|| REVIEW || Red Wings : Aces of the Sky (Nintendo Switch)

Developed By : All-in! Games                                         Published By : All-in! Games
Category : Action, Arcade Shooter, Air Combat
Release Date : May 21, 2020

A handful of times on this blog, I've covered a game that fits perfectly into a genre that I love of gaming. However, one area that I don't get to gush about very often could easily be my favorite genre overall : flight combat. I don't know a single thing about planes, or flight as a whole, but if you can virtually put me in the cockpit with some enemies to shoot down, you'll hard pressed to get me away from that game. So when the newly released Red Wings : Aces of the Sky flew onto my radar, I couldn't resist the chance to take off in this one.

Any sort of history buff will fall right into the story of this game, as it pits you right in the heart of World War I. Control nearly a dozen warplanes straight out of the pages of history as you fly in the skies for either the Entente Powers or the Triple Alliance. More specifically, choosing your side in the war will determine if you'll be playing as the Red Baron himself, Manfred von Richthofen, or if you'll be trying to shoot him down.

Each side of the campaign features 25 missions with various objectives. These will include the obvious of shooting down enemy planes, destroying observation balloons, and bombing ships or supply holds. Occasionally, you'll be given a mission purely for flying, with your plane being either low on fuel or heavily damaged and needing to crutch your way back to base.

In the combat missions, you'll have an objective of different things to destroy. Most of these will be enemy fighters, and they will typically come in waves. Some missions you'll need to destroy support balloons which are fewer in number, but you'll also be contending with enemy fighters. And while you don't need to shoot them all down, you might find a hard time getting the objective done without taking at least a few of the enemy down. Your final type of target will be bombing sites as you fly the bomber, avoiding shrapnel shots up into the sky as you take out a small list of targets.

Variations on your enemies are very few. You'll deal with four other types of planes in the skies, each one getting tougher as they're introduced. The most common are just basic fighters, hanging out in the air waiting for you to introduce them to the ground. Next are armored planes that have a shield you'll need to get through first before getting to their health. If you fail to damage them for a short time, the armor will regenerate and need to be damaged again.

The last two types of enemies are more advanced pilots, marked by either an arrow above their health, or three little stars. These guys don't have any armor to be concerned about, but both are able to perform barrel rolls and quick maneuvers to avoid your damage. In the case of the pilots with three stars, they can pack one hell of a punch so be careful about getting caught in their sights.

You'll have a few tricks up your own sleeve to help you in the air, four to be exact. These are a barrel roll, a quick turn around, calling in your squadron, or a finishing blow. The barrel roll is a great way to avoid damage, and if you time it properly you can take out another fighter in a kamikaze move with this. Using your quick turn is good for taking advantage of people who might be behind you.

Calling in your squad starts off with only one other fighter, but eventually can be levelled up so you're calling in four additional fighters for a short time. To use this, you'll need to mark targets for them to attack and then call them in for a quick sweep. Lastly, your finishing blow is exactly what it sounds like. Once an enemy's health has been almost completely wiped out, a small skull icon will appear over their cockpit. Using this will trigger a short cartoony cutscene in which your pilot pulls out a pistol and sends out a devastating headshot.

All these skills, and a few other things, can be upgraded on your pilot's skill tree. This skill tree is universal, so if you play through the Entente campaign, everything will remain unlocked once you switch over to the Alliance side. Each mission rewards you with up to three stars, depending on either how fast you complete them, or how high of a score you obtain. These stars are what you'll use to purchase upgrades like preventing your guns from overheating so fast, being able to carry more fuel, lowering the cooldowns on your skills, and so much more.

I can't even begin to describe how much fun I've had playing Red Wings : Aces of the Sky. Both campaigns are a blast to play, and it's really cool seeing both sides of playing as the Red Baron himself or trying to get him down. The flight controls feel great, which is obviously something you want from a game such as this, and getting used to them took no time at all.

One thing I loved the most was how the individual missions were done with the scoring. Having the stars only tie in to your skill tree is pretty great, because it eliminates an unnecessary grind of needing to constantly replay missions just to nudge out a higher score. Obviously you want as many stars as possible to help get yourself better skills, but it's pretty great that it won't ever hinder you from the campaign itself.

When you're done with the campaign, you can continue taking to the skies with survival mode. This mode gives you thirteen waves to fight off in a time limit, in three different difficulties. You'll need to beat the easy mode to unlock normal, and normal to unlock hard but they are a lot of fun and the only requirement is making sure you defeat all enemy fighters before time runs up, so don't worry about your score.

So if you are any level of a fan of flight combat games, you don't want to miss Red Wings : Aces of the Sky. Even if you're not so much into the history side of things, this is going to be a hard game to set down for any reason. But if the history is an added bonus for you, you'll love not only the story woven through the campaigns, but the authentic-to-the-time selection of planes you'll get to pilot throughout.

Game Rating : 9.5/10

Pick up the game HERE on the Switch eShop

Also available on : Playstation 4, Xbox One,

and PC (Steam)

A code for his game was graciously provided

to the site for the purpose for a review.