Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII
Experience the thrill of flight combat using the motion sensitive feature of the Playstation3 controller. Whether it’s a steep attacking dive or tight dog- fighting turn, the aircraft will intuitively respond to hand movements and you’ll feel more like a real fighter pilot than ever before. From the Battle of Britain, through the dramatic air combat of Pearl Harbor, and all the way back to Europe, your pilot skills will create WWII history. Dominate the skies of Western Europe and (more…)
Tagged with: Air Combat • Angels • Battle Of Britain • Blazing • Blazing Angels Squadrons • Blazing Angels Squadrons Of Wwii • Fighter Pilot • Flight Combat • Motion Controller • Pearl Harbor • Pilot Skills • Squadrons • Western Europe • WWII • Wwii History
Filed under: Wii Games
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I got this game a week or two ago and wanted to share my endorsement of it. I have very fond memories of Sierra’s Red Baron games on the PC and Mac, and the WWII dogfighting action of Blazing Angels strikes the same chord. I haven’t gotten terrifically far in the missions — 5 or so — but with one exception (the sandstorm level, which is apparently the worst of the bunch by far based on forum posters’ complaints) they’re fun and present a good amount of challenge.
There are several non-campaign modes. One-on-one dogfights with an “ace” flying the same plane (chosen from all those you’ve unlocked) pit you against a fairly tough opponent. I’ve found the difficulty to depend a lot on the kind of plane, though — the ace dogfight for the very first plane is pretty tough because the weapons are underpowered, but I had other fights that were over in the first 15 seconds. There’s an “arcade” mode that pits you against waves of less-challenging opponents. And then there are little “mini-campaigns” which are like one-off versions of the campaign missions (haven’t tried them yet).
Then there’s multiplayer. I was initially annoyed because I read on Amazon that you could play with up to 16 players online, but there’s no mention of this in the game or on the box. From what I’ve read, Nintendo is starting up its online play service in June, with a Pokemon title as the big launch hoohah, so hopefully Blazing Angels will be updated at that point for online play. Without online, there’s still very satisfying 2-player split-screen play, both versus and co-op.
Now, the question for all Wii titles — how are the controls?
Basically, I like them a lot. Several control schemes are available, and they vary along a couple of axes. First, you’ve got the choice between arcade-style and simulation-style. Arcade-style makes it sort of simpler to turn, but you can’t do barrel rolls; I strongly recommend using simulation and never looking back. There are several different control configurations. There’s a single-controller config (no nunchuck), a “classic” config (with nunchuck) which doesn’t use motion sensitivity, and the default style which uses both controllers and tilt sensitivity for pitch and roll. You can have the tilt sensitivity on either the remote or the nunchuck (I think the default was the nunchuck, but I liked the remote more).
I did most of my initial play with the wiimote-sensitive version of the default scheme. I really like the feel of turning the remote around in the air to control the plane. Takes some getting used to, but there’s a nice nimble feel to it once you do. However, there were certain things that really nagged at me about this control scheme. In particular, the targeting controls are very poorly placed. The analog stick on the nunchuck is used for throttle (up and down), but left and right on the same stick are used to select targets. This is a horrible thing because you’re constantly using the throttle during fights, and it’s extremely easy to let the stick slip to the side and lose your target. Holding the A button makes the camera track your current target, which makes fighting a *lot* easier, but this advantage is lost if you’re constantly switching targets.
Fortunately, it turns out that the dark horse — the single controller with no nunchuck — is a vastly superior control configuration. I wound up trying this during multiplayer and can confidently say I’ll never switch back. It has the same basic flight feel as the default — better, actually; there’s something very natural about holding a horizontal controller and tilting it around, sort of Excite Truck style, in the way that one might when getting a little excited about a game with no motion sensor controllers at all. The big advantage, though, is that the less-commonly-used functions are out of the way. The B button
(trigger) is used as a shift button to enable these lesser-used functions. It just works a whole lot better, and you don’t have to fuss with the nunchuck — love it!
So… yeah. Fun game if you like flying around and shooting down Nazis.
