Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge Hands-On Impressions

We were able to spend some time with Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge for the Xbox at Gen Con Indy 2003 and to appreciate the game's simplified controls, which will resemble those of a fast-paced arcade game much more than they will an orthodox flight simulation. The game's basic movement controls simply include a throttle button, an air brake button, and steering using the left analog stick. However, the game will also feature a number of "special move" aerial maneuvers, such as the Immelmann (basically a loop maneuver that lets you turn back and fire at your pursuers), barrel rolls, and others, which you can perform using combinations of the right and left analog sticks (some maneuvers will require you to push the right stick into the gamepad). Performing a special move will consume some of your ship's special move meter, though this meter recharges fairly quickly. The game will also feature other advanced control options, such as an enemy locator, which will briefly change your camera view to focus on a nearby enemy when you press the black button on the Xbox gamepad.

We watched the opening level of the game, which serves as both an introduction to the game's 1930s drama-movie-style story and an introduction to the gameplay mechanics, which are laid out in a basic mission that requires you to first follow a wingman, then shoot down some enemy targets.

We were also able to spend some time with the multiplayer version of the game, which supports up to four players per game using a split-screen view on the same TV. The game will also feature Xbox Live support, including an "optimatch" feature that will help you find a good match against players with comparable network connections, similar to MechAssault. The game will feature four different multiplayer modes, including team-based and free-for-all versions of deathmatch, a keep-away mode, a capture-the-flag mode, and a new team mode entitled "wild chicken," in which players must capture an actual chicken (which is much smaller than the fighter planes and is therefore a hard target to pick up) and deliver it to their home base to score points. Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge is scheduled for release later this year.