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[Steiner]

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/685/685009p1.html

Blazing Angels - Squadrons of WWII Hands-On
We go full-throttle on Ubi's new flyer. Our exclusive preview.

by Jonathan Miller

February 1, 2006 - While the name "Blazing Angels" may be more suited for an '80s hair-band, the upcoming World War II flight action game from Ubisoft is shaping up nicely. We got our hands on both the Xbox and Xbox 360 builds and, while both builds were not even close to finished and only featured a few levels, we came away impressed. There are 18 missions that are supposed to be included in the final version, spread out from Germany, England, Midway, Pearl Harbor and, presumably, Japan.
The first level we played was the Battle of Britain, fought over London in 1940. A black smoke rose from a bombed-out city and sunlight fought through the soot and dark clouds to produce a stunning landscape. While the exact layout of London wasn't perfect, the river Thames, the Tower Bridge and Parliament all made cameo appearances and looked amazing, as did the level of detail on the buildings and streets below.

The Blazing Angels are an American squadron, and immediately the pilots of the Royal Air Force started giving us some negative radio flak about being American and all. We quickly shut them up with a killer display of dogfighting skills.

Check our video preview before you buzz the bridge, Goose! A wave of German bombers was en route to destroy Parliament, guided by an escort of fighters. By holding the left trigger, the view changes to the follow camera, which shows the next group of targets slated to be taken out. At first, it's a little difficult to fly using this camera angle, but later on, especially in dogfights, you'll learn to appreciate it.

The controls feel very natural and give the planes a nice weighty feel to them. Loops and barrel rolls and banks are all easy to pull off, which comes in handy since about 50 German bombers and fighters were zeroing in on Big Ben.

Blazing Angels - Squadrons of WWII features a simple and easy-to-use squad based combat system, not unlike the old Wing Commander series way back in the day. Using your D-pad, you can send orders like defend, attack my target, engage all or regroup to your three wingmen, named Tom, Frank and Joe. As we targeted a wing of bombers, I selected Frank, a reckless, offensive specialist, to attack. Tom specialized in defense, so I had him cover my tail. Joe has the ability to diagnose problems with your plane recommend in-flight repairs, so he's a very special asset to the squad. I ordered Joe to attack my target so I could keep him in sight and protect him if needed.

How does Joe repair your plane while fending off Nazi aces in his own plane, you may ask. Well, as your engine spews flames, Joe will radio in and recommend switching fuel lines, and button indicators will appear on screen. If you simply press the four-button combo, your plane will be repaired.

Frank did some serious damage on his attack run, dropping a pair of bombers. I swept in from behind and was riddled with machine-gun fire from the turrets in the German flying fortresses, and it wasn't pretty. After pulling up and above the bomber wing and regrouping, I ordered the Angels to engage all enemies, and we had no problem dispatching the first wave. Two more waves followed, and we destroyed those as well, including the pesky fighter escorts that required some dogfighting and teamwork.

Probably the most impressive part of the level is when a group of Stutka bombers dropped down to the Thames, and we were flying just feet above the water. With the right analog stick, I pressed up to reach top-speed, ordered the rest of the Angels to defend me, and then proceeded to take out the Stutka one by one, kind of like Darth Vader in the trenches of the Death Star. While there's not a great sense of speed when you fly a thousand feet in the air, it really hits you when you buzz the rooftops. I was so close I could have stopped for a crumpet.
In the last phase of the mission, an elite German wing of fighters killed off the rest of the RAF fighters, and Tom, Joe, Frank and I were left to fend for ourselves, outgunned and outnumbered. A German ace taunted us over the radio with dialogue ripped straight from Star Wars…something about dusting crops, boy. After a few minutes, the Krauts disengaged and London was safe.

