VG Aficionado
11-30-2006, 04:18 PM
Blazing Angels Final Impressions (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/748/748180p1.html)
With but mere weeks before its release, we take the final build for a test flight.
by Chris Roper
November 29, 2006 - Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII is nearly ready for takeoff on the PlayStation 3. The game was originally released this past March on the Xbox, Xbox 360 and PC, but it made its way back to the hanger for a few upgrades before prepping for its PS3 flight. We have the final review build here in the office, and while we can't comment on its full transition to the PS3, we can tell you a bit about what we've played so far.
We managed to sit behind the throttle for a handful of different missions, including some based during and directly after Pearl Harbor. The game opens with a rather simple but instructive tutorial mission. After buzzing over a church a few times, destroying a handful of weather balloons and dropping a bunch of fliers into town, you're dropped directly into a small skirmish where you need to protect another pilot. Easy stuff, but it works well as an introduction.
http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/748/748180/blazing-angels-squadrons-of-wwii-20061129053157621-000.jpg
The first main mission we checked out is called Dunkirk Evacuation. The setup here is that the Germans have pressed against a number of British and French troops and are preventing their evacuation. Your job is to jump in and take out as many of the Luftwaffe as possible so that the Allies are able to escape. It's basically a simple dogfight through most of the mission with a few small boats to take out at the end, though there's a lot of action herein.
Day of Infamy is Pearl Harbor and takes place at what seems to be about halfway through the game. Not even on the runway, you must start your plane from inside a hangar and then navigate through an onslaught of gunfire as you attempt to takeoff from wherever you can. It's certainly a hectic opening, and the mission doesn't soon let up. As the Japanese strafe over the base, much of the action is situated close to the ground so you have to carefully manage your elevation while unleashing fire.
The last mission we tried is entitled Surprise Attack. This immediately follows Day of Infamy and is set up as a retaliation with you and two companions flying low and under cover to take out a series of Japanese carriers and gunships. Right after you disembark from your aircraft carrier, you need to weave in and out of the undulations of a small island as you make your way towards the fleet. If you stray too far, you'll be discovered and the mission ends. Once you arrive at the fleet, you don't have a whole lot of help at your side, making for a tricky scenario.
http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/748/748180/blazing-angels-squadrons-of-wwii-20061129053156403-000.jpg
As you have a number of wingmen at your disposal at any time, you're able to issue them commands via the D-Pad. You can tell them to stay in formation, go off on their own and take out the nearest enemy, or play defensively and go after whoever is the biggest threat to you personally.
One of the unique aspects of Blazing Angels is its SIXAXIS control option. Much like Warhawk, you're able to control your aircraft's pitch and yaw by tilting the controller while the shoulder buttons work your throttle and guns. This control method works okay, but it's not as responsive as using the left analog stick to control your flight. It sometimes seems a little unresponsive if you're turning full-throttle in one direction and then try to pitch forward or back - you occasionally need to jiggle it a bit to make it register. We only tried it for a short while, so we'll have to see how it holds up over the course of the whole game when we sit down for the full review.
Screenshots (http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/848/848835/imgs_1.html)
Videos (http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/848/848835/vids_1.html)
Regarding motion sensing control: we've seen a number of games on both PS3 and Wii with motion sensing support which response seems to suffer from an intentional lag. As far as I know, the response can be immediate on the sixaxis (check this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afMRIMvgEZE)) and I think it is the case with PS3's downloadable games, but I believe gameplay decisions are made so that the lag is intentionally added in order to avoid too sensitive controls that would react at the slightest tilting. I guess there's no tech issue that prevents the response from being immediate otherwise. I'd love to know whether PS3 games could feature both laggy and immediate response.
With but mere weeks before its release, we take the final build for a test flight.
by Chris Roper
November 29, 2006 - Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII is nearly ready for takeoff on the PlayStation 3. The game was originally released this past March on the Xbox, Xbox 360 and PC, but it made its way back to the hanger for a few upgrades before prepping for its PS3 flight. We have the final review build here in the office, and while we can't comment on its full transition to the PS3, we can tell you a bit about what we've played so far.
We managed to sit behind the throttle for a handful of different missions, including some based during and directly after Pearl Harbor. The game opens with a rather simple but instructive tutorial mission. After buzzing over a church a few times, destroying a handful of weather balloons and dropping a bunch of fliers into town, you're dropped directly into a small skirmish where you need to protect another pilot. Easy stuff, but it works well as an introduction.
http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/748/748180/blazing-angels-squadrons-of-wwii-20061129053157621-000.jpg
The first main mission we checked out is called Dunkirk Evacuation. The setup here is that the Germans have pressed against a number of British and French troops and are preventing their evacuation. Your job is to jump in and take out as many of the Luftwaffe as possible so that the Allies are able to escape. It's basically a simple dogfight through most of the mission with a few small boats to take out at the end, though there's a lot of action herein.
Day of Infamy is Pearl Harbor and takes place at what seems to be about halfway through the game. Not even on the runway, you must start your plane from inside a hangar and then navigate through an onslaught of gunfire as you attempt to takeoff from wherever you can. It's certainly a hectic opening, and the mission doesn't soon let up. As the Japanese strafe over the base, much of the action is situated close to the ground so you have to carefully manage your elevation while unleashing fire.
The last mission we tried is entitled Surprise Attack. This immediately follows Day of Infamy and is set up as a retaliation with you and two companions flying low and under cover to take out a series of Japanese carriers and gunships. Right after you disembark from your aircraft carrier, you need to weave in and out of the undulations of a small island as you make your way towards the fleet. If you stray too far, you'll be discovered and the mission ends. Once you arrive at the fleet, you don't have a whole lot of help at your side, making for a tricky scenario.
http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/748/748180/blazing-angels-squadrons-of-wwii-20061129053156403-000.jpg
As you have a number of wingmen at your disposal at any time, you're able to issue them commands via the D-Pad. You can tell them to stay in formation, go off on their own and take out the nearest enemy, or play defensively and go after whoever is the biggest threat to you personally.
One of the unique aspects of Blazing Angels is its SIXAXIS control option. Much like Warhawk, you're able to control your aircraft's pitch and yaw by tilting the controller while the shoulder buttons work your throttle and guns. This control method works okay, but it's not as responsive as using the left analog stick to control your flight. It sometimes seems a little unresponsive if you're turning full-throttle in one direction and then try to pitch forward or back - you occasionally need to jiggle it a bit to make it register. We only tried it for a short while, so we'll have to see how it holds up over the course of the whole game when we sit down for the full review.
Screenshots (http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/848/848835/imgs_1.html)
Videos (http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/848/848835/vids_1.html)
Regarding motion sensing control: we've seen a number of games on both PS3 and Wii with motion sensing support which response seems to suffer from an intentional lag. As far as I know, the response can be immediate on the sixaxis (check this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afMRIMvgEZE)) and I think it is the case with PS3's downloadable games, but I believe gameplay decisions are made so that the lag is intentionally added in order to avoid too sensitive controls that would react at the slightest tilting. I guess there's no tech issue that prevents the response from being immediate otherwise. I'd love to know whether PS3 games could feature both laggy and immediate response.