Flying Tigers: Shadow Over China Review

Although this year, almost all the bets within the genre of air battles will fall on the new proposal of Bandai Namco and it's expected Ace Combat 7, I can't overlook other games like the one i have today, despite being of an independent title. Flying Tiger: Shadows Over China offers everything an arcade aviation fan could wish for, and although it has flaws that I will comment later, in general lines, I found a rewarding and fun experience in the short campaign that will be available (approximately 5 hours ) along with a multiplayer mode where you can fight a duel with your friends.

Duration

Not everything focuses on campaign mode or small categories for a single player, but can be played online and in other parts against battles against other users. I have not been able to review a fund in this multiplayer section because the title at the time i made the analysis is not available for purchase, but I have been able to play several games with other reviewers colleagues and my feelings have not been bad at all. You can choose various game modes, such as normal or team air combat, normal or team-based missile battles, or capture the flag. This online mode is not the main attraction of Flying Tigers, obviously, but it serves to measure you with other people of flesh and blood and show your abilities on board these classics.

Knowing this, the campaign mode will last around 5 to 6 hours, leaving you to your pleasure, playing the multiplayer and the challenges that the game offers, the time you want-

Gameplay

Ace Madoxx is the company responsible for providing this game in consoles and to perform the deep work of historical documentation behind the scenes (a new alternative for the facts that you know). In Flying Tiger: Shadows Over China you don't have a unique protagonist, although the whole weight of the plot, falls on an American pilot who will try to stop the planes of the Japanese and a war that is about to wage, World War II. Enlisted in the secret unit of the Flying Tigers located in Burma, you must fight against all kinds of situations and against other fighters, or ships that try to invade China. As a nice point, you leave aside the repetition of Europe to fly this time in more idyllic landscapes in Thailand, China and surroundings with many tasks to fulfill as a difference. Thanks to the true references, since everything can happen in a period of time parallel to the attacks of Pearl Harbor, the whole narrative can be taken seriously, even invite to continue playing to see what happens next.

Flying Tigers offers a simplified and quite arcade version of handling different airplanes ... but with nuances. Precisely, until recently, I was playing the battles of Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and that, if I appreciated that direct touch that DICE wanted to give his game. In contrast, the Ace Madoxx title will have to take into account different variables such as the weight of the aircraft and it's inertia at the time of rotation. For example, when you are chasing an enemy and you want to shoot him, you will have to be "very fine" with the stitch, since you will do it abruptly, the plane will turn too much and it will be more complicated to recalculate to the correct position. That is, it has a direct play condition, has nuances that make it earn points. The same happens with the acceleration: if you brake too much, your plane will stop, plummeting against the ground, if you don't put a solution at the moment.

As in most aircraft games, you will have several models of airplanes to fly the air, although your choice will be predefined without the possibility of choosing the machine that you like the most before each mission (at least in campaign mode). Each plane has different qualities, since while some are pure and hard fighters, capable of handling a rival squadron in the skies, others will be bombers that will shatter the enemy bases with their cluster bombs, while a third group will be specialized in the torpedo shot in front of Japanese ships and frigates. The mechanics is true that you may know them from games of the same genre, but each mission manages to contribute it's unique bit and that is superseded from what was seen before. I must praise the inclusion of other types of missions (or small sections within a mission) that bring a completely fresh air to Flying Tigers, such as the use of an anti-aircraft bombardment while fleeing the enemy, or different objectives such as shoot at the lights of some frigates so that the bombers can not be seen.

The scenarios also do a lot. I have already said that the action is not developed in Europe, but in more oriental places and that is reflected in Flying Tiger: Shadows Over China, as it's own name may indicate. You will travel to the Thai jungles, to it's idyllic islands, to the Gobi Desert, the Indian Ocean, Chinese cities and even to the very foothills of the Himalayas. It may be that the scenarios graphically are not up to the current generation, but simply the change of location (and time slot, with night missions included) make the game doesn't fall into complete reiteration and get hooked, as in my case.

There are aspects in which the gameplay doesn't quite fit me, such as the little variety of weapons that you will have, the ridiculously simple evasion maneuvers (when an enemy has you in his sights, the camera remains in dramatic mode, and only you will have to press the crosspiece twice to the side to save the ballot), or bullet time. This last name he named, here called Trazertime, completely breaks with the balance and the difficulty of the game. It's true that if you don't want to use it, you are not obligated, but pressing the X button is very tempting in times of despair ... At least you will have several difficulty modes to fill these gaps when it comes to a challenge, or even a control mode, where you will handle the pitch and roll of the ship providing something more realism.

Graphics & Design

Don't expect much from the graphic section shown in Flying Tiger: Shadows Over China. As I said before, despite the diversity of scenarios, all are lazy details, as well as the planes that will fly over the map. Whether they are allies or enemies, they don't have a current generation design where highlights shine, a realistic finish or small details of it's structure. Everything is quite moderate, as it can be the water of the oceans, the explosions when you knock down the rival, etc. Even so, there are moments with sunsets that come to superimpose, or situations in night missions, with the moon in front of you, which are spectacular. A more accomplished graphic section, at the level of what is expected in Xbox One, would have been a great success for the title.

The sound section is the typical one that you could find in this type of games. Explosions, bursts of shots, voices and radio transmissions and the sound of planes as they pass by you. All in a fairly correct way, accompanied by musical pieces inspired by the military theme (although some songs surprise, with American or Eastern version).

Conclusion

Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China, offers a fairly complete arcade aviation title, with a diversity of missions and planes to control. The control also stands out when presenting small variations that don't make it so direct, although the use of bullet time, doesn't come to like me, since it breaks the magic and makes everything much easier. The shortcomings are noticed as a graphic section that isn't very loaded with objects and with few visible particles, but if you know how to forgive it, you will enjoy a title that gets hooked from start to finish.

*Game was provided by the developer/publisher for this review