Obviously, the thing most necessary to make a flying game fun is diversity, and Ubisoft realized this by including bombing missions, torpedo missions, dozens of famous battles and more than 40 planes. The second level we played was actually much the same as the first, as we destroyed waves of bombers and fighters. Only this time, it took place in Pearl Harbor as the Arizona was sinking. There was some nice visual contrast between gray and smoky London and warm and sunny Hawaii. Our plane just barely made it off the ground and Tom was my only other wingman to lift off. Outnumbered, we staved off countless Zeroes and Japanese bombers before Joe and Frank could take off, not too dissimilar from the cheesy plotline in the Michael Bay film Pearl Harbor. We half expected to see Cuba Gooding, Jr. manning the deck gun on one of the battleships in the harbor.

Get yer head out of the clouds. After finishing off wave after wave of fighters, the mission ended, but not before someone on the radio told us that Colonel Doolittle wanted to talk to us boys…an obvious allusion to the top-secret bombing run over Tokyo that we were all privy to in the aforementioned Pearl Harbor flick. Ubi has been mum on the storyline, so we'll have to wait and see if Frank thinks Joe is dead and gets Joe's girl pregnant but then Joe comes back and gets in a fight with Frank about it but then Frank gets killed and asks Joe to take care of the baby and sweet-*** Kate Beckinsdale-- yeah, we'll have to wait and see about that.

The Xbox version played almost exactly the same as the 360 version. The only differences were visual, for the most part. Those differences are relatively vast, if you appreciate little details. While the Xbox version is quite good looking, the enhanced 360 version makes great use of superb lighting, smoke effects, highly detailed landscapes, and beautiful skies that really couldn't be done on a current-gen system. The 360 version is the exact same game content-wise, but in terms of visuals? The 360 version offers real beauty. To compare it to another Ubisoft game, it's like the 360 version of King Kong versus the PS2 version of King Kong: Same landscapes, but much better looking on 360. For fun, you can descend down to the rooftop level of London and whiff the frightened English women and children (which we don't endorse) or you can fly under bridges and past the city's biggest monuments -- all of the close-range flying provides excellent sights and detailed viewing. It's fun just flying around seeing what area is more detailed than the next!

Also included on the Xbox preview was a bombing training mission, a dogfighting training mission, and a Midway Seek campaign mission, which played much the same as the previous mission of taking out bombers and fighters. Obviously we'll be excited to get our hands on some bombers and torpedo planes, but as it stands, Blazing Angels - Squadrons of WWII looks pretty good. We'll keep you posted on further developments as Blazing Angels is slated to hit stores in March.

http://www.ubisoft.dk/NORDIC_PORTAL/...eleaseplan.asp

[Steiner]

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/685/685009p1.html

Blazing Angels - Squadrons of WWII Hands-On
We go full-throttle on Ubi's new flyer. Our exclusive preview.

by Jonathan Miller

February 1, 2006 - While the name "Blazing Angels" may be more suited for an '80s hair-band, the upcoming World War II flight action game from Ubisoft is shaping up nicely. We got our hands on both the Xbox and Xbox 360 builds and, while both builds were not even close to finished and only featured a few levels, we came away impressed. There are 18 missions that are supposed to be included in the final version, spread out from Germany, England, Midway, Pearl Harbor and, presumably, Japan.
The first level we played was the Battle of Britain, fought over London in 1940. A black smoke rose from a bombed-out city and sunlight fought through the soot and dark clouds to produce a stunning landscape. While the exact layout of London wasn't perfect, the river Thames, the Tower Bridge and Parliament all made cameo appearances and looked amazing, as did the level of detail on the buildings and streets below.

The Blazing Angels are an American squadron, and immediately the pilots of the Royal Air Force started giving us some negative radio flak about being American and all. We quickly shut them up with a killer display of dogfighting skills.

Check our video preview before you buzz the bridge, Goose! A wave of German bombers was en route to destroy Parliament, guided by an escort of fighters. By holding the left trigger, the view changes to the follow camera, which shows the next group of targets slated to be taken out. At first, it's a little difficult to fly using this camera angle, but later on, especially in dogfights, you'll learn to appreciate it.

