Aces of the Luftwaffe – Squadron Review: Flying High

Thanks to the likes of Call of Duty and Battlefield, the gaming world has been inundated with games based on WWII to the point of oversaturation. Sure, some games like the reboot of Wolfenstein change up the formula by putting players in alternate versions of reality, such as the war reaching US soil, but most don’t. Machine Games’ series has proven that no matter how stale the setting and era is, a fresh take can still make a WWII game shine. Aces of the Luftwaffe – Squadron follows suit, with an alternate, slightly sci-fi take on one of the largest wars in world history.

The game follows a team of Allied dog fighters as they battle the not-Nazi forces that are in the process of attacking the US on their home turf. I say not-Nazi’s because the title opted to replace the historical swastika with a basic cross (or X, I’m not sure and it varies depending on the viewpoint), keeping all of the Nazi’s other standard garb and design in place. The story plays out via still images between chapters as well as banter that is present before, during, and after each mission. Most of these conversations feel out of place, partially due to the presentation, and break up the momentum of the game, causing some progression based issues that we’ll get to later. The characters’ cartoonish appearances (these reminded me of one of the many tween cartoons aimed at girls that my nieces have tortured me with) with the campy writing and ultra-serious voice over tones make it very difficult to determine if the developers we’re going for a comedic or serious take on the story. Ultimately, I wanted to skip each and every one of these after completing the first level.

The game plays as a typical top down shooter, taking down enemy fighters while collecting XP and upgrades (permanent or temporary) with some new twists that are equal parts refreshing and frustrating. You will primarily control a single fighter, with a team of up to three additional planes flying in formation around you making up your squadron. The additional planes will typically follow you around the level, shooting when you do, and are generally a welcome addition; however, you will have to keep in mind that the additional planes can and will likely perish if they collide with enemy ships. This requires the player to manage a much larger section of the screen than your typical shooter. Losing the additional planes does not immediately result in death, since you’re primary character is the only one you absolutely have to keep alive, but their buffs will be removed and the loss of their added firepower can make some scenarios a bit difficult. You can make up your team from a total of ten characters, each with their own buff (damage increases, repairing planes, etc) as well as a hindrance (losing control of their plane, requiring you to cover them) that will pop up regularly. This mechanic in particular is a great innovation but is executed poorly, since the issues often occur at the worst possible times. You will earn XP and upgrade tokens over the course of your journey and will have to carefully choose what to upgrade and when. Putting all of the tokens into the primary plane was my initial decision, which limited the buff effects that I received from the other planes early into the campaign. You can respec your characters at any time, but it’s like a game of chess when it comes to choosing the right upgrade at the right time.

Each of the game’s 25 levels split over five chapters offer a side mission in addition to the primary objective. The side missions are optional, but completing them nets you a pretty hefty bonus to your medals, which work as XP and can also be earned by killing standard enemies. The optional missions are standard for the genre, requiring you to hover over a specific area to rescue people or drop off supplies to ground forces, as well as avoiding damage or taking out specific targets. They add a nice element to the game and promote replaying the levels, however, the in game story that I mentioned previously will often cut off your time that is allotted to complete some of the more tedious objectives, namely the ones you have to hover over, often resulting in the event being missed before it even hits the screen’s mid-point of the ever scrolling level.

Outside of the story, the presentation is unique and stands out among the competition, due to the tight controls and the slightly blurred backgrounds overlaid above the crisp enemy and player visuals. This creates a 3D illusion, making the most important aspects of the graphics pop in a way few 2D games manage. I found the variety in the enemy units to be a bit bland, partially due to the lack of plane animations, sans the larger boss characters. The bosses are standout encounters, with unique visuals and abilities. These will prove to be the most difficult encounters in the game so it’s a bit disappoint that only a handful are present.

The difficulty can be adjusted between any missions, with two options available at the start and a third unlocked upon completion of the story. Due to the gracious amount of lives you receive, the normal and hard difficulties are more in line with the easy and normal from similar games, with the final being reserved for purists that wish to one credit clear the levels. With the exception of the boss battles, I easily breezed through the hard mode with little resistance in just a few hours. Adding additional players via local co-op only makes the game easier, lacking any noticeable increase of enemies due to the added players.

Whether you’re a veteran fan or a noob of the genre, there is a lot to love in Aces of the Luftwaffe – Squadron, even with the minor shortcomings. If the difficulty of top down shooters from the past has turned you off from the genre, this is a great jumping off point. Veterans will quickly unlock the more challenging difficulty early on, paving way for some flawed, yet challenging battles.

8 out of 10

Pros

  • Unique Visual Style
  • Refreshing Mechanics
  • Varied Difficulties

Cons

  • Forgettable Story
  • Some Lackluster Mechanics

Aces of the Luftwaffe – Squadron was developed by HandyGames and published by THQ Nordic. It was released on NS in 2017, as well as PC, PS4, and X1 on July 24th, 2018, for $14.99. The game was provided for us to review on X1 and PS4. For more on Aces of the Luftwaffe – Squadron, visit its official site.

 

Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.

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