Hi fellow TA'ers,
This is my first review so don't be too harsh on me.
I'm reviewing the WW2 flying combat game Flying Tigers: Shadow's Over China. released for Xbox One by Ace Maddox on the 12/01/18. previously on Steam.
I won't go into big history lesson as it's a subject i can go on and on about as some of you well know. but basically it's about a squadron of US pilots helping China fight the Japanese.
Ok to the game i won't go into too much depth but give hopefully an all around view of the game.
Now on loading up the game we have the intro screen with the differing game options single player, multiplayer,settings, achievements and credits (you can watch credits now for quick achievement) but for now will concentrate on the single player.
Now you have option to configure controls between arcade and pitch/roll plus x/y sensitivity etc, myself i stuck with arcade and left everything as is, apart from one time in the campaign(again will explain later). Other options include audio/hud and reset.
Single player is made up of campaign, dogfight, challenge and free flight.
difficulty casual/normal/hard. i tried all 3 difficulty levels and found casual very easy but some levels i would have made a great kamikaze pilot on hard. You can change to suit your needs.
you start on kindergarten and unlock missions as you progress(for another quick achievement click on prologue for a moment and it will pop).
SINGLE PLAYER-CAMPAIGN
The single player campaign is made up of 12 missions that go from air combat, bombing, strafing, torpedo bombing etc using several different planes, mainly the P40 in several different locations so a good variety of missions(involving the RAF too), non were to long and i found all the aircraft handled really well. whilst playing you will notice you have a speed boost and a limited slow time function to make targeting easier make use of these. also if under heavy fire you can barrel roll or loop the loop etc. all in all an enjoyable single player campaign that shouldn't take you too long but have an enjoyable blast along the way.and you can replay missions once unlocked.
Now i had to adjust settings once to try and help in one mission when you have to fly in formation for few minutes..i did manage it but this was only time i was getting angry
SINGLE PLAYER-DOGFIGHT
Basically you can pick from an assortment of Allied or Japanese aircraft and fight 1 v (2-10) from any of the maps. again you can adjust the options, difficulty, control, weather,enemies etc. There a couple easy achievement linked to dog fight. Must admit i enjoyed using the lightning and mustangs in dog fight.
SINGLE PLAYER-CHALLENGES
There are 5 different challenges with straight forward achievement, all you should have no major difficulty completing (unless you're a certain king of the jungle?? friend of mine who i listened too over live mucking up time and time again going for the flags) like a the proverbial red rag to a bull
. These will only take few minutes to complete apart from Samurai showdown as has one achievement for surviving 15 minutes.
Eye of the Tiger- pick up flags
Samurai Showdown-survival
Rocket lightning-ground attack vehicles with the brilliant lightning
Torpedogs-torpedo ships
Ground attack-bomb and strafe tanks/trucks
SINGLE PLAYER-FREE FLIGHT
As the expression goes does as it says on the tin, pick a plane and fly around and enjoy the different maps. there are more aircraft to choose from here and a few easy achievements to pick up too. Landing on the water may take a few goes. (or you land go yeh! hear the dolphins and boom a Chinese Junk takes you out)
. I have a clip of this uploaded if you want a laugh check it out.
ok now on to
MULTIPLAYER
Again all fairly straightforward, lobby pops up and you can see available games or host your own,
choices being dogfight, team dogfight, rocket match, team rocket match and flagbusters. again all pretty self explanatory. you can adjust settings players/maps etc and can host private matches. 4 online multiplayer achievements which are all fairly easy, 5/25 kills, flag captures and play online 90 mins. they can all be done in private matches if needed. the capture the flag you can do yourself.
At the time of writing this there was always lobbies up and games i could join in. the dogfights are good fun and i found it was easier to shoot down enemies than in the campaign.
There is a limited leader board but only top 10 and can't compare to friends (also says steam?).
So overall this is a game i enjoyed playing and had fun doing so. It's not a AAA title if you have played any of the Air Conflict games you'll have an idea of the graphics(360ish looking). But the aircraft all look great and handle extremely well. i also know the developers spent time researching the squadron and the war in that area of the far east. good variety of missions, the game runs well i had no game glitches or crashes at all either in single player and multiplayer(i have had friend saying they disconnected in mp). you get to fly many of the iconic WW2 era aircraft including obviously the p40 warhawk, p50 mustangs, p38 lightnings, zero, spitfire, hurricane, blenheim, and many more plus a couple jet fighters too.
For the achievement hunters you will find this a quick and easy completion
. The achievements all popped correctly too
So this is my opinion others may have different views, but i enjoyed the game and as already stated if you like WW2 air combat games in the style of Air Conflicts games then i'm sure you'll enjoy this game too. Just don't go expecting AAA graphics but instead enjoy a game where everything works and the aircraft look great and fly perfectly. Also take away the thought when buying that you're helping a small indy developer.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I purchased the game it wasn't a preview or press copy. so these are my views after spending my own hard earned cash.
thank you for reading my first review and i look forward to any constructive or funny comments. or if you would like to me to add/edit anything gimme a shout.
Also if you need help/advice re missions/achievements etc again just ask
Tally Ho chaps Tally Ho
3.5