Ten years ago, the flight sim genre was a hard nut to crack. Unless you were a realism freak obsessed with the 10 million diodes and switches on the B17, or interested in flying solo across the US for hours on end, there wasn't really a draw for the general gaming populace. The graphics weren't astounding, the learning curve tended to be of K2-grade and the bits of action in combat flight sims were few and far between.

Then came X-Wing. While it wasn't a real-world flight sim, it did allow you to pilot some of the best-loved ships in the history of entertainment. It was also in stark contrast to most other flight sims during the time period, as it offered almost non-stop action, an interesting storyline, and some pretty impressive graphics. Plus, it was Star Wars (franchise backing that the Wing Commander games just didn't have yet). What else could a gamer ask for? X-Wing (followed closely by an even better TIE Fighter) opened the flight sim genre to everyone who was too overwhelmed by flaps and altimeters to enjoy titles like Microsoft Flight Simulator. It was an action gamer's flight sim.

Totally Games, the developer behind the most recent Star Wars flight sim, X-Wing: Alliance, is helmed by Larry Holland, who has been working with LucasArts since the first X-Wing title hit shelves in 1992. It seems, however, that Larry and his crew have strayed from Jedis and B-Wings recently. Their previous game focused on the great Star Wars nemesis in Star Trek: Bridge Commander, a space flight sim in the same vein as X-Wing, but with a dash of Romulan. But don't go thinking that these guys are set in their sci-fi ways. Even before X-Wing was released, Larry put out Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, a WW2 flight sim with the same arcade controls and action as its space-bound brethren. And, almost 12 years later, Larry is finally returning to his Secret Weapons franchise for Totally Games' latest endeavor, Secret Weapons Over Normandy.


   

Just as X-Wing opened the doors of the flight sim genre to PC action gamers, Secret Weapons Over Normandy will attempt to take this one step further. Since recent flight sims on the PC have seen stagnant sales and dwindling support from publishers, Totally Games decided to tap a relatively unmined resource of possible flight sim fanatics: Console gamers. Designed with the ox in mind (with a ported PC version alongside the console releases), Secret Weapons will feature 22 flyable planes from the WW2 era, including plenty of secret weapons (duh) like prototype jets and rockets.

But, let's be honest. It's not like console gamers are lining up to play the latest Microsoft Flight Simulator title. How on Earth does Totally Games expect to nab the attention of gamers who couldn't care less about realistic wind resistance and altimeter monitoring? The answer? Bollocks to realism! In true arcade style, Secret Weapons Over Normandy is completely bereft of overwhelming meters and requirements. It basically takes the boring parts of flying (i.e. staying level, watching your altitude and playing it safe) out of the player's hands. All you're left with is steering and blowing stuff up. Hell, that's all we wanted in the first place!

The controls are obviously inspired by this arcade-style, as they are extremely responsive and clean. Granted, a massive bomber probably can't make the sort of sharp turns that are possible in Secret Weapons, but who really cares? The game is all about action, and there's no action when you have the turning radius of a paraplegic whale. Other controls, such as targeting (extremely similar to X-Wing's targeting system) are handled beautifully on your preferred console's controller (which is a sight for sore eyes after staring at 100+ keys for the majority of my flight sim career).

What makes Secret Weapons Over Normandy so palpable is its pick-up-and-play quality. Once you've got the button assignments down, you'll be taking out German Stukas and Junkers in no time. An aiming reticule indicates where you'll be firing and a lead reticule on your target shows the player where they should be shooting to actually hit the target. Simple, right? Even if you've never played a flight sim in your life, you should have little difficulty with the controls for Secret Weapons Over Normandy.

But I can almost hear war buffs cringing as they read this. Arcade physics? Boosted speed and turning? Pick-up-and-play controls? They might as well have AT-ATs and snow speeders zooming around, 'cause this is not WW2! Well, despite the easier control scheme, the developers have put a lot of work into making Secret Weapons very loyal to its respective war. For starters, the battles in the game are based on real events from the time period in question. Missions include the Battle of Dunkirk (according to the developers, think "the battle of Naboo; no Gungans, evil S.S."), wherein you must take to the skies to defend transport ships rescuing the fleeing British troops from France. Other missions include frays from all the theaters of war, from the Battle of Midway in the Pacific to taking out Rommel's tanks in Northern Africa (developers: "Think Tatooine"). There will be over 15 missions, some multilayered, which stretch on for over 30 levels, so don't think that you'll be winning this war any time soon.

As you progress through the missions, you'll gain access to each of the 22 available fighters in the game, which slowly fill up your massive hanger with classic weapons of war. With these, you can create instant action games so you can choose your plane, your location and the enemy's arsenal, and jump into battle immediately. That's good news if you've blown through the single-player campaign, and still want to blow up Nazis.

On top of the Instant Action mode, there's a multiplayer component that'll have you dog-fighting friends in state of the art WW2 weaponry. While the multiplay will be limited to same-system players (sorry, Xbox Live folks), there will be a number of different modes and options to make each multiplayer game completely unique. With any luck, we'll see bot support in multiplayer games as well, so you won't have to feel like each battle is just a 4-player deathmatch.

Lastly, the developers have made sure that players looking to explore every nook and cranny of the game will have plenty to find. Unlockable extras for completing missions (apart from new planes) include secret videos. In one, the developers sat down and interviewed a WW2 veteran about his experiences as a ball gunner in the belly of a B17. Others take a look at some of the vintage aircraft in real life, as the developers visited airfields housing authentic WW2 planes. Sure, it might sound like a history lesson, but it's about the history of war, which is always much cooler than the Hawley Smoot Tariff.

Secret Weapons Over Normandy might not be the perfect game for realism-obsessed grognards, but for the rest of us, it's the epitome of an action-packed flight sim. Plenty of authentic planes, over 25 hours of gameplay and multiplayer support should be enough to get the console gamers giving this genre another look. And if not, those meatheads wouldn't know fun if it bit them on the nose. Heh, just kidding guys.

The biggest winner for those two games was not lucasarts, but the joystick manufacturers as those games were the #1 opportunity to wreck anything under medium-grade construction quality.

OK did I hear this correctly that they are talking about flight sims, for consoles? This is just crazy. I have heard people talk to me about F-15's and F-14's in PS2 games... they know nothing.

 Its true that a "console" game cannot match the dynamics of a "PC" sim.  But it might be a good starting point for a youngster or a beginner intrested in flight who may feel overwhelmed by a "real" flight sim.
 And besides it might be FUN!!