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Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions of WWII – Xbox 360
Sat, 1st Dec 2007
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Last year’s Blazing Angels was a disappointing attempt by Ubisoft to enter the coveted flight-simulation genre. With boring missions and impossible difficulty, it was a flop. Ubisoft’s second attempt takes a slightly different approach, sticking with the WWII era, instead of trying to recreate famous battles players are instead place at the head of a secret squadron to carry out the secret covert missions history didn’t remember.

A new set of characters have been introduced, with players instead taking on the roll of Captain Robinson, a young pilot chosen to head the covert squadron. You and your team set out to track down a Nazi special weapons team that’s churning out new technology, giving them a vital edge in the skies. So get ready for taking down enemy airfields and stealing enemy secrets and planes as well as protecting key bases for the Americans. There’s also some unbelievable boss fights to partake in as well as some rather strange destinations, (didn’t your history teacher ever tell you about the famous battle between American planes and a Nazi blimp over the pyramids?)

What it all ultimately comes down to however is ‘one on one’ close in fighting enemy planes. As you work your way through the campaign, your plane goes up levels unlocking new bits and pieces. Everything from better gun sights, armour, speed and agility is here. You also get secondary weapons for your plane like missiles. The game really takes a turn for the worse when homing rockets are unlocked, taking out the need to even do anything as they target enemy planes from afar and knock them out.

The campaign is wrapped up pretty quickly, so it’s onto the multiplayer side of things. There are a surprising number of modes here with options for solo flights, team missions and co-op play. There really was quite a lot of promise for these game modes, but the seeming unpopularity of the game means it’s quite a struggle to get into a match as no one else seems to be playing.

The graphics aren’t too bad; nothing special but they do the trick. The weather is fairly dull but some of the plane models are quite detailed and well done. Therate, a critical part of flight games, stays fairly stable throughout with no major drops causing any problems. However what weighs it down is the screen tearing. This is bad so expect to see your screen ripped into a number of pieces when executing sharp turns.

Blazing Angels 2 is pretty hit and miss. For fans of the series there’s more of the same to be found here and it wouldn’t be a bad buy. For those unfamiliar with the series, it’s probably best to keep it that way as Blazing Angels 2 feels unpolished and unfinished, and doesn’t live up to the huge potential it has.