Crimson Skies - PC Game Review

Crimson Skies (CS) is probably the best thing to happen to PC flying games, for a long time. Until now, PC flying software was nearly only about simulation, in the sense that everyone was trying to sell the "most realistic flight model" and "the greatest physics". Of course that these "realism" claims weren't quite true, but no one dared to approach the market in a different way...

The consequences were too many software titles ruined by a flying engine applied to the wrong kind of environment. How about shorter playing areas, crammed with meaningful objects? How about being able to go firing your guns, not caring about chaffs and flares? How about being able to perform hard-on-the-Gs maneuvers, without red-outs and black-outs? That would probably be fun!

Flight simulators are easily some of my favorite titles, but I am far from being a fundamentalist and I love any kind of well written entertainment software, including many "unrealistic" proposals :)

CS is a flying game that departs from the simulation grounds and lands on the very entertaining world of N. Zachary, an air pirate, flying for fame and fortune! There is a true Zachary world and narrative supporting the game, with plenty of audio speeches, and great looking cut-scenes. The game itself is stunningly fast and visually rich, dropping you inside Zachary's plane (as Zachary), in order to perform many superb campaign missions.

Crimson Skies looks like a modern flight simulator, but plays without the burden of dozens of keyboard controls, with no certain death by a single shot, and allows fantasy missions that depart from real world politics, geography and technology. Forget about bombing Iraq - you'll start by kicking britons!, and everyone else, from american Boeing to russians, will know the taste of your bullets. Highly unusual! Highly addictive!

There is some political correctness in the missions, though - most of the adversaries you shoot down, will parachute themselves out of their burning planes, unless crashing against buildings, rocks, the ocean, etc... The same rules apply to yourself: you'll probably escape with life from a damaged beyond repair aircraft, should you remember to eject.

You start your career in "above the clouds", then its "the lost treasure @ Hawaii", and finally "the bomber heist @ Hawaii"... that is it, for the "Gipsy Magic" - your first mission. Second Mission is "Jumping Jane", and in order to complete it, you'll have to go through "the secret invasion", "the sinister sub", "union jack's revenge", "the red menace" and more... Yes, missions can run for a considerable amount of time, but I assure you'll never get bored.

Graphics are very good, with spectacular explosions, smoke, shadows, reflections and lighting of adjustable quality. The object's complexity is high but doesn't weight on the frame rate, at least on my system, running a Voodoo 5500 AGP, with dual FSAA (2 x Full Screen Anti Aliasing).

Sound is great and, for once, the music benefits the overall feeling. The epic tunes do remember the Errol Flynn corsair movies!

If force feedback (FF) matters, this is one of those very rare titles where FF doesn't cost tons of processor power (for example, in GP3, enabling FF will cost you ~25% of processor occupancy).

This is great fun. This game is a must! What a fresh thing to happen to my joystick!