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| A Corsair begins a strafing run. |
Playing through the campaign will unlock new aircraft as you complete
missions you can then go back to any completed mission in the game and try it
again with the aircraft of your choice. You can even try to defend Pearl Harbor
with a Zero. Completing missions and optional objectives will also earn credits
that you can use to upgrade the existing aircraft in your fleet – for example,
upgrading a plane’s armament from four to six guns. This system works well
enough in the campaign game and it’s always fun to see which new aircraft are
available at the end of a mission, but there is one really big problem here.
Only planes unlocked in the campaign will be available to you online. So even if
you buy the game strictly for multiplayer play you’re going to have to play your
way through the campaign if you want to compete against the better planes flown
by other gamers. In this case it’s lucky that none of the missions in the
campaign are all that difficult and gaming veterans will be able to fly their
way through most missions on their first try.
The multiplayer game has a number of modes playable on Xbox Live. The basic
dogfight mode doesn’t work too well because they tend to degenerate into turning
parties. The players get locked in on each other’s tails and keep turning to try
and get a shot, but at the same time the other player is doing the same thing
and the planes circle each other until the game time runs out. For a real fun
time online it is far better to go with the flattop game. In this game each side
has a carrier and must try to sink the enemy’s carrier while protecting their
own. This mode brings both fighters and bombers into play and forces players to
fall into roles such as bomber, escort, or interceptor. It is really gratifying
to slip past the enemy’s defenses and drop the torpedo that sends their carrier
to the bottom of the sea.
Overall I had a lot of fun with the game. I really liked the work done to
give the game a 1940s feel and the overall quality of the game’s graphics. While
not as challenging as it could or should have been, it’s still an enjoyable
flight and is easily recommendable to anyone looking for a little aerial action.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
86%. Take to the skies for some good old fashioned dogfighting fun.
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