Freedom Wings (Nintendo DS) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

We seem to be at a point now in the DS life cycle where almost every genre is taken care of. There are platformers, puzzlers, RPGs, action, adventure... you name it and it's here. That is, all except one: the flight simulator. The reason for this has probably been the control system, as the average PC based flight simulator requires a keyboard overlay to aid the electronic pilot during the flight time. Freedom Wings doesn't claim to be an all out flight simulator but does have flight, combat and strategy elements all in a single cart. I have to say, after playing the recent Pilot Academy on the PSP, I was quite looking forward to Freedom Wings so, was it worth the wait?

Gameplay

It took us some time to actually categorize Freedom Wings and while the packaging, advertising and even our 'Game Format' has it listed as an Action/Flying title, it's probably better described as an air-bound RPG. The reason for this is that you never actually fly; everything is done automatically and you are simply an observer. You'll take off; engage in the odd dogfight and even land with hardly any interaction at all. Your only real challenge is to tap the screen occasionally when a group of enemy planes pop up. Simply selecting them will instruct your plane to fly in that direction and, when close enough, shoot them down. Your objective, if you can call it that, is to survive these battles whilst traveling across your 'world map' getting cash, which can then be used to buy better, faster and stronger planes.

After a while you will discover that a 'manual' control system is available but selecting this shows the game's true flaws. The plane is difficult to control and engaging the enemy is equally frustrating. There's even a multiplayer available with 'single card download' available but, given all the negatives this game presents to the user, it's hardly worth even trying.

Controls

This is actually one of the aspects that make this game so unplayable and, even if you completely ignore the fact that you can't crash (you simply bounce off the floor) and have the ability to fly through solid objects, it's still far too unresponsive to be enjoyable.

Graphics

A bit of a mixed bag here really and while the 3D engine is suitably robust, if a little blocky, the rest of the game is patchy at best. The front end and general interface just feel thrown together. There are also endless text screens, which do little to build up any atmosphere.

Sound

There's a whole lot of sound packed into this little cart and while they may have skipped over some of the more important stuff (such as gameplay) Freedom Wings is certainly a treat for the ears. It begins with a rousing soundtrack that will have you 'signing up' instantly. This is accompanied by some very well done sound effects with everything from engine noises to impressive explosions covered. No sign of any speech though which is a shame really as the odd recorded line would have just finished things off.

Dual screen

Well there are certainly many things you can do on the touch-screen but this whole exercise is a case of selecting a point on the map and sitting back and watching the action unfold. This starts to feel more like a remote exercise and using your stylus to root out the enemy only to stare at the screen until your plane is close enough to attack can hardly be termed fun.

Final comments

It's difficult to know where to begin with Freedom Wings: a game that starts out with so much promise quickly gets bogged down with enough drawbacks to render it almost unplayable. The biggest flaw of this game is that it's almost entirely computer controlled. Switch to manual though and the terrible control system makes flying incredibly difficult and, most importantly, not fun. You'll then have to switch back to computer controls and watch everything unfold with the minimum of interaction. The result is one of the biggest disappointments of the year so far.

Pro: Nice Sound and Visuals.
Con: The Gameplay.
Final score: 3

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