Flying Heroes
- May 23, 2000 00:00 AM PST
Flying Heroes combines the fantasy aerial combat of Drakan with Quake-style arena deathmatch, resulting in a game that, despite a few shortcomings, looks great and is surprisingly addictive.
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In the fantasy realm of Hesperia, an endless war is being fought amongst the various tribes of the region. In order to stop the bloodshed, the great emperor Atlanton II establishes a tournament of Air Battles to allow the clans to display their might in a series of arena-style combat exhibitions. It's an intriguing story, but none of that really matters because Flying Heroes is all about the combat.
The focus of the game is the Career mode, a ladder-style tournament where players compete for cash to buy better weapons and vehicles. Unlike Career modes in other games, the upgrades increase in cost very quickly, and many seem almost unattainable. However, the rewards increase as the game progresses, and after a few failed attempts you will have earned enough money to purchase the upgrades necessary for success.
Battles take place in various arenas, both indoors and outdoors, with power-ups scattered about, including Speed, Invisibility, and Mask, which makes your vehicle invulnerable to enemy attacks for a short time. Most of the battles are Deathmatch style with mission-based levels and Tag games in between to add some variation.
The attractive maps occasionally rival Unreal Tournament, and they sport nice details like flowing rivers and hidden caves, though some indoor levels can be overly dark. The weapons and vehicles, from the bat-like dragons of the Lizard Riders to the Jules Verne-style dirigibles of the Hammercraft clan, look good and enhance the fantasy setting. The character portraits, on the other hand, are a little cheesy and the low-res cut-scenes are rather ugly. The euro-techno music won't appeal to all players, but it works well in the background.
On the downside, the default control setup isn't ideal, and though some of the keys can be remapped, others can't, which defeats the purpose. It's a better idea to try to get used to the original configuration. Also, some early battles can be frustrating, when enemy ships somehow seem more powerful than your own. And when you're behind, the announcer has a tendency to shout, "Wake up, loser," which isn't amusing and only seems to add to the frustration. Some of the translations are unintentionally humorous and the enemy banter during battles is often ridiculous, with exclamations like, "Now you try to shoot me."
While Flying Heroes may not have the instant appeal of Unreal Tournament or Quake III: Arena, players who are looking for an alternative to those games and are willing to overlook a few imperfections, should give it a spin.
