Blast foes out of the sky in a number of different planes using a variety of weapons!
To begin with, if you have played Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, you have basically already played this game. Although not a complete rip-off, it does borrow a lot of basic elements from that classic flying game. This game puts you in the seat of a WW1 era plane and tasks you with a number of different objectives, most of which can be completed using a combination of aerobatic maneuvers, blazing machine-guns, and several different powerful secondary weapons. Although the single-player campaign is short, there are a number of different mission types to complete, including dogfighting, shooting down enemy planes with a stationary turret, and taking down a giant zeppelin, just to name a few. Some mission types, such as following Charlie Brown as he zooms through an area, don't even require any shooting and showcase the silky-smooth aerial controls that make flying in the game such a blast, while also being very intuitive.
Beyond the single-player campaign, you are also free to take to the unfriendly skies of Xbox Live and blast real people out of the air using a number of different Peanuts characters, all of whom you can customize the plane, paint job, and weapons for. Beyond the simple, yet chaotic Dogfight mode where you simply shoot down enemies either alone or with a team, there is also a mode called Dogpile where you struggle to maintain control of a bone (also team-based or free-for-all), as well as Pigskin, where you play an aerial version of American Football, and a Capture the Flag mode. All of these modes are a blast to play and rarely feature any lag. At the time of this writing, tons of people are playing online, making it very easy to find a game to play that usually contains the full 16 players.
However fun this game is to play, there are a couple of issues that I feel I should mention. Firstly, the single-player campaign is very short and easy on the default "Cadet" difficulty. Although there is a "Veteran" difficulty as well, the only incentive to replay the campaign levels comes from obtaining a higher score and achievement points. Additionally, although the different planes seem fairly well balanced, the weapons are not. Playing online for even a short amount of time will make it incredibly obvious which weapons are the most powerful, making the online experience a bit repetitive, as nearly everyone uses the same 3 weapons and usually the heavier, harder to kill planes.
Despite a couple of minor drawbacks, this game is a fantastic romp through the skies, both online and off, although you will likely get more play-time out of the multiplayer than the single-player. Just be sure to watch out for the Red Baron!