For those of you waiting for X-Plane to finally arrive on Android (and it should soon according to the devs), Winds of Steel may not offer a comparable sim experience, but the arcade-style combat is enough to satiate even the most rabid flight-stick jockey's urge to fly. The full version offers a dozen World War II aircraft (both Allies and Axis, though focused on the Pacific Theatre) for you to choose from.
The flight model, while nowhere near the ballpark of realism (think Lucasart's Rogue Squadron series), still provides a decent thrill to kill those long minutes waiting for the bus or for your wife to finish her Buffy episode on Netflix. Recently added additions include the ability to barrel roll and do a complete loop, abilities which were sorely missed when I first downloaded this game a month ago. A throttle control would be nice for sim fans, but also would probably overcomplicate this simplistic shoot-em-up. The missions themselves are a blast, buzzing navy destroyers while dropping your bomb loadout (which regenerates in-mission), dogfighting with Zero's, and fending off incoming bombing runs.
Weapons loadouts include standard cannons for all planes and bombs for the fighter-bombers (I couldn't tell if they were customized for each plane; they performed similarly in any case.) Some notable aircraft include the P-40 Warhawk, the Mistubishi Zero, and the darling P-51 Mustang. While, again, flight models aren't going to be remotely similar to real-world performance, for enthusiasts the plane modeling is still such that you can recognize your favorites. Navy planes like the F4F and the Corsair make appearances too.
Graphics are good for the Android system (which hasn't really been pushed in the 3D department as of yet), and while I would forgive you for mistaking it for an N64, it ran quite smooth on my G1-era hardware. Sound effects are tiny and canned, but I find myself muting it more often than not (can't have 0.50 caliber cannon sounds coming from the restroom at work!). Overall, a good presentation.
My complaints are few - while more missions and additional theatres would have been welcomed with the paid version, and a few UI annoyances cropped up (pressing the "BACK" key kills the app most of the time), overall it's a decent value for the price. In any case it's a great framework - now if the devs would bring us mission packs for the European Theatre or (please please please) the Battle of Britain, I would be an even happier camper. Or pilot.
Highs - Decent selection of planes and missions, entertaining Lucasarts-inspired gameplay, cool historical battles, bombing runs, graphics
Lows - Canned sound, low replay value, minor UI glitches
Overall - 8/10
The flight model, while nowhere near the ballpark of realism (think Lucasart's Rogue Squadron series), still provides a decent thrill to kill those long minutes waiting for the bus or for your wife to finish her Buffy episode on Netflix. Recently added additions include the ability to barrel roll and do a complete loop, abilities which were sorely missed when I first downloaded this game a month ago. A throttle control would be nice for sim fans, but also would probably overcomplicate this simplistic shoot-em-up. The missions themselves are a blast, buzzing navy destroyers while dropping your bomb loadout (which regenerates in-mission), dogfighting with Zero's, and fending off incoming bombing runs.
Weapons loadouts include standard cannons for all planes and bombs for the fighter-bombers (I couldn't tell if they were customized for each plane; they performed similarly in any case.) Some notable aircraft include the P-40 Warhawk, the Mistubishi Zero, and the darling P-51 Mustang. While, again, flight models aren't going to be remotely similar to real-world performance, for enthusiasts the plane modeling is still such that you can recognize your favorites. Navy planes like the F4F and the Corsair make appearances too.
Graphics are good for the Android system (which hasn't really been pushed in the 3D department as of yet), and while I would forgive you for mistaking it for an N64, it ran quite smooth on my G1-era hardware. Sound effects are tiny and canned, but I find myself muting it more often than not (can't have 0.50 caliber cannon sounds coming from the restroom at work!). Overall, a good presentation.
My complaints are few - while more missions and additional theatres would have been welcomed with the paid version, and a few UI annoyances cropped up (pressing the "BACK" key kills the app most of the time), overall it's a decent value for the price. In any case it's a great framework - now if the devs would bring us mission packs for the European Theatre or (please please please) the Battle of Britain, I would be an even happier camper. Or pilot.
Highs - Decent selection of planes and missions, entertaining Lucasarts-inspired gameplay, cool historical battles, bombing runs, graphics
Lows - Canned sound, low replay value, minor UI glitches
Overall - 8/10