Aerowings
- January 01, 2000 00:00 AM PST
Want to fly into the wild blue yonder, up above where all things are free? What are you, some kind of idiot? You'd better fly right, flyboy, because Aerowings leaves no room for pilots with their heads in the clouds.
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Winging It
Aerowings is as close to a flight sim as the uninitiated want to get. In the game, you pilot a series of aircraft through some very difficult maneuvers, turning barrel rolls, Cuban rolls, loop de loops, and more. You are given a short training course before each mission that gives you some basic help, and an unlimited amount of chances to complete each mission.
What's the payoff for all the hard work? More missions of course. And although the increasingly difficult missions will definitely burn a hole through your thumb pads, it's not long before you're yearning for some solo flight action, maybe bombing a few installations or dog-fighting through bullet-laden skies with the thrilling boom of anti-aircraft fire all around you. Well kiss that scenario goodbye, because there is no fighting in Aerowings. It wants to draw players in with the synchronized graceful ballet of its aeronautic expertise. That makes the game as thrilling as watching Top Gun and deleting all the scenes involving artillery.
Wing and a Prayer
The graphics don't do much, with the clean far-sighted scenery you'd expect in a flight sim. You never get close enough to objects to appreciate the detail, and the standard HUD doesn't exactly break new ground. The only graphic delight are the cargo load full of camera angles available for replay that let you see your good work in a number of fascinating ways.
Sonically, the game bings and bangs, but never booms. There's some jet roar, lots of cockpit chatter (and not all helpful), and all the attendant bells and whistles, like altitude warning buzzers and proximity alarms. Rocking music and better vocal direction would have helped.
Aero's an Acrobat
You'd better forget your ears and exercise those thumbs, because the music is the least of your worries. The tight controls are exact and unrelenting, and leave little room for error. You think its easy busting out the barrel roll? Think again. You're scored on how well you get through specific points in each maneuver, and you need a passing score of at least 70 to go on to the next trick. Every move takes a few passes before you master it, and you'll find yourself satisfied with average scores just to move on in the game (although you can always go back and replay any mission to improve your scores).
Flight jockeys that love games like Pilot Wings will certainly feel at home around Aerowings flight deck, while hardcore flight simmers that are used to all the complicated controls and myriad gear-handling of PC flight games may find the game a little too wussy-ish. The real test is whether or not casual gamers can get through all the training without the severe need to blow something up. If they do, they may find themselves down on the Delta.
