Curse you Steam! Wings of Prey... surprisingly good. :-)

[Andrew MacPherson]

I've been ignoring this. The demo was a bit big to test out, and I've been wasting
far too much time recently in games I bought during the Xmas Steam sale, and
especially with iRacing... which sucks in ridiculous amounts of time.

Mind you, it had better, considering the amount I've "invested" in it.

Anyway, Wings of Prey... I have more versions of IL2 than I care to admit, but I
think I've already had more immersive grins in three training missions in WoP than
I've had in the whole of my IL2 career.

Ok, so it's a thinly disguised arcade game. But you know what? I don't care these
days. I enjoy Dirt2 as well as iRacing, and it's taken something like WoP to
persuade me to dust off my joystick after a year or so of inactivity. Trying to fly
ED's helicopter just about sucked all the sim-life out of me a couple of years ago.

Right, excuse me. I have to go back to shooting down barrage balloons over Kent
before I get back to practicing for my iRacing club race tonight. The novelty may
soon wear off, but this is just what I needed to remind me why I still love flight
sims.

Tally-ho!

Andrew McP

[Andrew MacPherson]

*Date:* Wed, 24 Feb 2010 10:45 +0000 (GMT Standard Time)
Right, excuse me. I have to go back to shooting down barrage
balloons over Kent

Sorry, France. :-) Either way, this is plenty sim enough for me. The flight/taxi
model has none of the hardcore stress induced by IL2, but it otherwise feels right
to me. Besides, in TripleHead mode I'm not looking for flaws, I'm looking at the
most immersive and satisfying graphical experience in a flight sim to date.

Cheap on Steam for two days. Worth every penny, and just what the sim-doctor
ordered for introducing casual gamers and for waking up semi-retired simmers :-).

I've only put a couple of hours into it so far, but typing this makes me want to
turn on the games PC and just load up a mission and put on an airshow for some of
the locals.

Andrew McP

[GaryR]

I agree 100% Andrew, I did try the demo and went right out and bought
(DL,d) it. It's nice to have fun in a sim without having 2000
different keys combos to press. Beautiful graphics, smooth play, and
easy to hop into. Good stuff.

GR

Post by Andrew MacPherson

*Date:* Wed, 24 Feb 2010 10:45 +0000 (GMT Standard Time)
Right, excuse me. I have to go back to shooting down barrage
balloons over Kent

Sorry, France. :-) Either way, this is plenty sim enough for me. The flight/taxi
model has none of the hardcore stress induced by IL2, but it otherwise feels right
to me. Besides, in TripleHead mode I'm not looking for flaws, I'm looking at the
most immersive and satisfying graphical experience in a flight sim to date.
Cheap on Steam for two days. Worth every penny, and just what the sim-doctor
ordered for introducing casual gamers and for waking up semi-retired simmers :-).
I've only put a couple of hours into it so far, but typing this makes me want to
turn on the games PC and just load up a mission and put on an airshow for some of
the locals.
Andrew McP

[Andrew MacPherson]

and easy to hop into.

A big, big factor.

Andrew McP

[Mr. Sylvestre]

Hehe... now that you have made your arcade coming out, I have to admit
that I like WoP a lot too (oh, and NFS-shift also). It may not qualify
as hardcore but it is sim enough for me. IMHO, the immersion factor is
right on par with, say, Janes Longbow 2 (except for the rare occurences
of B-17's doing barrel rolls). The developers are also surprisingly
responsive.

Now, flying at treetop level between the hills of Kent close to Mach 1
in the Me-163, I can even pretend I am on a low-level penetration
mission in a Torna... oops, sorry, back to my prescription drugs.

Cheers,
Mr. Sylvestre

Post by Andrew MacPherson

*Date:* Wed, 24 Feb 2010 10:45 +0000 (GMT Standard Time)
Right, excuse me. I have to go back to shooting down barrage
balloons over Kent

Sorry, France. :-) Either way, this is plenty sim enough for me. The flight/taxi
model has none of the hardcore stress induced by IL2, but it otherwise feels right
to me. Besides, in TripleHead mode I'm not looking for flaws, I'm looking at the
most immersive and satisfying graphical experience in a flight sim to date.
Cheap on Steam for two days. Worth every penny, and just what the sim-doctor
ordered for introducing casual gamers and for waking up semi-retired simmers :-).
I've only put a couple of hours into it so far, but typing this makes me want to
turn on the games PC and just load up a mission and put on an airshow for some of
the locals.
Andrew McP

[Andrew MacPherson]

Post by Mr. Sylvestre
Hehe... now that you have made your arcade coming out, I have to
admit that I like WoP a lot too (oh, and NFS-shift also).

