard to do it in small steps if you're using an analog controller, so I might start using the keyboard for this.
Some enemies can appear almost supernatural. They're deadly accurate every time (often shooting your pilot in the head) and they're always targeting you. I thought teammate AI was pretty good at first, as I managed to direct my squadron into downing a bomber wing. But in dogfights, they're rubbish. The "Defend me" command seems to be them telling you when there's a guy shooting you down. Also, I've never seen an enemy airplane stall, or lose control. However, my own plane is overly prone to stalling. The Spitfire is the best so far of the planes in the campaign (you only get to fly 4-5 planes in the campaign, which is odd as the game has dozens of flyable planes), but the P-51 is crap. If you bank more than a few degrees it descends into a tailspin (which are very hard to get out of). A little odd. Then again, I'd like to try the game with a different flightstick.
Now, AI superiority aside, I'm all for not having any direct advantages over the enemy (even if they get indirect advantages over you). But it feels ridiculous that the invasion of Sicily is supported by a squadron of 4 P-51s (with British markings). Didn't the Allies have thousands of planes at their disposal? Correct me if I'm wrong. All I know is I was met by over a dozen of Italian fighters (the pilots spoke German) on my own. There were some Allied planes around, but they seemed to observe the action, mostly, occasionally getting shot down.
So, campaign aside, the game is fun, and its flight dynamics are challenging. I might try more single missions or the training mode, where you can set up your own games, and fly any plane you want.
It's inevitable to compare this to IL-2 Sturmovik. I think the latter was a better game. I didn't have the same difficulty with the flight controls, and the enemies weren't as unforgiving. But then again, this could be subjective, if you've played both games please comment.
I might try out the multiplayer mode, but seeing as the game is fairly unknown, I'm afriad only die hard sim fans are playing it online, which wouldn't make it very beginner friendly. Maybe I'll add something about it later.
To sum it up, as a sim, it works. It feels pretty realistic. But as a game, meh. The storyline is crap, the missions often feel a little boring and not very dynamic (mostly go here shoot that). But I'm guessing most people who buy the game are looking for a simulator, and it lives up fairly well to its big brother, IL-2 Sturmovik's awesomeness, but it's not quite there.
*edit*
I should say I'm having some control problems. Since I started using the flight stick I bought (Saitek Cyborg X, which is crap but the only one at a reasonable price in stock anywhere in the country), I can't control the camera. This makes it impossible to look around for enemies. It's not that much of a problem, but annoying when attacking ground targets. I might change my mind about some things if I manage to fix it.
http://www.airwargame.com/eng
I haven't played the multiplayer, so I can't really comment on that.
The storyline is crap, the voice acting is worse, but what did you expect? Don't play this game waiting to see some amazing acting or anything, that's not what the game is about.
No, it's about dogfights, and lots of them. There are three different modes/difficulty levels for each mission. "Arcade" lets you play the game as it probably was on the Xbox 360. There's very little flight dynamics, you can barely get the plane to stall (I'm not even sure I managed to do it at all), the enemies are basically dummy targets, and heavy bombers are taken down by one cannon burst.
There's a "Realistic" mode, which offers some added difficulty, but I haven't really played it other than on the training missions, so I won't talk about it here. I guess it adds some physics and makes enemies tougher.
I've played through the campaign using the "Simulator" difficulty, which according to the game adds full flight dynamics, limited ammo (although you have much much more than you would have in real life), and pretty hardcore enemies. It doesn't give you any advantages, either. Rather disadvantages. I often felt like the campaign was developed mostly around the "arcade" mode, as the objectives often require you to know exactly what to target or what to do (the target icons have been removed in the Simulator mode). For instance, in a recent mission, I had to "Rescue Johnson". I flew over the little checkpoint on the map, not knowing what I had to do at all. Then after a couple of fly-overs, I see a Spitfire that has landed in a filed. Alright? So I figure I have to land next to it (is Johnson going to sit in my lap on the way back home?), but this was extremely difficult. Not only does landing require a fully flat area (and the terrain isn't that well-made), but it was very hard to figure out if I was level or not with the terrain. This brings me to another point.
It's hard to get a sense of your plane's velocity. Sure, there's an airspeed indicator, but you don't really feel like you're going that fast. When I tried to land, I felt like I was gliding, barely able to keep the nose up. But in reality I was still going over 200 mph, which I felt when my plane bounced off the ground and buried itself in a ditch. I'm not asking for Burnout type indication, but some clue as to how fast I'm going besides the meter would be nice. Maybe show tiny water particles or wing flutter or something (when it rains, though, it looks like you're flying in warp speed).
Also, trimming is difficult. I'm not sure if this is the flight stick I'm using or the game, but aileron trimming is much less sensitive and more accurate than elevator trimming. It's hard to do it in small steps if you're using an analog controller, so I might start using the keyboard for this.
Some enemies can appear almost supernatural. They're deadly accurate every time (often shooting your pilot in the head) and they're always targeting you. I thought teammate AI was pretty good at first, as I managed to direct my squadron into downing a bomber wing. But in dogfights, they're rubbish. The "Defend me" command seems to be them telling you when there's a guy shooting you down. Also, I've never seen an enemy airplane stall, or lose control. However, my own plane is overly prone to stalling. The Spitfire is the best so far of the planes in the campaign (you only get to fly 4-5 planes in the campaign, which is odd as the game has dozens of flyable planes), but the P-51 is crap. If you bank more than a few degrees it descends into a tailspin (which are very hard to get out of). A little odd. Then again, I'd like to try the game with a different flightstick.
Now, AI superiority aside, I'm all for not having any direct advantages over the enemy (even if they get indirect advantages over you). But it feels ridiculous that the invasion of Sicily is supported by a squadron of 4 P-51s (with British markings). Didn't the Allies have thousands of planes at their disposal? Correct me if I'm wrong. All I know is I was met by over a dozen of Italian fighters (the pilots spoke German) on my own. There were some Allied planes around, but they seemed to observe the action, mostly, occasionally getting shot down.
So, campaign aside, the game is fun, and its flight dynamics are challenging. I might try more single missions or the training mode, where you can set up your own games, and fly any plane you want.
It's inevitable to compare this to IL-2 Sturmovik. I think the latter was a better game. I didn't have the same difficulty with the flight controls, and the enemies weren't as unforgiving. But then again, this could be subjective, if you've played both games please comment.
I might try out the multiplayer mode, but seeing as the game is fairly unknown, I'm afriad only die hard sim fans are playing it online, which wouldn't make it very beginner friendly. Maybe I'll add something about it later.
To sum it up, as a sim, it works. It feels pretty realistic. But as a game, meh. The storyline is crap, the missions often feel a little boring and not very dynamic (mostly go here shoot that). But I'm guessing most people who buy the game are looking for a simulator, and it lives up fairly well to its big brother, IL-2 Sturmovik's awesomeness, but it's not quite there.
*edit*
I should say I'm having some control problems. Since I started using the flight stick I bought (Saitek Cyborg X, which is crap but the only one at a reasonable price in stock anywhere in the country), I can't control the camera. This makes it impossible to look around for enemies. It's not that much of a problem, but annoying when attacking ground targets. I might change my mind about some things if I manage to fix it.
.