The controls feel very natural and give the planes a nice weighty feel to them. Loops and barrel rolls and banks are all easy to pull off, which comes in handy since about 50 German bombers and fighters were zeroing in on Big Ben.

Blazing Angels - Squadrons of WWII features a simple and easy-to-use squad based combat system, not unlike the old Wing Commander series way back in the day. Using your D-pad, you can send orders like defend, attack my target, engage all or regroup to your three wingmen, named Tom, Frank and Joe. As we targeted a wing of bombers, I selected Frank, a reckless, offensive specialist, to attack. Tom specialized in defense, so I had him cover my tail. Joe has the ability to diagnose problems with your plane recommend in-flight repairs, so he's a very special asset to the squad. I ordered Joe to attack my target so I could keep him in sight and protect him if needed.

How does Joe repair your plane while fending off Nazi aces in his own plane, you may ask. Well, as your engine spews flames, Joe will radio in and recommend switching fuel lines, and button indicators will appear on screen. If you simply press the four-button combo, your plane will be repaired.

Frank did some serious damage on his attack run, dropping a pair of bombers. I swept in from behind and was riddled with machine-gun fire from the turrets in the German flying fortresses, and it wasn't pretty. After pulling up and above the bomber wing and regrouping, I ordered the Angels to engage all enemies, and we had no problem dispatching the first wave. Two more waves followed, and we destroyed those as well, including the pesky fighter escorts that required some dogfighting and teamwork.

Probably the most impressive part of the level is when a group of Stutka bombers dropped down to the Thames, and we were flying just feet above the water. With the right analog stick, I pressed up to reach top-speed, ordered the rest of the Angels to defend me, and then proceeded to take out the Stutka one by one, kind of like Darth Vader in the trenches of the Death Star. While there's not a great sense of speed when you fly a thousand feet in the air, it really hits you when you buzz the rooftops. I was so close I could have stopped for a crumpet.
In the last phase of the mission, an elite German wing of fighters killed off the rest of the RAF fighters, and Tom, Joe, Frank and I were left to fend for ourselves, outgunned and outnumbered. A German ace taunted us over the radio with dialogue ripped straight from Star Wars…something about dusting crops, boy. After a few minutes, the Krauts disengaged and London was safe.

Obviously, the thing most necessary to make a flying game fun is diversity, and Ubisoft realized this by including bombing missions, torpedo missions, dozens of famous battles and more than 40 planes. The second level we played was actually much the same as the first, as we destroyed waves of bombers and fighters. Only this time, it took place in Pearl Harbor as the Arizona was sinking. There was some nice visual contrast between gray and smoky London and warm and sunny Hawaii. Our plane just barely made it off the ground and Tom was my only other wingman to lift off. Outnumbered, we staved off countless Zeroes and Japanese bombers before Joe and Frank could take off, not too dissimilar from the cheesy plotline in the Michael Bay film Pearl Harbor. We half expected to see Cuba Gooding, Jr. manning the deck gun on one of the battleships in the harbor.

Get yer head out of the clouds. After finishing off wave after wave of fighters, the mission ended, but not before someone on the radio told us that Colonel Doolittle wanted to talk to us boys…an obvious allusion to the top-secret bombing run over Tokyo that we were all privy to in the aforementioned Pearl Harbor flick. Ubi has been mum on the storyline, so we'll have to wait and see if Frank thinks Joe is dead and gets Joe's girl pregnant but then Joe comes back and gets in a fight with Frank about it but then Frank gets killed and asks Joe to take care of the baby and sweet-*** Kate Beckinsdale-- yeah, we'll have to wait and see about that.

