New upgrades and planes will be made available to you as you make your way
through the game, but they will cost you cash and upgrade tokens. Upgrade tokens
can be earned by completing missions, but you can also find some hidden around
the game’s levels. Just be prepared to do some fancy flying to snag them. Once
you have more than one plane in your collection you’re free to select your wings
before taking to the sky. The planes handle a little differently in terms of
speed and turning radius, and each has its own unique secondary weapon.
Different planes are suited to different roles, so choosing the right plane for
the job can make a mission a whole lot easier.
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| The final moments of a zeppelin. |
Each level comes with a set of missions, and more are unlocked as you complete
the initial missions. However there’s more to the game than the missions. Each
level is alive with air traffic, both hostile and neutral. You can try your luck
shooting down other aircraft or busting zeppelins and collecting the loot that’s
dropped when they are destroyed. You can even find new planes to steal if you
keep your eyes open. You’ll need to be careful when freelance fortune hunting
though, because the world of Crimson Skies is filled with many different nations
and factions and they’ll rush to protect one of their own under attack.
Crimson Skies is so much fun to play that you probably wouldn’t be too
disappointed if it didn’t support Xbox Live. Oh but it does, and playing Crimson
Skies against up to 15 other players is an absolute blast. There are both
individual and team dogfights, as well as team-based capture the flag type of
games. One of these capture the flag games even makes the flag mobile in the
form of a wild chicken. Each game is enjoyable in its own right, but the
excitement of free-for-all dogfights kept me coming back for more.
Graphically Crimson Skies is one great-looking game. Settings for levels include
a group of islands, the Desert Southwest, and a tropical jungle, and each is
filled with tunnels, hidden valleys and canyons, and is alive with air traffic.
My personal favorite is the level set in Chicago – a city of gleaming and
towering art-deco skyscrapers that is part Corricent and part Metropolis.
Chasing an enemy making right angle turns down city streets puts your flying
skills to the test and makes for some exciting dogfighting.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
95%. Every Xbox owner should take
off to the great crimson skies. It’s a beauty way to go.
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