 Review By: Andrew Joy |
Developer: | Ubisoft |
| Publisher: | Ubisoft | |
| Genre: | Flight Action | |
| ESRB: | Teen | |
| # Of Players: | 1-2 (2-16 online) | |
| Online Play: | Yes | |
| Accessories: | PlayStation Network (online play), HDTV 720p | |
| Buy Now: |   |
Anyone who has been keeping an eye on the next-gen scene has likely heard of Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII. The game is certainly making its rounds, hitting the Xbox 360 last year, making its way to the PlayStation 3’s launch, and planned for the Wii, presumably to be released later this year. My first experience with the game came in the form of an Xbox 360 demo that came with a magazine. Yet another maudlin World War II game, albeit of the flight action variety, I didn’t necessarily think it was a bad game, but I wasn’t exactly impressed either. So, that said, you may be asking yourself why I decided to pick up the game for the PS3? In a word: SIXAXIS. Though I don’t yet own the Nintendo Wii myself, based on what I’ve heard, I believe it far outstrips the PlayStation 3 in terms of motion-sensing capabilities in a head-to-head comparison. No matter whether you are using the Wii-mote or the SIXAXIS (for those of you that don’t know, that’s the PS3’s tilt-sensitive controller), though, both have the ability to change the way we play most racing and flying games. Instead of using traditional analog sticks, players need only tilt and turn their controllers in order to steer their vehicles, be it a car or 40's era aircraft. However, while the SIXAXIS controls are actually done really well in Blazing Angels, the rest of the game literally crashes and burns...well, crash, at least.
But, perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself. For those of you who didn’t gather as much from the introduction (or, I don’t know, the title), Blazing Angles: Squadrons of WWII is set during, what else, World War II. When the game starts out, it is relatively early on – the Japanese have yet to sneak attack Pearl Harbor, so the U.S. has not fully committed to the war proper. But that doesn’t stop the American pilot you play as from getting in on the action, and as a rookie stationed in Dunkirk, you’ll visit theaters of war all over the world, from Britain, to North Africa, to Berlin. But the road to becoming a flying ace is a long one, and it’s not one easily traveled alone. Blazing Angels is filled with cutscenes; naturally, the ones at the beginning of each mission usually serve to set up where you are in the war, but the ones at the end generally serve as introductions to your various wingmen, telling you where they came from (the typical clichés, like a rural farm town), how you became friends (the typical clichés, like you saved their lives), and how they can help you. And, in order to succeed in the game, you’ll probably have to learn how to use them properly.
There are a variety of control methods in the game, and various functions such as the "follow camera" command, that get swapped around depending on which one you are using. But, for the most part, the major controls remain the same, such as your squadron commands, which are mapped to the D-pad. By pressing up, you can control your team as a whole, putting them on the offensive, defensive, or just reforming them. By pressing down, Tom, your shield, will use his Taunt ability, which causes enemies following you to turn their attention to him. If you press right, then Frank, your hunter, will use his Ace Attack and destroy a lot of enemies in a short amount of time. And, finally, Joe, your repairman, will, um, repair your ship. For the most part, I don’t mind the squad-based gameplay; in fact, it can be an important part of beating the game...with the exception of that last guy. When you use his Repair technique, a button combination appears onscreen, and you have to match it as best as possible. With varying degrees of success, you get varying degrees of your health restored, but by matching it perfectly, you can restore your ship to perfect working order, something which seems a little unfair to say the least.
For me, the first thing I did was switch over to the motion-sensitive controls as soon as I started Blazing Angels. They aren’t the default, and that is probably because flying with analog sticks makes the game much more accurate, but I didn’t pay $60 to play this game the same way I did on the Xbox 360. Besides, although they may be a bit more challenging to learn, not using the perfectly functional motion controls feels a bit like cheating (not unlike using Joe to heal your plane, but I digress). Since I’m advocating the motion controls, though, I’ll outline those. Most of the symbolized face buttons (with the exception of Triangle, which raises and lowers your landing gear) control some of your onscreen functions: Circle will focus your radar on the closest threat, X will switch to the next one, and Square will have your camera follow the selected threat, instead of being locked behind your plane.
Your front most triggers control your weapons, with R1 for your main weapon, and L1 controlling your secondary weapon, like missiles or bombs, if you have any. The rear triggers control your speed, with R2 speeding your plane up, and L2 slowing it down. Start pauses your game, select puts you into cockpit view (though you can’t control the plane from there, oddly), the left analog controls your camera in there, and your right analog stick will roll your plane (outside of cockpit view). Unfortunately, the game doesn’t explain how to perform some of the more essential actions, such as snapping a photo, launching a torpedo, or even just landing your plane. At least, not within the game - you can usually find it in the manual, but what sort of self-respecting gamer reads that? And, when you need the information suddenly, it really breaks up the gameplay to try and find it. If you’re renting, there is even the possibility the instruction book could be mangled or missing, so be prepared for a lot of trial and error.
Posted: 2007-01-13 09:07:04 PST