Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII Review (no fat)

by Ubisoft Platform: Xbox360 Genre: Flight-Sim	ESRB Rating: Rating Pending Release: 2006-03-23	Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII Features: Xbox Live compatible Realistic flight simulator graphics Multiplayer/Co-op options Sharp environments
	Egamer's Rating: 5 / 10. Reviewed on: 2006-04-05

Game Description

The first of it’s kind for the Xbox 360, Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII slowly crashes and burns. The game is a standard cut-and-paste war flight simulator, hitting gamers with streams of objectives that aren’t even challenging. Basically gamers defend targets, drop lots of bombs, shoot some missiles and mark their territory in a few dogfights.

While Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII does not necessarily stand out from all of the other flight simulating games available on the market, it does present some nice features to play around with…you just have to make up your mind if that’s enough to merit a buy though.

Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII Gameplay

You start out as an American Squadron leader helping out the British pilots. You will meet up with your squad mates later, now it is the time for your training. Once the training is complete, gamers meet their squadron, and their journey begins.

While the squadron buddies up, the game whips them around to all of the major battles of the WWII era. Sometimes the squad flies together, and sometimes they do not. Either way, the squadron is always accessible to each other to defend or give advice. Each of the four squadron members that the gamer commands has a special ability to help the gamer along an already too easy game.

Flight control during gameplay is kept pretty easy. The camera view can be pretty disorienting at times, but it is a cinch to straighten out your plane and gain a view of your surroundings so you can jump right back into the battle. Just remember that the throttle is on the right joystick and you control your movements with the left, fire with the right trigger and you are all set.

Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII – Missions

The missions are as standard as the gameplay. There are 18 campaign missions that the player has to “fly” through, and a set of mini campaigns that are available after the game is beaten. Throughout all of the missions, the same standard applies. Shoot at every enemy plane and boat, fly around, and then do it all over again. Blazing Angels brings nothing new to the table in the missions department.

Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII – Multiplayer Options

The multiplayer capabilities are the highlight of the game. Players can play online via Xbox Live or play co-op with up to four other players via the link up. Online, up to 16 other players can hash it out with aerial dog fights or team up in 10 extra missions that are available for online play. If gamers are linking up with friends, four players can play co-op on a split screen. Over all, the multiplayer mode is where gamers will find the most action and entertainment.

Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII – Graphics

Ultimately, the best part of Blazing Angels lies in the stunning graphics. Realistic views of WWII aircraft and battle sites in France, Tokyo, Pearl Harbor and others give this game a breather from the dull gameplay. The breathtaking cinematic cut scenes remind gamers of old war movies and the good old days.

The only downfall of Blazing Angels in the graphics department is that the enemy planes look extremely small from afar. This normally would not be a problem, but the enemy planes are surrounded by red brackets. So from afar, all you see is a sea of red brackets coming at you, instead of actual planes which takes away the visual pleasure the rest of the game manages to provide.

Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII – Audio

The audio in Blazing Angels is another highlight. The heroic sound track and the realistic audio of the explosions and gun fire would pull any gamer deep into the game if there was any depth to be had. If you have surround sound turned on, it sounds as if you are actually living in the scene, and hearing the sounds as if they were actually happening. However, the chatter of the Japanese enemies almost sounds like they are racist, and is bound to raise some eyebrows with a few gamers.

Final Verdict

If you love flight simulators, and have access to Xbox live, then give Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII a go. If you want something different then the standard war game where there is a lot of shooting missiles while flying, then continue on your hunt…this one isn’t the answer. The game is not anywhere near worthy of the $59.99 price tag.