A Good Game, That is Made Great With X-Box Live.
User Rating: 8.8 | Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge XBOX
I have never been a huge fan of the Flight Combat Sim Games, I bought Crimson Skies because I simply could not pass up on an X-Box Title that got so much praise heaped upon it by review after review, Upon playing the single player mode, I was very impressed. A Well done story mixed with a wide varity of missions made this game a fixture within my X-Box for at least a few solid weeks. Some of the missons were so impressive I simply had to play them again, although some were soooooo boring that I was glad they were over, but I will say this the missions in this game offer something for almost EVERYONE, and that speaks volumes for the game. The Online play brought this game to a new place. 16 players all online at the same time, I was just floored, for a title that I was not expecting much from I was very impressed. Come for the Single Player, Stay for the online play. From a Gameplay stance, its was very easy to pick up. Considering the last "Plane Game" I really played was UN Squadron for SNES saying that it was easy to learn for me is no small feat, I found the response from the game was very well done, and from controlling a Plane to a Turret the game was entertaining and easy to follow. The response is quick and that is a factor that has more then come in handy when it comes to online play and many of the dogfights that I had online where 15 other planes are zipping by. Graphically, I couldn't ask for more from a game of this type, the planes look great your enemies look great (But Generic sometimes) and the background sky and ground looks amazing, to a point where flying toward the ground seems rather realistic with the rate that the landscape comes toward you as you come barreling down. I found the fight scenes to be very well done with almost no errors of misques, Each one of your planes has a cool unique look to it that really does ward off any of the "Blahs" that other games of this sort may end up giving you. Even the scenes that advance the storyline are well done, the characters are all given a nice look and really are easy on the eyes in the less action filled story aspects of this game. The one aspect that simply blew my mind was sound, Online 15 other planes with my speakers all humming away at a very nice volume makes me feel like I am in the game. The battle sound effects are almost worth the price of the game alone. The music was really a nice touch and went very well with the pace of the game, you can truly tell that alot of effort was put into the soundtrack selection and it really benefits the gamer by really improving the gaming experience. Not a flaw worth mentioning, a 10 plain and simple Now we move into the "Value" aspect of the review and here as always I rate the game by two methods, the Play Value, which is basically, is the game good enough to keep my playing till the end, and Replay Value, Ok I am done, do I ever see myself playing this again? The Play Value is fantastic, good story that kept me playing alot of missions I could see myself playing again but the reality is that the game itself can be completed in 15-20 hours by most gamers, but for those who have X-Box Live its ENDLESS. Replay Value, Its ok, I still replay the odd mission, but Live makes it all the better, Overall, For those gamers who don't have Live its a good game, although I am not sure if its worth the purchase price considering, if you have Live this simply is a must own.
