Over G Fighters

"Good idea on paper, but the developers made some major bad decisions."

This game is classed as a simulator. That alone should do one of two things: make you interested in the possible realism, or veer you off if you have bad experiences with sims as a source of entertainment.

Lets crunch this down the old school way:

Gameplay: 8

Reminds me of drugs. Seriously. It almost seems like there is no reason to like it, but you're addicted. This is lucky, since the game lacks in diversity. Pretty much every mission can fall into this checklist:

Mandatory:

-Insert map. Usually just for show.
-Insert targets. Either ground or air based.
-Insert on-the-side targets that either are just there for filler, or there to horribly piss you off with their incredible persistence to shove a missile up your afterburners.

Optional:

-Base/carrier to land at and resupply.
- Multiple stages to level
-Target to defend. Tends to be a big target that the enemy flocks to like flies.

Then it all comes down to your choice of plane, payload, wingman, and difficulty. Unless it's a map where your plane is not pickable or your wingman does not come with you.

THEN you got the grading system after each mission. Calculates stuff like enemies killed, time, etc. And gives you a letter based on how well you did (the old as the hills “S,A,B,C,etc system) along with the occasional rant from cartoon pictures, which is usually very off topic (for example, getting a “not done in a timely matter” rant when I completed the mission in 42 seconds flat). None of it feels very next gen or holds a real kickback sensation to it.

Yet somehow, when I blow the target into pencil shavings, I get a nice grin on my face.

There are other game modes, like Arena. Basically you get a base on a random island in the middle of the ocean with a big, empty map to play on, with a bunch of random planes flying around. Occasional Bosses, or Big Bosses, appear. That's the ONLY reason to play this otherwise poor sandbox mode. You can then play the big bosses on 1 on 1, if you find and kill them.

It seems bad, but somehow it kept me well entertained for a good week.

Graphics: 7

Wow. This is so messed up. Some of the graphics are superb, and others are horrible. The planes themselves are gorgeous. They look and function great. I love how, when I fire a missile, I don't just see a magical missile appear and fly away to kill my target (unless in beginner, which has unlimited ammo), I see the missile detach from the plane, fly off, and kill target. This goes for bomb bays as well. The afterburners, and heat waves behind planes, also look magnificent. The explosions are cool, but not overly spectacular. Kind of like a “pop” that just lingers there immediately afterwards.

The sky also looks nice. I like fly very high and seeing all the clouds and the sky above me. Looks magnificent.

The game's graphics mostly trip on the ground texture. It is hideous. VERY low detail. The poly count can sometimes look good, but the textures are sub par at most. The things like trees or structures can be pretty ugly as well.

Wingmates: 4

I had to include this since the wingman had a habit of pissing me off, BIG time. I can recount at least 5 times where my wingman pulled a homer: crashed his plane into mine, ironically at JUST the worst possible moment, like when I'm going off to kill a big Boss. That's why I hate how he thinks getting as close a possible while strafing side to side like a DUI military pilot is a good idea. He also never shuts up about being in trouble, but I am yet to see him die. Only use he serves is if you tell him to kill something, he does so, assuming his ADD does not kick in and he flys off to play the flirting game with an enemy Mig and continue ranting about being in trouble.

Music: None

I will not say much here. If there is anything people have a wide range of varying opinions on, it's music. It's not to my taste, however. But I will exclude it from the final score to avoid bias.

Online: 3

VERY poorly setup. One mode is basically set 2 teams against each other, in the air, facing each other, to pound each other into paste with incredibly persistent (dodging is considered a miracle sometimes) missiles in like 20 seconds. There are more modes too, but this is not a game for online play. The gameplay just does not suit the concept.

Replayability: 6

Basically, the replayability is a “collect all the planes”, temptation. Also the “beat the hardest difficulty” commitment. That old fashioned style replayability. Only other one I can think of is the “play the game for fun cause you never get bored of it” which can possibly apply to all games. As said above, online is not very good so it does not really suit replayability.

Overall: 5.6

This is a game that had potential and threw it out the window. Very rough edges, poor balance of things, and I am yet to see any advertising. But it has its charm. Worth a rent if you like flying games. Also quite realistic, which I really can't speak for as I have never been a military pilot.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 09/11/06