Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII - Combat Flying Game Review for the Nintendo Wii

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Overview

Blazing Angels is a World War II combat flying game where you must go through a series of 20 missions with 46 different available planes to fly. It is available on all the major gaming consoles, but only the Nintendo Wii version utilizies motion-sensitive controls for flying the planes. At first, this seems like a neat idea, but over time it becomes a frustrating battle with the controls that takes away from the gameplay. I’d only recommend this game to someone who is very patient.

Graphics (4 out of 5)

This graphics in this game are quite good, and look even better if you use a component cable connection on the Wii. The planes and other vehicles are realistically rendered, as is the European and Russian landscapes where the missions take place. This is not some cartoonish WWII-simulation, but instead goes for a more realistic approach which I found nice. I also like that it allows you to see targets in the distance before they come within range of your guns, because this is necessary to help time your shots.

Gameplay and Controls (2 out of 5)

Basically, I thought this game was just too hard because of the way it expects you to control the aircraft. You fly the planes by using the Nunchuck instead of the Wii Remote. To bank left or right, simply tilt the nunchuck to either side. Up and down motions will have your plane climb or dive, and so on. You can also use the thumbstick to help aiming your guns or bombs. The problem with it all is the game requires you to be more precise than what I think the Wii controllers were designed to accomplish. I know aerial combat isn’t supposed to be an easy thing, but this is a video game!

Dogfights in this game can be a real chore when you go head to head against another pilot. The problem is that the way the controls move the planes around only give you a second or two for taking shots, and the rest of the time you’ll be going back and forth in the air with the other planes. Unless you can take down the enemy on the first or second pass, it becomes frustrating to the point of not being fun. When you have to bomb ground targets, the problem is the same. The margin of error is just too tight, and it only gets more difficult as you get farther into the game. I’d be seriously impressed by anyone who managed to finish the whole game on the Wii.

Overall (3 out of 5)

I think Blazing Angels would have been a lot better game had the controls been a little more forgiving. The Nintendo Wii was designed mainly to pick up larger movements, and this game tends to focus too much on minute little flinches of the wrist in order to accomplish some missions. I finally reached the point that I just didn’t want to play this game anymore because the tedium of the controls made it stop being fun.