s I rocketed through the clouds down into the eye of a tornado, I suddenly realized that my heart was racing, I had been holding my breath for the last 20 seconds, my hands were tensing up, and perspiration was forming above my brow. If this tautness persisted any longer, I’d likely keel over within the next minute or two.
Now, you’re probably sitting there wondering why I’m giving a game that I claim to be a white-knuckle thrillride such a mediocre rating. As it turns out, tension-filled moments like the one that I’ve just described are spread apart by hours of mindless aerial combat that will likely lull you to sleep.
It’s not the prettiest game in the skies, either. In fact, saying that it resembles an airborne flaming garbage heap isn’t too far off of the mark. Where the assortment of craft show intricate detailing in their designs, the texture of the terrain, and effects accompanying explosions can most accurately be termed pixelated abominations.
To this day, I still find myself floored by the fact that the game has over 130 different playable craft. It’s like the Pokémon of the friendly skies! Many of these vessels are similar in design, but the majority of them either control differently or feature different armor types and payload sizes. Old-fashioned World War II craft, new-age stealth fighters, and even vehicles from Konami’s classic arcade shooter Gradius can all be unlocked and piloted. In this regard, the game simply radiates replay.
Given how shoddy the controls in the previous two entries in the series have been, I actually like how this follow-up plays. The Novice control set is a little too tight for my liking, but the Expert scheme proves to be very precise and intelligently mapped to the controller.
Since this story is set in the future, you never really know what to expect from the missions. Mind-numbingly dull dogfighting is usually involved, but you may find yourself combating a battle station in outer space, locating the weak spot on massive ground vehicles, or escorting a train across a sea of elevated tracks. To rattle gamers’ nerves and generate a false sense of excitement, NPC characters are constantly yelling commands in your direction. Constantly is the key word here. They never shut up! It drove me nuts!
Had the enemy AI been better, the speed not so sluggish, and the combat a little bit more on the arcade side like Secret Weapons Over Normandy, this game could have been something special. For the third consecutive time, however, it falls right in line with the series’ track record of being simply average.