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"Crimson Skies combines the heart-pumping action of air combat
with the swashbuckling feel of an Errol Flynn adventure movie."The game transports players to an alternate-reality 1937. The United States has been struck by the crushing blows of the Great Depression, the Great War, and Prohibition, resulting in mounting isolationism. The once-budding road and railway system has been destroyed, leaving the skies as the only means of transport and commerce. Militias in the north, south, east and west have formed rival independent nations in a fight for air supremacy. It is an era where swing my be king but pilots rule, a world where the guns are bigger, the planes are faster and the adventures more daring -- the world of Crimson Skies."
[Note: this preview is based on a pre-release beta version of the sim. The final version may be different in some details.]
began playing Crimson Skies with very high expectations. After seeing
some of the mistakes made in other games, such as Flight Simulator 2000, I
was hoping the same ones were not in Crimson Skies.
The setup is very simple. A series of 'yes' or 'no' questions, and I was ready to go. Game play is where it starts to get a little tricky. A player can either choose to fly one of Crimson Skies' missions or create one of his own. If he chooses the latter, he can select from 11 different aircraft. Also the player can choose his wingmen, and enemies (again, when creating his own mission). Each aircraft comes with its own unique panel, flight dynamics, weapon loadout, weights and price. One can fly anything, from twin engine, heavy bombers to single engine speedsters, and I found a feel for each type is quickly developed.
I can not even begin to describe the detail given to the scenery. Bullets and aircraft splash when they hit the water, trains and ships move about the terrain, trees and bushes dot the ground. This game has it all, which gives me very high hopes for FS2002. Now for my favorite part, the game's performance. What surprised me most is that even with the advanced scenery, it all ran perfectly smooth!
to load the game, and if the player forgets to center his trim, he can
nosedive into the ground right after the game begins. Then it is rather
discouraging to have to go back and start it all up again. Another
negative is the rather large and jerky pointer. It is cleverly shaped to
look like a leather glove, a nice touch, but I would trade it in for the
standard pointer just so I could position it on the button the first time
around. Also the player cannot choose the weather or the time of day.
This is a bit of a drawback when all one wants to do is sightsee. The
weather is very realistic though, much more so than on any of the current
flight simulators that I am familiar with.Natually, I don't want to give all of Crimson Skies' secrets away. I will say the positive elements far outnumbered the negatives, but you'll just have to find out for yourself what a great game this really is. Kudos to Microsoft and the development team at Zipper Interactive!
Test System:
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Dislikes:
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Adam Stanger
Visit
Microsoft's Crimson Skies support site.
emadstar@bainbridge.net