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| A battle-scarred biplane. |
The other two modes, strafing and bombing, use a top down camera that gives
you a view of your plane and the ground beneath. The strafing mode camera
view is at an angle, while in bombing mode it is a 2D, straight down view.
These modes are not nearly as much fun as the dogfight missions even though they
give you a lot more to shoot at. The primary problem is that it is
difficult to aim your guns and bombs when trying to take out targets, giving the
shooting a somewhat random feel. The strafing missions provide a bit more
action as more of the targets tend to be moving and you have unlimited
ammunition. This is not the case in the bombing missions, where your bombs
are limited, the targets static, and the map size is a lot smaller.
When a mission ends, you are given some statistics on your performance and
rated on the number of mission objectives completed. Perform well and you
may be given a promotion, which includes a few skill points to improve your
pilot. Perform poorly and you may receive a reprimand or be drummed out of
the core and sent to the trenches. One interesting aspect of the campaign
is that you can create several pilots and use them all during the course of the
campaign. If you should lose your pilot, then you can still continue the
campaign with another. You can select a pilot before each mission, so you
can switch between them as the campaign progresses to ensure that each pilot
builds up his skills.
Missions in the campaign are grouped into operations. Complete an
operation, and the missions in that operation become available for play outside
of the campaign. Completing operations also gives you a bonus mission in
which you can try to unlock ace pilots for use in the multiplayer game.
Speaking of multiplayer, you can dogfight with up to four players using link
cables. There are three game types, a free-for-all fight, a team-based
match, and a game in which each player must protect a balloon while trying to
destroy the balloons belonging to other players.
If the game were strictly dogfighting it might get boring after a while.
Even though the strafing and bombing missions are not as much fun as the
dogfights, they do provide for some variety during the campaign. However,
the way these modes are implemented prevents them from standing on their own.
Overall, wings does provide some enjoyable arcade, flying action, but its
staying power will depend on how much interest you have in biplane duels.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
74%. A fun World War I shooter.
Its arcade style dogfights provide enjoyment, but the whole thing may begin to
get repetitive after a while.
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