Title Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII Date 04.08.2007 Genre Aerial Combat Platform PlayStation 3 Developer Ubisoft Publisher Ubisoft

Well, I will keep this review short and try to hit my target audience: those seriously considering purchasing this title.  So yes, not too many months ago you rushed out and bought your PS3, and now you wait for that true next generation game, the game that will show off the full capability of the PS3 both graphically and content wise. Well if you were thinking that this game would be anything like that you went into this with high expectations as the next generation games will not be out until late 07 or even 08. Blazing Angels is a port and not originally designed for the ps3, while some improvements in the game play have been added from the 360 version this is really more close to what you would expect from a PS2 game. My main objective in this review is to justify buying or renting this game.

When throwing this game up against other “flying” type games the storyline seems very generic, you and your band of companions progress through a series of daring missions. You can issue your counterparts three different commands: attack, defend (you) & formation. The different commands do appear to make a minuscule difference and add some depth to the tail unfolding and to top that off your wingman each have different exceptional qualities: one can help you repair your plane, another can destroy specific targets and the last can “taunt” where by he gets any enemy planes that are attacking you to follow him. Now while these unique qualities do add to the game, ultimately the story line just seems so uninteresting and smacks of the “been done before” tag. I do appreciate a good storyline and believe it is most important in a game and well, on that thought Ubisoft really put a game on the shelves here that isn't a step back but at the same time isn't anything new. I really never established a connection with my character or any of the other characters.

Lets talk game-play now, yes you can bomb land targets, torpedo boats and fight air to air battles. The game does shine in this quality as you fly around in your plane looking for enemies to destroy but again nothing really different here, at $60 I would expect a surprise or two but nope, no worries here you will not be spun around at any point. You have a primary weapon (machine gun) and secondary (depending on the mission either unguided rockets or torpedoes), and with unlimited ammo feel free to blast away and then try to remember why you ever expected a realistic experience anyway. While the game-play again isn't bad, the same disease as the story-line plagues us again being that this isn't anything new either.

Well let’s now get to the fun part. As my plane and I plummet down from the sky through the clouds (no there are no clouds) with the sun on my six (sun always seems far off and never gives even a glare) my engine at full throttle anticipating the enemy fighter to appear in my “12” at any minute. I finally spot my next query, I watch him sporadically flying suddenly reacting to my plane diving towards him, my guns about to tear apart his machine. I take a moment to examine him, he is distant and just a shadow against the blue backdrop, then as I get closer the enemy plane is still just the outline of a plane lacking any real detail. I look at my plane and think wow Ubisoft did a terrific job, the detail, the colors, my aircraft really looks magnificent. But this enemy I now stare at point blank has no detail, no identity, nothing to marvel at. As I unload my ordinance it becomes blatantly clear that shooting at outlines of enemy plans “bites”.

As you can see I just tried to paint my perfect picture of what I expect to experience playing this game and as painful as it was for you to read the brackets it was the same for anyone expecting a realistic experience. While some enemies look ok such as the boats, opposing aircraft, land targets etc all look like generic outlines of what they represent and to me that takes away the fun of the kill. The cities and landscape are…. OK and even comparable to any current flying game but you can tell there was no extra attempt here by the good folk at Ubisoft to blow our minds away.

In the end, the replay-ability isn't really there due to the uninspired story-line and generic game-play. Nothing will blast you out of your seat or even prompt you to talk with your friends about this game. If you don't own any airplane games I would suggest you purchase this game, however if you own even one other flying game you would be best to go rent this game as "it's nothing special". This game is merely average, a definite disappointment; as disappointed you were that I broke my promise to keep this short, the same experience will overcome you if you spend the $60.

Game Score

C+

Reviewed By: Jeremy