It’s true: I had the fortune of playing a combat flight simulator. They come along less often than world wars, so getting to play one, good or bad, is usually a privilege. To back this up, the last time I played one was … I can’t remember. So it was a privilege to play Wings of Prey. But that doesn’t really answer whether it’s good or bad, does it? Putting it simply: it’s not good … it’s great.
The thing I noticed most of all is that it didn’t put emphasis on the simulation side of things. Usually developers seem to focus solely on the detailed strategic gameplay and all other elements suffer. I guess that’s why the simulation field isn’t exactly renowned for its graphics and such. When I noticed this, I thought the simulation side of things would inevitably suffer. That wouldn’t be a bad thing, it would have been quite a nice balance but the simulation is still top notch, which is quite a hard thing to accomplish.
Once you load up this game, you’ll be happy to know there are a bunch of tutorials, which cover every element of the game. With a soothing voiceover, on-screen instructions and a do-it-at-your-own-pace nature, they were a welcome addition to the game and allowed me to jump right into some serious battles after only a half hour of training.
And the battles are where this game becomes truly intense. The immediate thing I noticed here is the enemy AI. The planes you’ll fight are intelligent and realistic making for some excellent battles. Not only is AI smart at attacking, but also the developer has incorporated some shrewd defensive tactics into the game to make for some intense fighting.
Another thing that really stands out for me is the controls, and the ease of controlling the crafts without bordering on simple. With a basic control interface and intuitive on-screen help, gracefully weaving your way around other planes whilst shooting down your enemy offers a fresh challenge, but gives enough time to admire your handiwork as you won’t be too busy perfecting the flight path.
The campaign, which I was expecting to be lacking, has turned out quite well, with some interesting events and some spectacular moments. The thing that impresses me most is the fact that the campaign battles are taken from past battles that happened throughout history. Not only that, but the name of the battle wasn’t just slapped across the mission summary, these battles were well researched and detailed.
There are flaws to this game, however. One of which is the yuplay.com service. Yuplay is how the multi-player is handled and it’s awful. I had some terrible connection issues throughout my time online, lag made a regular appearance and prior to all of this came the hellacious account setup.
Once you actually do manage to find a game where you’re free of all the yuplay.com hassle, you’ll fondly remember the great feeling you got when playing through the campaign, except it’ll be slightly more realistic. The only other peeve I have with the multi-player is the fact it is leaned further towards the arcade side of things as opposed to simulation. Whilst the blend was perfect in the campaign, the multi-player just didn’t offer enough for me.
Graphically, the game is really impressive. The planes are detailed enough to amaze you and they have all of the features you’d expect from these old type crafts. The background quality of the graphics is, for once, amazingly detailed as well. When you can see individual trees engulfed in smoky explosions whilst you shoot from high up in the air, you’ll agree with me there.
Packaged together nicely with amazing sound quality of detailed aeroplane noises and impressive battle cries that is sometimes spoiled due to an annoying score, you’ll be pleased with this game whether you’re a simulation buff or arcade shooter. This game has raised the bar in combat flight simulators, and even if the genre were more populated, I wouldn’t have any doubt that statement would still stand.
[review pros="Great simulation/arcade balance; amazing graphics" cons="Annoying multi-player" score="86"]