The Xbox version played almost exactly the same as the 360 version. The only differences were visual, for the most part. Those differences are relatively vast, if you appreciate little details. While the Xbox version is quite good looking, the enhanced 360 version makes great use of superb lighting, smoke effects, highly detailed landscapes, and beautiful skies that really couldn't be done on a current-gen system. The 360 version is the exact same game content-wise, but in terms of visuals? The 360 version offers real beauty. To compare it to another Ubisoft game, it's like the 360 version of King Kong versus the PS2 version of King Kong: Same landscapes, but much better looking on 360. For fun, you can descend down to the rooftop level of London and whiff the frightened English women and children (which we don't endorse) or you can fly under bridges and past the city's biggest monuments -- all of the close-range flying provides excellent sights and detailed viewing. It's fun just flying around seeing what area is more detailed than the next!

Also included on the Xbox preview was a bombing training mission, a dogfighting training mission, and a Midway Seek campaign mission, which played much the same as the previous mission of taking out bombers and fighters. Obviously we'll be excited to get our hands on some bombers and torpedo planes, but as it stands, Blazing Angels - Squadrons of WWII looks pretty good. We'll keep you posted on further developments as Blazing Angels is slated to hit stores in March.

http://www.ubisoft.dk/NORDIC_PORTAL/...eleaseplan.asp

[Steiner]

http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1264/Blazing-Ange...quadrons-of-WWII/p1/

Blazing Angels Hands-On (Xbox 360)
By: Dale Nardozzi - "Legba"
February 2nd, 2006

WWII aviator buffs that own an Xbox have been pretty lucky with the software currently available. Secret Weapons over Normandy and Heroes of the Pacific are competent, historic flying games, but Ubisoft Romania feels that something has been left out of these titles: the thrill of the fight.
Ubisoft’s Blazing Angels is due out in March for both the Xbox and Xbox 360. We had some recent hands-on time with both versions, and although the games are still a ways out, it’s apparent that Blazing Angels is the lead mutt in the dogfight over WWII flying supremacy on the Microsoft consoles.

Target acquired
The biggest issue in a flying game - especially one that does not use a flight stick - is getting the planes to control correctly. The fact that Blazing Angels is dogfight-heavy puts further stress on the developers to devise a stout control set, as gamers will be performing sharp turns at various altitudes and attitudes throughout their experience.
To make sure that first time players of Blazing Angels actually wanted to stick around until the end of the war, Ubisoft Romania made the control set much less complicated than flying a real plane. The left thumbstick controls both the elevator and rudder for easy maneuverability with much risk of running into a building. Ailerons, or those things that make a plane barrel roll, are controlled with the right stick. Unless you do a complete loop, it’s hard to become disoriented in Blazing Angels with just the left stick. Gamers can learn the simple controls first and ease into rolling with the right stick, therefore keeping the learning curve shallow. Nice.

High flying dogfight.

Up and down movements on the right stick act as throttle up/down for each bird. Most of the time you’ll want to be at full thrust (pushing up past 100% is like a short speed burst), but evasive or dramatic turning maneuvers call for far less power. Slower speeds allow the planes to roll at extreme angles and in super-tight radii, thus allowing fast escapes and quick direction turns. Once the plane is flying straight again, throttle up can commence for escapes or pursuits.
The flight controls are simple and sweet in Blazing Angels, but it’s the targeting system that really separates this title from the rest of the sortie. The issue in most dogfighting games is that we’re dealing with a 2D image of a flying space that demands an interrupted 360 degree view of the sky (as a cockpit affords). An enemy could easily be off your 9 nine in real life, and most likely your peripheral vision would pick the bogey up. Such is not the case in most videogames. You can’t easily see what is to the left of you, so icons or inset pictures are sometimes used to create a peripheral view.
Ubisoft Romania does one better in Blazing Angels by using the left trigger as a Target Cam. The target cam switches the main view to the targeted enemy instead of the normal front-on view through the cockpit. No matter where the enemy is located, the cam locks on so that you can perform the necessary yoke twitches to draw a bead on the baddie. Let’s say an enemy is behind you and to the left, say about 7 o’ clock. Pulling the left trigger will activate the target cam, showing the enemy and your plane relative to his position (instead of the other way around). Now it’s quite easy to pitch, turn, and roll the plane to put the propeller in line with the enemy. You won’t have to feverishly search the skies to find the enemy, nor will you have to become frantic when incoming fire can’t be spotted. Just pull the trigger and fly to your target’s general vicinity.
But what about multiple targets in the air? Ubi Romania took care of this too by making a face button act as a target cycling system. Targets can be individually selected by tapping A (targets are acquired from closest to the crosshair out), or the nearest threat can be singled out by pressing B (great for when incoming fire is directly behind you). The system works great, even when there are loads of enemy planes in the sky. It will take some time to get used the difference between target and non-target view, and how your gun sights react to the swapping between the two, but once this is mastered, you’ll never go back to another way of ruling the skies.
I got your back
Even with the great control setup in Blazing Angels, the powerful main guns, and secondary rockets, the sky of WWII is no place to be alone. This is why you’ll be flanked by a few journeymen in the thin air that you can give direct orders to. The wingmen in Blazing Angels have three basic functions: to protect, to fight, and to heal. Each wingman is better at one task than the others, but each can perform every command available in your repertoire.

