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View Full Version : My thoughts on Crimson Skies



Seawolf1
10-23-2003, 01:18 AM
It's pretty good IMO.
I actually have the original Crimson Skies for the PC, but you can tell they have reworked and added some nice things to the new Xbox version. The single player mode is a storyline driven scenerio much like many other action games, but the missions can be easy and hard. One of the things I like is the environments you fly around in, they can be fairly large and to me I didnt feel confined to a small area. Another cool thing that wasnt in the original is manned gun stations and being able to land and swap aircraft at will. If you get tired of flying around, no problem just dock with your Zep and man up a gun station or find a place to land or take over a ground gunner station.
The graphics are really nice and you feel like your in a movie because of the special effects. The controls are very well done as well and very smooth, but be carefull because it is possible to get disoriented when mixing it up in the middle of a furball.
A lot of people were afraid that Crimson Skies would be another version of Mech assault, but I assure you its not. I played Mech assault and got into the 3rd mission before I got bored and put it away, but Crimson Skies holds my attention very well and I find myself not being able to put it down because I want to see whats next, in mech assault I could care less because it all looked the same. In single player think of it as a Indiana Jones type of action game in the air.
For example on one mission I had to protect a train from attack, but I could have either done it from the air or landed on the train and taken a gunner station. It was nice to have a choice.
Not only do the graphics look very nice the sound is just as good especially if your using 5.1ch DTS.

Now the fun part- XBL
Getting online is simple as usual, just click on login and you start looking for games. I was able to join a CTF game right away and I was surprised to see quite a few people already online and playing. I joined the game, chose my team and aircraft then waited for the start. Once the game started everyone really started to get into it and having a good time. On one particular map which recreates flying through downtown chicago the gameplay got pretty intense and we actually started working together in teams. It was very cool.
And the good news- after 2 hours online duking it out I am happy to report no lag or bugs (that I could tell) at all. Game runs very smooth and the only time I saw any freezes was when someone was leaving the game and his plane by itself froze for a second then left the game, but did not effect anyone else in the game. Multiplayer is solid!

The single player portion might not have a lot of longevity to it (no more than any other action game) but the Live aspect looks like it will keep people interested for a good while, at least it will me.

I think its a fun game and highly recommend it for the action fans.

The only thing I wish they could have done is allow us to design and build our own aircraft then fly them online much like some of the new car racers are doing now days.

prakeem
10-23-2003, 01:49 AM
Originally posted by Seawolf1
It's pretty good IMO.
I actually have the original Crimson Skies for the PC, but you can tell they have reworked and added some nice things to the new Xbox version. The single player mode is a storyline driven scenerio much like many other action games, but the missions can be easy and hard. One of the things I like is the environments you fly around in, they can be fairly large and to me I didnt feel confined to a small area. Another cool thing that wasnt in the original is manned gun stations and being able to land and swap aircraft at will. If you get tired of flying around, no problem just dock with your Zep and man up a gun station or find a place to land or take over a ground gunner station.
The graphics are really nice and you feel like your in a movie because of the special effects. The controls are very well done as well and very smooth, but be carefull because it is possible to get disoriented when mixing it up in the middle of a furball.
A lot of people were afraid that Crimson Skies would be another version of Mech assault, but I assure you its not. I played Mech assault and got into the 3rd mission before I got bored and put it away, but Crimson Skies holds my attention very well and I find myself not being able to put it down because I want to see whats next, in mech assault I could care less because it all looked the same. In single player think of it as a Indiana Jones type of action game in the air.
For example on one mission I had to protect a train from attack, but I could have either done it from the air or landed on the train and taken a gunner station. It was nice to have a choice.
Not only do the graphics look very nice the sound is just as good especially if your using 5.1ch DTS.

Now the fun part- XBL
Getting online is simple as usual, just click on login and you start looking for games. I was able to join a CTF game right away and I was surprised to see quite a few people already online and playing. I joined the game, chose my team and aircraft then waited for the start. Once the game started everyone really started to get into it and having a good time. On one particular map which recreates flying through downtown chicago the gameplay got pretty intense and we actually started working together in teams. It was very cool.
And the good news- after 2 hours online duking it out I am happy to report no lag or bugs (that I could tell) at all. Game runs very smooth and the only time I saw any freezes was when someone was leaving the game and his plane by itself froze for a second then left the game, but did not effect anyone else in the game. Multiplayer is solid!

The single player portion might not have a lot of longevity to it (no more than any other action game) but the Live aspect looks like it will keep people interested for a good while, at least it will me.

I think its a fun game and highly recommend it for the action fans.

The only thing I wish they could have done is allow us to design and build our own aircraft then fly them online much like some of the new car racers are doing now days.

You could actually cut and paste this as a XBA member review.

I'm going to wait until this weekend to give this game a try.

DIGITAL
10-23-2003, 03:08 AM
im gonna pick this game up