Air Pirates Galore

Crimson Skies is a different sort of flight sim/action/serialized cliffhanger title from Redmond, Washington’s 800-pound gorilla. Not satisfied with domination of the civilian and combat flight sim genres, Microsoft decided to conquer other skies with this very unique, engaging, and downright fun title. Set in an alternate 1930’s era, the player assumes the role of Nathan Zachary, a rogue air pirate fighting and fortune hunting over the skies of the seceded American countries including Pacifica, Nation of Hollywood, and the Empire State. You’re flyin’ and fightin’ with your crew from an armored transport zeppelin outfitted with a diverse squadron of agile fighter planes that look like a collision of designs between Willie Messerschmitt and Burt Rutan.


Talk about connecting flights!	Crash and burn in the Big Apple.

The Crimson Skies designers did a great job capturing the essence, and nuances, of this 1930’s era, albeit a very different one than what our real-world historians report. Everything from the game manual to the in-game cut-scenes to the cockpit dash are in a distinctive period style; attention to detail was a clear mandate on this title. This adds up to a game that is quite fresh in its approach and unique in its offering. In total, I felt the sense of immersion and "suspension of disbelief" as I became the dashing hero fighting to save the pretty girl, or loot my mortal enemy’s lair of his treasure. Doesn’t sound like a flight sim? Well, think of Crimson Skies as a first-person "sky shooter" with a heavy dose of action and a zinger of adventure-driven storylines. All this makes for a title that is fun, addictive, and very different.

Tall Tales & Many Lives

From the game’s main menu, a player can choose from three major game play modes: Campaign, Instant Action, and Multiplayer. Choosing the Campaign mode will take the player through a series of engaging, story-driven missions that bring one up against dogfights with enemy air pirates, air races through Hollywood sets, and bombing missions over the Big Apple.

The graphics in Crimson Skies are certainly up to snuff with any other flying-oriented title on store shelves today. In fact, some of the mission environments such as the Nation of Hollywood are so compelling that I thought I was flying over the Paramount Pictures studio – complete with set facades, nearby bungalow town, and Hollywood hillside sign. I could almost smell the studio executives’ cigar smoke from my open cockpit while flying above. On a Pentium III 600 MHz PC with nVidia GeForce video card, the frame rate was quite respectable in most every mission save for rendering the dense streets and many structures of the New York City missions. When I threw a dozen fighters and a couple of armored zeps into the mix, I found my PC coughing and wheezing over a few of these missions. Fortunately, the Settings menu offers more than enough controls to tweak the graphics until they work just right for one’s PC setup.

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