Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions of WWII

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Being a fan of UBI Soft's "Heroes of the Pacific," I knew that I had to try out Blazing Angels 2. My initial impression of the game was one of absolute amazement. The overall experience is one that is very fun, addicting, and highly original. The control scheme, a factor of extreme importance in flight games, is tight and very responsive. The graphics are crisp, smooth, and add another dimension to an already impressive game. There is nothing quite like engaging an entire squadron of Stukas over Red Square while witnessing the Soviet Army moving to engage the advancing Nazi army below you. You can actually see Russian civilians running for their lives--which makes you really feel like you are defending the city from the "Hun at the door." All of this occurs in a mostly silky smooth frame rate. The missions are quite challenging and require strategy as much skill to successfully complete. The missions are so intense that, on two separate occasions, I forgot to blink for long periods of time, which caused my contacts to dry out--resulting in me having to take them out. Though some have criticized the game for being too easy, this has not been the case in my experience. The missions are remarkably challenging and require you to experiment in your attempts to find the most efficient route to victory. You also have many optional quests to complete during a mission, like collecting all of the stunt icons or completing the mission in a record time. Flying in places as diverse as the brutal deserts of Egypt (with a nice view of the pyramids below you), to the arctic chaos of Moscow's Red Square, to the lush green mountains of China, the game does a nice job of transporting you to different locales and giving the player an impressive change of pace. Also, during each mission, you compete for prestige points, which you acquire by completing objectives and taking out enemy planes, tanks, buildings, etc. You can then use these points to purchase much needed upgrades for your planes. Prestige points, and the upgrades purchased with them, add a tremendous amount of depth to this fabulous game. As far as the story is concerned, I don't want to spoil it, but will tell you that the developers have obviously tried to make this game as different from the standard WWII game as possible. Though some have criticized the game for its lack of historical authenticity, I simply respond by saying that thought the game does not have any recreations of actual WWII air battles, that is not to say the missions available to the player are not based on actual historical events. Besides, the deliberately over-the-top missions may appeal to a new generation of gamers and inspire them to learn about the most important and influential conflict in human history: WWII. So, I don't buy into the historical criticism issue. The characters in the game are lively and many times offer the player a radically different interpretation of the same events. This is quite refreshing and gives a good dose of personality to the game. Bottomline: With 18 well-designed missions, immersive graphics, intense gameplay, over 50 real-life planes, and a storyline that (in my opinion) enhances the gaming experience, you would be hard-pressed to find a better WWII flight game on the market. NOTE: I haven't played the game online, nor do I plan to (I'm not an online gamer), so I have not reviewed that part of the game.

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Disclaimer: I am not a gamer -this is all new to me -I'll be brief.

I was shocked to see only one other review. This game sets an impressive (artistic) mood with its muted colors, snow falling, islands, ice bergs, and the entire story line.

Its an arcade type game -not a flight simulator. The fact that you can hit certain targets to gain new ammo might (understandably) be a downer for the purist. For everyone else, this game is great fun and, for me at least, a significant challenge -enough to certainly keep my interest.

As the previous reviewer noted: The various missions and assignments add to the thrill and continual newness of the game. I have no regrets with my purchase. I'd be surprised if anyone else would either.

Buy Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions of WWII Now

There are so many WWII games out nowadays, and I've long realized they're just not for me. I don't like "gritty" action, and I'd rather not trivialize this historic conflict by glorifying it with a game. Flying games don't come out that often though, and since we don't seem to be getting any more starfighter-based Star Wars games, this seemed like the next best thing.

The first Blazing Angels was a lot like the Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe games -a bit of a "serious" simulator with an arcade heart. I was thrilled to learn that BA2 is more like another "dumbed-down" favorite, "Crimson Skies" on the XBOX. Or the Star Wars games Rogue Squadron, Rogue Leader, Rebel Strike, Starfighter, and Jedi Starfighter.

The graphics are beautiful, the controls are responsive, the online and offline cooperative and versus multiplayer is effective and fun, and the whole package is definitively worth the price of entry.

Now if only people would buy more games like this so this isn't such an endangered species of game on modern systems!

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Blazing Angels 2 is original and exciting. This newest version of the series has many additions that add to the overall experience, including the ability to purchase plane upgrades: weapons, armor, ammunition, engines, training, etc., with points earned during the campaign mode. The graphics are impressive. The prior version on Wii is no match for this edition. So much detail is included in the game on PS3, including ground troops racing to perform tasks, and realistic tanks firing on targets. It was easy to learn the controls and begin flight. There are, of course, some unrealistic aspects, such as the overwhelming number of enemy planes, many of which are unresponsive to being fired upon, but at the same time it adds to the fun of the game to take out several light bombers just putting along in a straight formation. It would also have been nice for the game to have preserved some of the major battles (Battle of Britian) in the campaign mode, but I suppose the "Secret Missions" title should have clued me in on the fact that those might be absent. If you enjoy aerial combat games, I highly recommend this title.

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Pros:

1)Six axis controller is great fun and makes flying a more intuitive experience.

2)Game offers an interesting customization feature to slowly allow you to improve the technology of your aircraft.

Cons:

1)Very Formulaic. Character development is weak, and the story line is melodramatic(in a very bad way). Your wingmen are full of trite cliche phrases that detract from being able to be immersed in the game playing experience. Sounds like the writers to "Leave it to beaver" were recruited for story development(golly gee mister!)

2)Cut scenes are cheap. They are processed photographs of actors, very bad ones, I would add.

3)Levels are incredibly repetitive. Flying in Moscow feels like flying in Paris feels like flying in Japan.

If you are looking for an incredible flying experience, I don't think this is it. I wanted it to be, I was a huge fan of "Secret Weapons over Normandy.(PS2)" I am not going to finish the game. Why should I? I know exactly what is going to happen, and I am irritated by the naivety of the story.