Review: Aces of the Luftwaffe 2

[the_dead_man]

Aces of the Luftwaffe 2

Mobile Game Review

Title: Aces of the Luftwaffe 2
Developer: Handy Games
Publisher: Handy Games
Release Date: June, 2009
Format: J2ME
Game Features: Long, challenging missions, three game modes.
Reviewed on: SE W580

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Summary

It’s the World War II and Decision Day has come. Buckle up your seatbelt and brace yourself for some intense action packed flying, as you help the Royal Air Force and the US air force fight the Germans. Face deadly battles against the Germans and the mysterious undead air warriors resurrected by them using a mysterious artefact. Darkness has spread across the land and it’s up to you to use your skills wisely to save your country and defeat the dangerous Aces of the Luftwaffe who are back from their graves!

Review

This week it’s Aces of the Luftwaffe 2, the prime reason being that its predecessor was a phenomenal success. Before we begin, we require some historical background that’s necessary to know if you’re playing the game. The Luftwaffe is the German Air Force. They were defeated and the Aces met their nemesis in the Aces of the Luftwaffe 1. But as you might have probably guessed by now, they are back from their graves and with them comes their undead army. The story is set in the time of the D-day during WWII. You are a young pilot of the English Army and it’s your duty to fight the Germans in France along with the Allies. Take part in intense action packed missions which get longer as you progress in the game. The story consists of thirty levels in all, which is divided into seven acts and each act has about four to five missions. Missions start getting really long from the fourth act. You have to fight scores of planes and bosses. The boss fights are tough but interesting, because each boss requires you to employ different skills and manoeuvres at the correct time. Fight your way through seven acts, face scores of German pilots, flak cannons, ships in both air and land battles and ultimately face the undead German air warriors and the Aces of the Luftwaffe once again. Triumph over the Germans and save France and the rest of Europe from the dark shadows of the resurrected undead and bask in glory.

Basically this is a game of the action\shooter genre, but Aces of the Luftwaffe 2 has a lot to offer besides shooting down planes in terms of gameplay. Manoeuvres are something which remains the same as the predecessor. The controls are really easy to master and execute. Shooting is done using the (5) button as usual. Different manoeuvres can be executed easily, like the rolling manoeuvre which lets you move to the extreme left or right of the screen by double-tapping the (4) or (6) key respectively. This is excellent for dodging bullets and missiles. The looping manoeuvre meanwhile lets you loop backwards a few seconds by double-tapping the (8) key. The assault manoeuvre makes the plane move forward at an increased velocity and the plane becomes invincible for a short period of time. This can be executed by double-tapping the (2) key. In the land missions you have to destroy flak cannons, tanks, bunkers and enemy ships by dropping bombs using the (7) or (9) key. In the Paratrooper missions you have to drop paratroopers at desired battle positions on the ground using the same keys. Besides this there are speedrush missions where your main objective is to escape from your enemies. Thus it is evident that Aces of the Luftwaffe 2 offers a wide variety of missions.

Besides these missions, there are boss fights where you have to fight dangerous bosses whose aircrafts cover almost an entire half of your mobile screen. To defeat the bosses you have to use different strategies and execute manoeuvres at the correct time to defeat them. The interesting part about defeating bosses is that and the end of each boss mission, if you are successful, then you get an artefact which has a special power. There are two types of artefacts, the red ones which unfold their special powers only for a short period of time and the blue ones whose special powers remain active throughout the mission. Artefacts can be changed using the (1) or (3) key to cycle through your collected artefacts. You gain promotion by shooting a certain number of enemies and it enables you to upgrade your plane. There are several types of upgrades like hit-points, manoeuvre cost reduction, armour, damage, speed etc. The game has three difficulty levels viz. Rookie, Ace and Legend. Besides this, the game has three different game modes, the campaign mode, which follows the storyline as described earlier, the air battle, where you survive as long as possible and try achieving as many air victories as you can and the dog fight where you can fight all the bosses that you have defeated in the campaign. Besides this you can collect different powerups along the way on your missions like circle cannons, dual guns etc. These powerups appear in a different form called ‘essences’ when you shoot down the undead warriors in the sky. There are different types of essences like the ‘undead’ essence which summons an undead warrior to fight by your side, the ‘time’ essence pauses time briefly and the ‘shield’ essence shields your plane for a brief period of time. These make the game more interesting.

Graphics are excellent and well-detailed, like smoke starts coming out of planes in a critical condition, cracks appear on your screen if you’re hit by too many bullets. The planes and ships are colourful and the surrounding scenery with the cartoon-style graphics and some humour from your fellow fighters make the game enjoyable. Sound is phenomenal as it suits the game perfectly. The music is superb and sound effects are very realistic.

Conclusion

So does Aces of the Luftwaffe 2 live up to our expectations like its predecessor? The answer is definitely a big yes. In fact, it’s better than Aces of the Luftwaffe 1 in my opinion with the different features the game offers and a thrilling storyline. In short, this game is a must have for every mobile gamer

Screenshots

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Scores

Graphics: 9/10
Colourful and well detailed.

Sound: 9.4/10
Excellent, suits the game.

Gameplay: 9.5/10
Superb, wide variety of features.

Story: 9/10
Thrilling story based on the WWII.

Overall Score: 9.4 out of 10

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[James]

Excellent review Dip! Can't wait to try the game



Btw what happened to the review medals?

[the_dead_man]

Excellent review Dip! Can't wait to try the game



Btw what happened to the review medals?

I cant put any more pics but i want someone to design some new medals. If you could? or noxide maybe? it would be good.

[Bazza21]

Sounds like an excellant game, reviewed to perfection
though i don't think it's my kind of game, so i'll pass lol..

[James]

I cant put any more pics but i want someone to design some new medals. If you could? or noxide maybe? it would be good.

Not a good idea for me to, Noxide would be good at it

New medals sound like a good idea

[Vivian]

Another great review Dip.

+rep when I can.

[Ghost]

great review +rep

[gooblaster]

Posting your game reviews on facebook is a good idea...
Keeps me updated xD
Nice review btw

[Chris]

but i want someone to design some new medals.

[the_dead_man]

Do it then