Enjoying yourself is a terrible sin, isn't it. There should be a law against it or
something.

Post by Mr. Sylvestre
Now, flying at treetop level between the hills of Kent close to
Mach 1 in the Me-163, I can even pretend I am on a low-level
penetration mission in a Torna...

Steady! Don't go disturbing the sediment that's settling over Tornado's memory.
It's embedding nicely, and will soon be totally fossilised. A bit like most of us.
:-)

Andrew McP

[Boris Badenov]

Post by Andrew MacPherson
I've been ignoring this. The demo was a bit big to test out, and I've been wasting
far too much time recently in games I bought during the Xmas Steam sale, and
especially with iRacing... which sucks in ridiculous amounts of time.

You fucking sellout! First you admit to liking arcade games more than
sims and then you bought a game with draconian DRM on top. Shame!

[Andrew MacPherson]

Post by Boris Badenov
You fucking sellout!

That's the nicest thing anyone's said to me all day. Cheers. :-)

To be fair, the DRM might have made me think twice if I'd read up on it beforehand.
I assumed that buying via Steam would avoid that kind of thing (and I still think
that will be a plus). But even with the DRM, it's only a game, and a fairly cheap
one while at half price.

I can live with the restrictions. After all, I lived with them when Eagle Dynamics
started playing this game. And there are much, much better crusades to take part in
out there in the real world.

Andrew McP

[Boris Badenov]

Post by Andrew MacPherson
I can live with the restrictions. After all, I lived with them when Eagle Dynamics
started playing this game. And there are much, much better crusades to take part in
out there in the real world.
Andrew McP

Well, I hope at least you are joining in the boycott of all Ubisoft
games. I know there are more important issues out there but give 'em an
inch and they will take a foot so fighting DRM is important too.

[CJM]

Post by Andrew MacPherson
I've been ignoring this. The demo was a bit big to test out, and I've been wasting
far too much time recently in games I bought during the Xmas Steam sale, and
especially with iRacing... which sucks in ridiculous amounts of time.
Mind you, it had better, considering the amount I've "invested" in it.
Anyway, Wings of Prey... I have more versions of IL2 than I care to admit, but I
think I've already had more immersive grins in three training missions in WoP than
I've had in the whole of my IL2 career.

OK, I've taken the bait...

I've been quite ill for the last week, and I'm tired and a bit run-down;
when I'm in these moods, I'm not one to do something new - I just want to
chill doing something familiar and easy. While new to me, WoP in Arcade mode
is a piece of cake, so I've done the first few missions in SP and had a few
goes at the multiplayer.

It's actually quite good this game, isn't it? Arcade mode is completely
unrealistic, but it's good for a laugh and the graphics aren't to be sniffed
at, especially when it runs so smoothly as well.

Any gripes? Yes. With SP, the back-story is threadbare and unimaginative -
either do it properly or skip it entirely. In MP, there are two problems.
Firstly the laaaagggg associated with P2P gaming, and the regular 'waiting
for host' - usually when I've finally managed to get onto the tail of my
arch enemy. The second is the shear lack of players.

I'd also liked to have seen some co-operative modes, a small squadron
against an AI controlled bombing raid perhaps... The game was never going to
come with out Deathmatch/team Deathmatch modes, but sadly it seems to almost
be the range of the games ambition.

In time, I'll have a crack at the Realism and Simulator modes...

[Andrew MacPherson]

Post by CJM
It's actually quite good this game, isn't it?

Yes. I wouldn't describe it as anywhere close to perfect, but it loads quickly,
looks superb, and -- to me anyway -- feels satisfying enough to fly at the highest
settings.

I wasn't expecting to enjoy it, which is why it took me so long to try the demo,
but the demo was enough to immediately get me to pay up.

Well, that and the Steam sale price. :-)

Andrew McP

[m***@munich.com]

Good game for the price.