Savage Skies

BAM! and iRock invite you to fly the unfriendly skies on a winged beast of burden in this heavy metal fantasy.

There was a time, not too long ago, when this dragon-riding shooter went by the title Ozzy?s Black Skies. In those days, the game starred a former Black Sabbath frontman turned unlikely sitcom family man, and followed an esoteric concept-album theme in which the game?s three campaigns and 30 missions were flighty interpretations of different phases in Ozzy?s career.

But that was another time. Now this Ozzy-less shooter is left to fly without its metal muse, and its concept-album theme suddenly is left to stand on its own two feet without looking silly. Now imagine characters from Panzer Dragoon as rabid fans of Heavy Metal magazine hanging out at the Renaissance Faire not looking silly.

Paranoia
Savage Skies? strength lies in its varied structure. Mission types range from simple destroy-the-convoy affairs to more elaborate prince-kidnapping schemes, and each stage (there are 30, spread through three different campaigns?one for each warring "race") has a nice set of secondary and "secret" objectives that unlock bonus modes and new levels if successfully completed?a great way to bolster replay value. But beware: Even the "easiest" Virtwyn campaign quickly ramps up to a frustrating difficulty level.

Each of the 20-plus flying mounts have totally different powers at their disposal, keeping the fun dragon-dogfights at the game?s heart constantly fresh. Guiding your winged thingies is quite smooth once you?re airborne, though awkward weapon button layouts tend to make maintaining velocity while locking on targets kind of obnoxious.

Fairies Wear Boots
The game?s graphics are okay?the environments are a tad monotonous, and things get glitchy when you fly too close to terrain?though some pretty nifty supernatural fireworks and FX make a big impression on the retina. And yes, the fantasy-metal theme seems a little out of place without Ozzy Osbourne?s esoteric presence?though the soundtrack probably took the biggest hit in Ozzy?s departure as the once-planned Ozzy-penned tracks have been replaced by a slew of generic-but-proficient 1980s metal soundalikes.

Yet even without technical polish or a heavy-metal-god-turned-MTV-sitcom-dad for a spokesman, Savage Skies finds a way to creep up your spine?and proves that a little diversity goes a long way.

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