Tom is the protector of the squadron, and therefore always stays within view of your bird. Tom is easily selected by pressing down on the D-pad. Once the D-pad is pressed down, Tom will be shows as awaiting a specific order from you. Pressing left on the D-pad will command Tom to defend your bird. This comes in handy when there’s a lot of activity behind your ship, or when the sky is filled with enemies, as it becomes difficult to keep an eye on incoming fire. Under certain circumstances, Tom can also pull off a “tauntâ€Â� move, which is basically like human chaff. Tom will create a diversion which usually makes the enemy forget about your fuselage for a bit, thus setting up easy counter-attack situations.
Frank is the John Rambo of the crew, facing any attacker that is thrown his way with extreme prejudice. Pressing right on the D-pad will call Frank to attention, and it’s usually a good idea to send him after other targets with the “engage allâ€Â� command. You can also order Frank to hone in on your current target with the ‘my targetâ€Â� command. My target command comes in handy when the chosen enemy is a real flying ace; Frank is the most competent dogfighter, so it only makes sense to send him on these missions. Frank can also pull off a blitzkrieg-like lightning attack if his icon is full (these special moves must recharge over time). The all-out attack by Frank is what makes heroes, as he’ll usually take out three or four enemies before the rest of the crew shoots down one.

Zeroing in on the target.

Last but not least is Joe, who plays the role of air medic in Blazing Angels. He doesn’t do much, other than fix your plane in mid-air, which is no small feat. When Joe’s wrench icon is lit, you can summon him to repair everything from a ruptured fuel line to a faulty rudder. Fixing your plane is as easy as calling Joe, then entering simple face button commands as they appear on the screen. Your success in entering this combo determines just how healed your bird becomes. Nail the combo and your plane will go from burning heap to sleek killer in no time.
You can issue each wingman a task separate of their special tasks too. For example, you can summon all three men to engage targets while you sent up a flank, or lead the brigade with each man behind you protecting that tail. Similarly, all targets can be engaged for a no-holds-barred offensive attack. You’ll need to rely on your wingmen in Blazing Angels, or, quite simply, you’ll perish. The simple is system and effective, so make sure you remember about your flying buddies when completing the tough objectives.

