|
Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, developed and published by Microsoft in October of 2003 for the X-Box, is the sequel
to the fantastic, but extremely buggy, PC game, Crimson Skies, developed by Zipper Interactive and published by Microsoft
in November of 2000. The PC game was, in turn, based upon the board game published by FASA Corp., in 1998. This game represents
a Microsoft trend of porting successful PC franchises to the X-Box, while leaving PC gamers to wait and hope for an eventual
port, a la Halo.
High Road to Revenge is set in an alternative 1930's world. A world that has been molded by air travel and adventure,
in which skyscrapers have landing strips built into them, and zeppelins roam the skies supporting various factions in their
battles for control. The story again follows the exploits of one Nathan Zachary, a swashbuckling air pirate, treasure hunter,
and ladies' man with a penchant for finding trouble. After Zachary's friend is killed and a weapon of cataclysmic destructive
power is stolen, he and his band of air pirates set off on a mission of revenge that will lead him from the mountains of South
America to the skyscrapers of Chicago. The setting is fun and interesting, especially to fans of Errol Flynn's movies or
the Indiana Jones films. It pulls the player in from the very first cut scenes and doesn't let up until the final credits.
That said, the story itself is pretty standard, run of the mill avenge your murdered friend, save the world stuff. It is
well done, but standard, however, this small flaw doesn't detract from the game in any way.
All the game modes that an X-Box gamer would expect are present and accounted for in High Road. Among the modes of play
available are a single player campaign (story mode), linked multiplayer, split-screen multiplayer and X-Box Live multiplayer.
The two areas where High Road truly shines are the single player campaign and X-Box Live. Although the story is mission based
and very linear, there are devices used through-out the game to make it feel much more nonlinear, such as a variety of missions
that exist outside of the main story line for the purpose of making money and sometimes acquiring new aircraft as well. In
truth, this really all comes down to dog-fighting and shooting down aircraft with a variety of land and vehicle based gun
turrets, but you will be having so much fun that you won't even notice the lack of variety. The missions are placed in various
places on huge levels, and are acquired by flying by and hitting the X button, thus seamlessly letting the player grab and
go. One thing that isn't all that great, but is often seem in games with levels of this type, is the pushing of the players
aircraft back into the play area of the level. For me, this slightly damages the immersive ness of the game.
This game is a straight-forward, arcade style flying game. This is not the place for the gamer looking for realism.
The controls are very responsive, which is good when trying to weave in and out of buildings or mountains, not to mention
caves. Utilizing the analog sticks, the player is able to perform a wide variety of impossible maneuvers to help shake an
opponent, or to get behind one. The right trigger is used as the primary weapon, usually a machine gun, and the left trigger
is the secondary weapon, everything from cannons and rockets to energy blasts. The X button is the actions button, for taking
missions and other various and sundry things. The Y button speeds up your plane, for a while, and the B button slows it down
again. Intuitive overall layout combined with crisp response makes the controls a joy and the game easy to pick up and play.
Unfortunately, the single player game isn't long enough. It's a heck of a lot of fun, but just when you are really having
a great time playing it, it's over. This is not unusual in this type of game, but it is disappointing all the same. For
the price of the game, there should have been more, more missions, more planes, more levels, just more. Multiplayer is nice,
but it doesn't make up for lack of an adequate length one player game, not for almost fifty bucks. This would have been an
all time great game with more content for the single player game, perhaps this will be remedied if there is ever a PC port
of it. We can only hope.
Graphically speaking, High Road is a showpiece for the X-Box. The graphics are just that nice. The Levels are large
and textured, full of color and the lighting effects are just fantastic. The planes are extremely well done, with reflective
surfaces, cool damage effects and fluid animation. Another high note are the cut scenes. They are long enough to move the
story and add a bit of humor and flair, but not long enough to become a burden to the game and a bore to the player. Luckily,
they are polished and definitely worth viewing. Graphics are definitely a high point for High Road.
And now to the sound and it's place in the High Road world. Sound is, for me (and I would imagine all gamers), one of
the most important factors in a game. It is critical to the immersive nature of a game, and High Road doesn't disappoint.
High Road is top notch when it comes to audio. From the sound of the props to the explosions of huge airships, the effects
are right on target. Each and every sound effect does it's part to bring you into the Crimson Skies world and keep you there
as long as possible. Musically speaking, the tracks found in High Road are perfect for the spirit of adventure and daring
that the game portraits. It's easy to become immersed and feel the adventures are your own. Had the sound effects been poorly
done, the game would have lost a great deal of it's immersive feel. One area of particular note is the voice acting. It
is of the highest caliber and should be something other developers strive to achieve in their own games.
A point to be made, as well, is the added value of this title thanks to X-Box Live. This is the type of game that suits
the X-Box online service to a tea. There is downloadable content including new a new game mode, new planes and new levels.
It is exceptionally easy to drop into a game of whichever type you prefer (I prefer death match, myself) at anytime, day
or night, and have an great time blowing friends and strangers into oblivion.
In the final accounting, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge not only achieves the high quality game-play and style of
its PC predecessor, but does so without the bugs of its ancestor. Despite its rather short length in single player mode,
it is without a doubt, a thrill ride of adventure and fun for the fan of arcade flight games, and a showpiece for the X-Box.
Add in the X-Box Live multiplayer, and this is a game that you won't put down for a long, long time.
4 out of 5
|
 |
|
