Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge – XB – Review

The story line is as epic as the game itself. It goes as follows: The United
States of America is but a dream because it broke up several years ago. The
country is now broken into multiple nation states, and they all fight each
other. To further separate themselves from each other, they destroyed all roads
and bridges that connected the states together. Now the only way to get anywhere
is by air travel, meaning planes, helicopters, and zeppelins. Since there are so
many wars in the skies, pirates have become the main stream, and steal anything
they can get their hands on, since there are no federal laws for them to fear.

Players take on the role of Nathan Zachary, who is a former rich man who lost it
all in the market crash of 1929. He now heads a team of pirates, the Fortune
Hunters, who seal from the rich; and his goal is to gain the fortune that he
lost. His gang consists of three main people, “Brooklyn” Better Charles, Big
John, and Dr. Frassenbiender. Betty is the newest member of the team who is
seeking new adventures and always there to help out Nathan when he is in a tense
situation. Big John is Nathan’s best friend and a natural pilot, and good person
to have on your side in any situation. Dr. Frassenbiender is a genus who
develops a new system to make the planes faster, more reliable, and efficient.

There are a few main things players will be doing though out the game: stealing
airplanes, destroying enemy fighters, and looting zeppelins that are abundant in
the world. As players successfully complete missions they will be given cash to
upgrade the planes to make them better in battle. There are dozens of different
missions that players can take, and choose the path they want to during the
game.

During the course of the game players will be see a lot of the world, such as
Hollywood, Chicago, New Mexico, and many other places. It is nice to see the
spin that the developers took in this alternative universe, and see how things
might have looked if something like this did happen.

One of the best things about this game is the multiplayer. Players will be able
to player split screen, a LAN set up, and on Xbox Live. The real gem is playing
through Xbox Live, because you will be able to play with up to 16 people from
around the country. This is a feat within itself, because while playing with 16
people there is absolutely no lag, and the game becomes like a real war zone.

While playing multiplayer there are several choices: Dogfight, Team Dogfight,
Flag Heist, Keep Away, Team Accumulate, and Wild Chicken. In Dogfight, it is a
free for all to see who can kill each other and see who is the best pilot. Team
Dog Fight is the same except players see which team is the best. Flag Heist is
capture the flag, and you will be amazed at how fun this mode really is. Keep
Away is when players steal an artifact and see how long they can keep it. Team
Accumulate is the same as Keep Away but in a team environment. Wild Chicken is a
combination of Dog Fight and Flag Heist; players must shoot down enemy planes,
and find the chicken in the level and bring it back to their base for points.

What makes it even better is that there is a ton of things going on at any given
moment. During the course of a mission you can have numerous planes, boats, and
zeppelins shooting at you. Players will have to become adapt to any given
situation and become the best pilot they can be if they are going to survive. To
make the game even better there are other venues for shooting enemies in planes,
players can get in gun turrets and even helicopters to destroy the enemies.

Graphics: 9.8
Crimson Skies High Road to Revenge looks amazing. Everything from the
environments to the planes themselves are high detailed. In the beginning of the
game, the planes are new looking, but as the battle rages on, the damage will
take a toll on the planes, and fire and smoke will bellow out of the engines.
The environments that players fly around in are huge, with intricate details
including water, canyons, skyscrapers, and many other things. Players can
literately fly up for an extremely long time before they hit the boundaries.
When they finally make their progress back to land, it seems like it is a mere
speck of dust. The texture use and bump mapping makes the game seem so real. The
camera is deployed great in this game. It never becomes a hamper to the gamer
while in tense battle situations. The best part about this is, even with all of
the graphical power going on, the game holds a steady frame rate.

Sound: 9.6
The music in Crimson Skies High Road to Revenge is really outstanding! It is a
symphony that sets the whole pace for the entire game. The music is calm and
tranquil while being harsh and ramping up for action all in one. It is a real
treat for anyone who gets to hear it. The voice acting is also very well done.
In a lot of games the voice acting is usually sloppy and people can tell it was
put together at the last minute, but this is not the case here. From hearing it,
players will be able to tell that Microsoft went the extra mile and made sure
that all of the lines sound appropriate in feeling and tone.