Air Conflicts: Aces of World War II Reviewed

In the realm of air warfare games, there are two distinct epochs. Modern jet simulations dazzle with bleeding edge technology, allowing players to lock their guided missiles onto nearly unseen enemies. These titles allow the average civilian to experience the thrill of controlling multi-million dollar military equipment, taking to the skies with breakneck speed. On the other hand, World War II era dogfighters offer a gritty, tactile experience; combat is conducted in tight spaces, where a player’s skill, not technological superiority decides who reigns victorious.

While titles like the H.A.W.X., and the Ace Combat series charm and impress, it’s the titles set in the earlier era that truly captivate. Destroying an air or ground based target isn’t a ‘fire and forget’ affair, but challenges the players with a myriad of variables from elevation to velocity. Recent PSP release Air Conflicts: Aces of World War II offers players a chance to man the cockpit during this pivotal period in world history.

Although the pedestrian box artwork would seem to indicate a bare-bones programming effort without much depth, Air Conflicts holds an astounding 240 missions, through 13 distinct campaigns. Each of the campaigns follows a branching, chronological storyline. Play as the allied powers, and lose too many missions, and the Nazis will have superiority. Each assignment is open for a limited amount of time, and some operations will only open after a previous mission is completed successfully.  I played through the title twice and the mission structure was unique for each game.

With a multitude of missions, it would be naïve to think that a strong narrative support ran through the campaign. Often mission assignments and evaluations are narrated by little more than a few sentences of text. Still, Air Conflicts offers every type of aerial duty imaginable, from patrols, bombing runs, air support, naval escorting, interdiction, to supply deployment. Each mission varies wildly in difficulty, from effortless strategic bombing with full defensive support, to a solo runs where the odds are stacked against the player. While the general difficulty is high, some of the missions are hopelessly difficult, especially when the margin of error is next to nil. Using a single plane to defend an armada against enemy attack can be frustrating, when the loss of a single ship ends the mission in failure.

Luckily, Air Conflicts’ controls never interfere with the conflict. Players use the shoulder buttons to adjust throttle, while the face button are used for firing guns, rockets, and bombs. Larger planes like the RAF’s Avro Lancaster even come with their own tail gunner, to dissuade foes on your six. Play wisely leans toward the arcade side of things, eschewing the minutiae common in many simulations; still we would have liked to see the game model in-air collisions. Some gamers lacking keen vision may object to the diminutive font used during mission screens. Also, some mid-mission load times put an occasional damper on the combat.

Aerial combat titles require a speedy framerate to allow the player to become immersed in the proceedings. Air Conflict’s refresh rate ranges from a buttery fluid 60 fps over water to an acceptable, but lower rate over hillsides filled with foes. Considering the amount of geometry being drawn, the title provides a more than adequate engine to display the action. Each of the 17 planes at the player’s disposal are expertly modeled, with solid texturing and clearly drawn insignias. Sonically, the game offers realistic engine roars, bomb whistles and gratifying explosions. Clearly, developers Cowboy Rodeo have a handle of the PSP hardware.