Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge

Since Xbox Live was launched, there have been a small number of great games to play on it, the best one being MechAssault. This year, Microsoft released Crimson Skies High Road to Revenge in hopes that they would top last year’s efforts, by developing another stellar single player game that has awesome multiplayer modes to back it up. After playing this game for a while, I can without a doubt say that this is the best Xbox Live game that has come out this year!

The story line is as epic as the game itself. It goes as follows: The United States of America is but a dream because it broke up several years ago. The country is now broken into multiple nation states, and they all fight each other. To further separate themselves from each other, they destroyed all roads and bridges that connected the states together. Now the only way to get anywhere is by air travel, meaning planes, helicopters, and zeppelins. Since there are so many wars in the skies, pirates have become the main stream, and steal anything they can get their hands on, since there are no federal laws for them to fear.

Players take on the role of Nathan Zachary, who is a former rich man who lost it all in the market crash of 1929. He now heads a team of pirates, the Fortune Hunters, who seal from the rich; and his goal is to gain the fortune that he lost. His gang consists of three main people, “Brooklyn” Better Charles, Big John, and Dr. Frassenbiender. Betty is the newest member of the team who is seeking new adventures and always there to help out Nathan when he is in a tense situation. Big John is Nathan’s best friend and a natural pilot, and good person to have on your side in any situation. Dr. Frassenbiender is a genus who develops a new system to make the planes faster, more reliable, and efficient.

There are a few main things players will be doing though out the game: stealing airplanes, destroying enemy fighters, and looting zeppelins that are abundant in the world. As players successfully complete missions they will be given cash to upgrade the planes to make them better in battle. There are dozens of different missions that players can take, and choose the path they want to during the game.

During the course of the game players will be see a lot of the world, such as Hollywood, Chicago, New Mexico, and many other places. It is nice to see the spin that the developers took in this alternative universe, and see how things might have looked if something like this did happen.

One of the best things about this game is the multiplayer. Players will be able to player split screen, a LAN set up, and on Xbox Live. The real gem is playing through Xbox Live, because you will be able to play with up to 16 people from around the country. This is a feat within itself, because while playing with 16 people there is absolutely no lag, and the game becomes like a real war zone.

While playing multiplayer there are several choices: Dogfight, Team Dogfight, Flag Heist, Keep Away, Team Accumulate, and Wild Chicken. In Dogfight, it is a free for all to see who can kill each other and see who is the best pilot. Team Dog Fight is the same except players see which team is the best. Flag Heist is capture the flag, and you will be amazed at how fun this mode really is. Keep Away is when players steal an artifact and see how long they can keep it. Team Accumulate is the same as Keep Away but in a team environment. Wild Chicken is a combination of Dog Fight and Flag Heist; players must shoot down enemy planes, and find the chicken in the level and bring it back to their base for points.

Crimson Skies High Road to Revenge is rated T for Teen for suggestive themes and violence. The game supports 480 Progressive Scan and Dolby Digital. To play online you must have an Xbox Live account and a broadband Internet connection.

Gameplay: 9.7
Crimson Skies High Road to Revenge plays like a dream! The controller fits this game perfectly, all the buttons are used, and they are conveniently located so players will be able to use them with the utmost accuracy. While flying the planes it feels like they are moving through the air like a hot knife cutting through butter, the gameplay is that smooth.

What makes it even better is that there is a ton of things going on at any given moment. During the course of a mission you can have numerous planes, boats, and zeppelins shooting at you. Players will have to become adapt to any given situation and become the best pilot they can be if they are going to survive. To make the game even better there are other venues for shooting enemies in planes, players can get in gun turrets and even helicopters to destroy the enemies.

Graphics: 9.8
Crimson Skies High Road to Revenge looks amazing. Everything from the environments to the planes themselves are high detailed. In the beginning of the game, the planes are new looking, but as the battle rages on, the damage will take a toll on the planes, and fire and smoke will bellow out of the engines. The environments that players fly around in are huge, with intricate details including water, canyons, skyscrapers, and many other things. Players can literately fly up for an extremely long time before they hit the boundaries. When they finally make their progress back to land, it seems like it is a mere speck of dust. The texture use and bump mapping makes the game seem so real. The camera is deployed great in this game. It never becomes a hamper to the gamer while in tense battle situations. The best part about this is, even with all of the graphical power going on, the game holds a steady frame rate.

Sound: 9.6
The music in Crimson Skies High Road to Revenge is really outstanding! It is a symphony that sets the whole pace for the entire game. The music is calm and tranquil while being harsh and ramping up for action all in one. It is a real treat for anyone who gets to hear it. The voice acting is also very well done. In a lot of games the voice acting is usually sloppy and people can tell it was put together at the last minute, but this is not the case here. From hearing it, players will be able to tell that Microsoft went the extra mile and made sure that all of the lines sound appropriate in feeling and tone.

The sound effects are also top notch. Each of the aircrafts sounds totally different; the engines have their own distinct roar and other noises. All of the gunfire and explosions are different sounding as well. Just by the sound players will be able to tell if what they are being shot at with, if it missiles, machine guns, shotguns, and other weapon fire. This shows that the developers truly cared about getting the absolute best product to the gamers because this gives it its own distinct personality, instead of using the same sounds over and over again.

Difficulty: Medium
The difficulty in this game slowly ramps up. There are only a few missions that players will encounter that might have them pulling their hair out trying to beat. Other than those few missions, the game is extremely fun and always provides an adequate challenge.

Concept: 9.4
This game is one to be remembered. Airplane games that are good are few and far between. Only ever so often will a good combat airplane game come around, and when that happens you must grab hold of it and never let go. This game is one of those games, with smooth controls, a great alternate reality plot, and everything else. Also in the future Microsoft will release additional items, such as planes, levels, and other goodies through Xbox Live, which makes the game have even more replay value!

Multiplayer: 9.8
WOW! Microsoft has truly outdone themselves when creating this game. Playing Crimson Skies High Road to Revenge over the Xbox live is just amazing. Having the ability to play online with 16 different people at once, with no lag, is a feat within itself!

Overall: 9.5
Crimson Skies High Road to Revenge is a MUST HAVE game for your Xbox! This game has an enthralling single player and the multiplayer is out of this world. If you can only get one Xbox game this year, I highly suggest that you pick this up! You will not regret it. See you online!