Reviewed: November 12, 2003
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
Microsoft Games

Developer
Fasa Studio

Released: October 21, 2003
Genre: Action
Players: 4 / 16
ESRB: Teen

9
10
9
10
9.5

Supported Features:

I had the chance to play the “old” Crimson Skies at the 2002 E3 Show and while it was a fun game it is certainly nothing like the game we will be discussing today. Last year, Crimson Skies was more arcadey; like Freaky Flyers without the racing, but after a year of redesign FASA has delivered the hottest flight combat game since Wing Commander.

Crimson Skies takes place in the 1930’s (think Indiana Jones), only these 30’s are in some sort of twisted alternate reality where airplanes and zeppelins have become the primary means of transportation. Considering the dated times there is a surprising amount of high-tech gadgetry including some killer plane designs and huge elaborate robotic bosses that will have you flashing back to Will Smith in the Wild Wild West.

Crimson Skies is deceptively clever in its presentation in that it makes you “think” you have this unprecedented freedom to play the game however you see fit. As you arrive at each new mission area you are free to fly about and choose from a variety of missions, races, and encounters as indicated by icons attached to buildings and other planes. Even though you are given the freedom to pick these in any order you wish you eventually have to work through most of them to advance to the next level, so there is no true plot branching going on here.

Where you are given surprising freedom is in the way you choose to complete many of your missions. You will often be charged with shooting down wave after wave of enemy fighters or defend a certain installation or escort a ship or zeppelin from point A to B. Often you can choose to fly a plane, mount up on a ground turret, or dock with your zeppelin and operate turrets from there. You will often have the option to cycle through numerous turrets, both on the ground or on a zeppelin, each providing new targeting opportunities and various types of weapons ranging from machines guns, artillery, and even guided missiles.

There are some minor RPG elements thrown into the gameplay in that you can earn new aircraft and upgrade those planes using upgrade tokens and cold cash. You earn cash by completing mission objectives and gambling on circuit races in each of the mission areas. Earning new aircraft is a bit deceptive in that you must locate a new plane on the ground, switch into it and return to the Pandora (your own zeppelin) to permanently add it to your carousel of planes.

You can never permanently lose a plane. If you die in combat you automatically restart at your last checkpoint in the plane you were flying at its last saved damage level. You can repair your plane by landing at the repair hangar or docking with the Pandora. Repairing at the Pandora is free but this option is usually locked out during a mission. You can also repair and rearm by shooting down enemies and picking up any health and ammo containers that jettison from the plane. The trick here is that they are slowly parachuting to the ground and you have to fly through them before they touch down.

Crimson Skies has some of the best controls of any flight game in the history of console flyers. The planes are incredibly fast and highly responsive using both sticks to execute simple and complex moves and even some combat combo moves. Clicking down on the right stick in combination with various positions of the twin sticks will perform all sorts of snap rolls, loops, hammerheads, and Immelmans that are great for avoiding enemy fire and reversing directions quickly.

There are ten planes to find and fly in the game including a tiny personal helicopter that is quite challenging to master but incredibly useful once you do. Each plane has a unique primary and secondary weapon but despite the wide selection I kept finding myself using the Devastator (the plane you start with) throughout most of the game. A few missions force you into other planes and a few times I consciously had to make myself pick a different plane just to mix things up, but the Devastator seemed more than capable of completing every mission where you had the chance to pick your own plane.

You can upgrade each plane one time. This will cost a certain amount of cash and use about a dozen or so upgrade tokens. These tokens (or flight wings) are scattered about the levels as pick-ups and are also awarded for completing some of the harder missions. The ones that are free for the taking are often very well hidden in canyons, caves, or well off the beaten path of the normal missions giving you a good excuse to fly around and enjoy the gorgeous scenery.

At first I was slightly bothered by the lack of a cockpit view, but I quickly adapted to the chase view and found it worked quite well. The D-Pad allows you to quickly look to either side or behind you, which is great for locating those Tokens and keeping an eye on any enemies who might be dropping in behind you. The only time the camera ever became a problem was in the end levels that have you flying through narrow interior passages and caves making blind 90-degree turns.

Textures are incredible whether they be the intricate plane surfaces that offer a metallic sheen and even reflect several stages of damage or the grass, rocks, and desert terrain. Of course the real show stealer is the amazing water effect that will have you drop your controller in stunned awe. The sunlight glistening off the waves is something out of a virtual postcard.

The CG movies are exquisite and maintain the same color pallet and textures of the game so they blend right in between the missions. The rest of the presentation consists of a nice opening movie cast in a sepia tone tint followed by parchment menus. The between-mission hub takes place onboard your zeppelin and lets you move between the mission area and the plane carousel that you can spin to choose your plane.

Interacting with other people, objects, and the environment during the game is all handled with clever icons that will change to a blue X when you get close enough. You can then talk to someone or start a mission or man a turret. It’s totally integrated into the interface and creates a seamless flow to the gameplay.

The voice acting is topnotch with all of the characters delivering their lines in classic pirate bravado. You get eccentric ramblings of the mad scientist, the thick accent of the Chicago gang lord or the Indian Chief, and the crazed ranting of the lunatic plotting to take over the city. There is also a good deal of radio chatter and peripheral dialog to round out the speech package.

The sound effects are where Crimson Skies really stands out starting with the amazing plane noises. Each plane has a distinctive hum and even those will change when you upgrade the planes. Weapons all sound excellent whether it’s the chattering machine gun, the boom of the shotgun, or the thunderous roar of artillery. Those of you with a good subwoofer had better nail down the china before you blow-up your first zepplin.

Playing Crimson Skies online is an experience that is not unlike the first time you played Quake, Unreal Tournament, Counterstrike or any other hugely popular online game you would care to name. This is one of those games that will send people running back to the store to purchase the Live Starter Kit. Crimson Skies even comes with a two-month free subscription to the service, although it will only take you two hours to become hopelessly addicted.

Crimson Skies supports every facet of the Xbox Live including Friends, Chat, Scoreboards, and Downloadable Content (even though none was available at the time of this review). Going up against 15 other pilots in some specially designed levels is an experience that words cannot do justice. There are all sorts of excellent game modes to choose from including the standard dogfight deathmatch, CTF, Keep Away, and Wild Chicken.

Most important, it was incredibly easy to get online, locate players and find games to join and the game ran flawlessly, even with a full pack of 16 pilots. There were a few visual hiccups but 99% of the time you would swear you were playing a local game. I’m definitely looking forward to new planes and hopefully new maps via the downloadable content feature, but even if they never added another thing to this game Crimson Skies has some of the best bang for your buck of any Xbox title going.

The single player game offers a compelling story and loads of challenging gameplay that will certainly prepare you for the challenges that are already waiting for you when you go online against real humans. Even if you decide not to enjoy the massive multiplayer content this is still one title that no Xbox owner should be without.