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Flying Heroes
Developer: Illusion Softworks
Publisher: Take2 Interactive
Category: : 3D Action
System Req: PII 300Mhz, 64 Mb RAM, 514 Mb HD, 16 Mb 3D Card, Win95/98/ME
Might look like: /
Date posted: 7 January 2001
Written By: Jochen
- This game was reviewed on PIII 500Mhz, 128 Mb RAM, Geforce2 GTS 32 MB, Win98SE -
We also test other games on
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It's not an Illusion!
With the economy spreading to a global level, so has game development.
More and more promising and good games are coming in from the east nowadays and this game here is no exception !
Flying Heroes is a product of Illusion Softworks, a small but very talented group of Tsjech coders and artists that have already surprised us with the WWII-themed Action-Strategy game 'Hidden & Dangerous'. They are now working on 'Mafia' (looks like it will be one of the contenders for Game of the Year 2001…) and 'Hidden & Dangerous 2'.
I have played H&D and I found it to be a refreshing and challenging game and it reminded me of 'Commandos', but then in 3D. Let's see if Flying Heroes is as refreshing as H&D was.
The Flying Tea-Kettle
Basically Flying Heroes is a game in the style of Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament.
It's a single-player deathmatch game against an ever-increasing number of opponents of varying difficulty. As with Q3A and UT, Flying Heroes is backed by a competent graphic engine capable of high resolution - high colour display combined with an audio system supporting 3D hardware acceleration and Environmental Audio eXtensions (EAX).
However all similarities end here. Where Q3A and UT go for all-out carnage and mayhem with familiar settings and weapons, Flying Heroes takes a completely different direction.
Firstly, it's a fantasy themed game. No marines and aliens, but wizards and knights instead !
Secondly, the game is based around air combat, where Q3A and UT are run-and-shoot games. These two combined, remind me of both Magic Carpet 1 & 2. Remember these games ? Well, now that I think of it, Flying Heroes is not dissimilar; they have just updated the graphics and the number of available 'carpets' :-)
  
It can't be easier!
Playing this game can't be any easier. When you start, you first have to create or choose a character.
I just picked one of the pre-made as this has no influence whatsoever on gameplay itself. On to the main screen where you can choose for Career mode or Instant combat.
Career mode just takes you through a League where you fight increasingly difficult opponents, advancing from world to world. When you want to go career, you have to choose one of the four clans available. Your choice here will determine your later choice of weapons and 'vehicles'. These last can range from giant birds or lizards to mega flying tea kettles. Like I said, it's a fantasy themed game … :-)
Instant combat is more of a skirmish mode where you can set different parameters for a custom combat experience : things like clan, weapons, vehicles, number of enemies and the map are all just a click away.
The maps however will only become available as you play through the campaign, so at the the beginning there are only 3 selectable worlds.
  
A mixed Bag
When you start playing, you will feel that the controls take a little time of getting used to as it's more of a flight sim control system with danger coming from above and under you. Getting involved in a tight-turn dogfight is very easy and can be quite frustrating.
Some of the weapons have a painstakingly slow reload time, so you will have to make every shot count all while being chased by a giant dragon shooting fire balls up your a** :-)
Flying Heroes really is a mixed bag : some of the maps are really beautiful with breathtaking vistas and immense mountain ranges while others are nothing but a blue void with some islands hovering through the air.
Some of the voices sound really ridiculous, especially in the cut-scenes and the weapon effects are downright annoying.
Music too is very variable, switching between synthesizer tunes and classical scores 'till you turn it off completely.
Conclusion
But all these things aside, Flying Heroes can be quite a fun game to play. It certainly is slower than Q3A and UT, so think of it as fun in-between !
It's just one of those game you will like or completely hate an if you have doubt I suggest you try out the demo as it gives you a good image of what to expect of the full game.
I gave it a chance because of the novel idea and the fact that you can setup a game real quickly, but on the other hand you can do that with Q3A and UT also.
If you're looking for something completely different I suggest you check it out, but remember that it's a game closer to Nerf Arena than to Q3A and UT !
-Jochen
Ratings
Manual:
81% |
Graphics:
76% |
Music & Sfx:
68% |
GamePlay:
72% |
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This game scores
 
on our 5-point Rating System
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