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AeroWings 2: Air Strike
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It tastes a bit better the second time up - Review By Holy Hand Grenade
The Bad
I'd say it's just a bit too late to abort. |
The most glaring fault that players will find with this title is the fact
that there simply isn't enough to keep his/her interest for weeks, or even days. Players will be able to complete the majority of the
earlier Fighter Pilot Missions and Tactical Challenges with high passing
grades within a couple of days, and they'll probably even replay quite a few
along the way just for the sake of getting a slightly better performance.
Unfortunately, the later missions in both modes are a different story. Some
are so difficult and frustrating that I suspect most players, upon completing them, won't have the desire to try again for a better score. One of the main causes of
this frustration is the lack of a capable wingman; yes, you do have one, but he does absolutely nothing in the way of helping the mission. In fact, I've never even seen him come
close to locking on to an opponent! In addition, for those players that are
not hard core sim players, the staunch realism of the flight model adds a
certain level of frustration. Inexperienced players will be unable to maneuver as quickly as desired into the proper position. It's a case of knowing where you want
to go, but getting there is a problem. I must admit that I spent more than a few hours doing doughnuts while I tried to find a way to consistently get behind the computer opponents. After extended play, this all leads to an experience that starts to lack enjoyment and induce frustration.
The VS and Free Flight modes really don't do a whole lot to help
increase the longevity, either. Two player rounds are limited
to the use of only one map and one mode of play, dog fighting. The action
isn't intense, much less fun, and most players will probably lose interest
within a few moments. Free Flight mode does allow the player to
simply fly around at their leisure and take in the sights, or dogfight up
to two computer-controlled opponents in any of the seven selectable maps
(with weather variations), but yet again I can't see this lasting too long.
Up close, the ground's lack of detail becomes apparent. |
If you've noticed, I didn't say much about the graphics in "The Good", sans
the plane models, and that's for good reason. Although some effort has been
made to make the ground more visually appealing, its quality is nowhere near
that of the plane models themselves. Although mip-mapping has effectively
been employed to combat the effect of pixel shimmer on distant objects, and a
few polygonal buildings exist to spruce up the rather flat landscape, overall the
ground detail leaves a lot to be desired, especially when viewed at
close range. Buildings "pop in" at alarmingly close distances, and the
overly-stretched ground textures don't do a satisfactory job of hiding the
fact that the majority of the ground has no physical features at all. The smoke trails emitted from missiles and their resultant explosions could also use a little work, as neither look terribly realistic.
Maybe with Dreamcast 2 we'll see some photorealistic landscapes and special effects, but for now things are looking decidedly low-tech.
Like most areas of the graphics, the sound (excepting the above-average voice
acting) is another area that's somewhat lacking. I am by no means an expert
on how these planes sound from the cockpit, but I've been to enough air
shows to know that these things have a really booming, crackling sound to
them as they pass by, which is completely missing here. The stuff
that's there isn't terrible per say, as it gets the job done, but every sample
seems to suffer from the "Saturn Virtua Fighter 2 syndrome" of sounding a
little hollow. Also, I believe the developers were trying to stay true to
Top Gun when they decided to make most of the music tracks 80's style guitar rock. It may appeal to some, but I would rather turn down.
Lastly, there's a strange annoyance with some of the replay cameras, which tend to bounce and
jerk around. It's almost as if someone was filming the planes with a hand held camcorder, ala The Blair Witch Project.
Weird.
The Final Word
There are some real challenges and interesting missions here for those of you
who are console flight sim enthusiasts (yes, all three of you).
However, the average player will probably feel as though they've gotten all there is to be had out of the game's single player missions after
only a few days of playing, and unfortunately the VS Mode isn't really successful in adding any notable replay value. If you're the type of
technical gamer who draws enjoyment out of perfection, or you just love the chance to fly realistic jets, then your mileage may vary. But for everyone
else, a 5-day rental will allow you to get just about all there is to get out of AeroWings 2.
Developer: CRI
Publisher: Crave
Genre: Simulation
Highs: Enjoyable gameplay (while it lasts), great plane models.
Lows: Not enough substance, mediocre landscapes, underwhelming sound, sometimes frusterating.
Other: 1-2 players, VMU Compatible (10 blocks), VGA Box Compatible, Jump Pack Compatible.
Media:
Intro (MPEG) - The intro features various planes leisurely tossing missles at each other, and is way too long for its own good. [Big (23.9M)] - [Med (12.9M)] - [Small (2.7M)]
Gameplay 1 (MPEG) - A peaceful flight over a serene South Seas island goes horribly wrong. [Big (11.2M)] - [Med (6M)] - [Small (1.3M)]
Gameplay 2 (MPEG) - A 2 player "dogfight." Most of the time is spent just approaching the other player. [Big (11.7M)] - [Med (6.3M)] - [Small (1.3M)]
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Final Score:
(out of a possible 10)
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