The bomb

You’ll be a busy pilot in Blazing Angels, as this title covers all of WWII, at least from an aviation standpoint. The campaign, obviously, is super deep, with eighteen missions that are history book-worthy from start to finish.
You’ll fight in the Battle of Britain, as the Luftwaffe attempts to wipe London off the map. Or be a part of infamy as a Blazing Angel in the thick of things during Pearl Harbor. Midway, Rabaul, the liberation of Paris and more are played out in Blazing Angels’s Campaign mode, all with moving cut scenes and historical in between.
You won’t just be fighting other planes in these missions. In fact, you’ll be using the over forty era-authentic birds in a variety of objectives, including bombing runs. Your plane will be loaded with munitions, and a special bombing reticle will keep you abreast of remaining payload as well as serving as a pinpoint targeting system.
Both the Xbox and Xbox 360 versions of Blazing Angels go well beyond the single-player campaign aspect by including a feature-full multiplayer arena. There’s pretty much every feature you could possibly want in Blazing Angels’s multiplayer area, including solo and team-based competitive action, as well as co-op missions against the CPU. 16 player action is enabled via Live and SystemLink and split screen action are givens as well. Ahhh Ubisoft- they really do understand the concept of a “fully featuredâ€Â�, don’t they?

Here’s a rundown of the various multiplayer modes for Blazing Angels:
Solo action
Dogfight â€" This is classic Deathmatch taken to the airways.
Aces High â€" A version of President that makes the “aceâ€Â� the target. Players become aces by downing the current ace. The ace is the only pilot that can score points for kills.
Seek and Destroy â€" Only marked targets are worth points in this unique game type. Planes are unmarked after a pilot downs them once. Therefore, to score a pilot must down every enemy once.

Evasive manuevers.

Co-op
Dogfight â€" Team action against waves of AI planes. Respawns are limited and points are awarded for staying alive and for kills.
Onslaught â€" Bombers escorted by fighters are challenged by the co-op team. The enemy planes must be defeated in a predetermined amount of time.
Bombing Run â€" AA guns and fighters defend a ground base that must be destroyed with bombs. Once player must be the bomber pilot in these timed runs
Kamikaze â€" This time, you must protect a base from relentless Japanese Zeros.
Historical Missions â€" Unlocking missions in the single player Campaign mode will make them available for co-op action. WooT!

Squadron

Dogfight â€" Team Deathmatch. Nuff ‘ced.
Capture the Base â€" Airstrips or carriers act as base points which must be controlled by the other team. This territory-type match starts each base as neutral, except the beginning spawn points.
Bombing Run â€" Destroy the other team’s base with five or more direct hits. At least one player per team must play as bombardier.
Kamikaze â€" Here’s where you get to wreck into an opponent’s base on purpose in order to score point and win the match.

The Outlook
The Xbox and Xbox 360 versions of Blazing Angels are basically identical in every area other than the graphic and audio portions. This is good news for regular Xbox owners that have no plans of jumping on the next-gen bandwagon any time soon.
The regular Xbox version looks great in its own right. The damage and particle effects look killer when mated to war-torn landscapes and perfectly-modeled planes. Ubisoft Romania also figured out how to fake some smoke effects as well, and how to create a busy sky with no lag. The game’s currently functionality is down a bit as it gets finished up, but the core gameplay, looks, and sounds are spectacular.

So what do you get with the Xbox 360 version? The same great gameplay and functionality as the Xbox version, with the added bonus of mind-blowing graphics and sound. In terms of the audio, the 360 version appears more reactive and dynamic, and seems to make better usage of the 5.1 technology to boot.

We know they are in two distinctly different genres, but Blazing Angels for the 360 looks as good as Fight Night Round 3 in our opinion in terms of photorealism.

The plane models are completely enhanced in the 360 version, with heavy reliance on specular mapping. There’s also more realistic battle damage, including bullet holes and mangled aluminum skins from bomb shrapnel. The planes also reflect the environment’s look much more, including sun glare, heavy shadows, and smoke/haze. And the presence of heat waves gives extra oomph to the burning buildings and explosions happening below. And perhaps most impressive is how the crew created a looming, luminous glare around the clouds, and light shafts that poke holes through billowy cumulonimbus puffs. It’s a startling site that should look completely grand by the time Blazing Angels is ready to ship.
Blazing Angels is shaping up as a game worth taking to the skies and fighting for. We’ll have much more on this great WWII flyer as its March ship date nears.