And who doesn’t?
4.0 out of 5 stars
Blazing Angels = fun, adrenaline producer, addictive
Blazing Angels for the Wii has provided many hours of adrenaline producing fun as a WWII pilot flying various aircraft of the era on one of 7 major campaigns (e.g.
4.0 out of 5 stars
fun game
This is a pretty fun game for messing around. The controls are wonderful, the graphics are good. The gameplay is more for the casual player rather than one who likes a hardcore…
in Blazing Angels you play the part of a WWII pilot and guide him through his war experience, through training and in several missions in key battles during the war. While the game makes innovative use of the Wii’s control system, the game falls short in graphics and lacks a real addictive element to draw in the average gamer.
Audience: I thought, with the Wii’s control system, that this game would be a blast for anyone, but I was at least partially mistaken. I’m not a flight sim fan, and it turns out the game couldn’t really capture my attention for very long despite the cool control setup. This game would probably appeal to WWII fans and/or fans of flight games, but its appeal outside those demographics is limited.
Graphics: Definitely a shortfall here. I don’t expect stellar graphics from the Wii, but I had a difficult time even identifying ground targets at times. I guess the red boxes that outlined my targets were supposed to make up for that…
Gameplay: The missions I played (and I didn’t get all the way through the game) were pretty standard for this type of game–escort something, blow up a convoy, protect a bridge, etc.
Control: This is the game’s strong point for sure. There are several control options, which let you choose between using the motion sensor capability on the Wiimote or the nunchuck and give you a wide variety of other options for controlling your craft.
Challenge: Some parts of the campaign are really challenging. There is also a single player dogfight mode that offers a wide range of difficulty.
Storyline: The campaign storyline was enjoyable, and the scenes in between fights were well done.
Overall this is a…well, an adequate game. Despite the game’s excellent use of the Wii’s controls there was nothing in the game that really made me want to continue playing it. If you’re into WWII games or flight sim games I’d definitely recommend giving this one a shot–if not it may be just worth a rental.
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is, for Wii and for $20, this game is pretty fun, especially if you like flight sims or World War 2. Will you be amazed by the graphics, no.
What Blazing Angels for the WII does right far outweighs the few downsides. Capturing the thrill of flight and the adrenaline rush of dogfighting the controls are EASY to pick up initially (I like the Nunchuck sensitive arcade control in my right hand with the wii mote laying on my leg like a control panel. This leaves all the primary plane controls (pitch, angel, acceleration, both weapons)in one hand and it just feels right to me, the downside of this control scheme is that you need to use your other hand to make formation adjustments and camera changes, but I find it works great. Gameplay is fun with the standard issue WWII action and dialogue and the SFX are terrific in this game as you unlock more powerful planes and guns. The game has a great amount of unlockable content, and is the perfect combination between aracade and sim. Many experienced fliers might find the options a little thin eventually. There doesn’t appear to be any online (yet?) so don’t buy it for that. Recommended heartily.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Becoming an Ace
I got this game for my new Wii because it seemed like the best flying game out there from reading other reviews.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wii Blazing Angels
Fun Game. Similar to weapons over Normandy. using the controller and nunchuk is fairly realistic. Graphics are good.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Blazing Angels
I really enjoyed the game. It helps to do the training before you do missions but you can only do the training on one kind of plane but you have many kinds to fly missions…
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best games on Wii
This is one of my favorite games for the Nintendo Wii. I would describe it as an ‘arcade’ style flight simulator, meaning that it’s not very realistic.
5.0 out of 5 stars
BEST AIRPLANE GAME EVER!
This is as good as it gets for airplane flying. It takes through several missions during the WWII and for each level you complete you unlock an airplane.
4.0 out of 5 stars
He loves it
Bought this for my beau (he LOVES flying games) and he played for hours. He said he had this game for another console and this version is far better. Great game for the price!
4.0 out of 5 stars
a good flying shooter
The graphics are o.k and at times could better. The controls take some time to get use to. I crash on ever level due to the controls.