Secret Weapons Over Normandy is, in many respects, a throwback of sorts, harkening back to the days of PC flight sim lore. I am, of course, referring to the famous X-Wing games, by developer Totally Games. Some years later, LucasArts has again hired TG, the result being this wonderful WWII flying game. Maybe I’m slightly biased due to fond memories of the old PC sims, but believe me when I say that this game stands up very well on its own considerable merit. Ever wanted to fly a P-51 and blow the hell out of Panzers? You’ve found a winner; keep reading.

Gameplay:

Your alter ego for this outing is a pilot named James Chase, a fictional ace (surely that was intentional) in a real fighter squadron, the Battlehawks. Formed by Winston Churchill’s Special Operations Executive and composed of pilots from multiple Allied countries, the squadron acted as a sort of fighter plane-based Delta Force (or whatever SpecOps group you prefer), carrying out secret missions behind enemy lines, hunting down the multitude of German “superweapons.” Among these featured in the game were jet fighters and V1/V2 rockets. The story begins shortly after Germany’s blitzkrieg of Poland and ends after the Normandy invasion.

While it does admittedly take a backseat to the action onscreen, the story is well-told via retrospective narratives by Chase. Certain liberties have been taken to fit the fictional characters into the account, but suspension of disbelief is virtually a requirement in video games, so that’s no problem. Character interaction is equally well done and, while I wouldn’t classify it as RPG quality, it helps set up missions and gives a nice sense of camaraderie. Good stuff all around.

For starters, there are a lot of complaints floating around about how the game is “too short.” It’s true that there are only fifteen missions. However, that’s only the main game. All but one or two levels have a corresponding challenge mission (a few have two or three) that ties in with the main storyline somewhat. Furthermore, several are about as involved as the main missions themselves, and all are just as difficult. Counting those, you’ve now increased the level count to thirty-five, which I consider a respectable number (especially in these days of graphics over substance).

With that out of the way, we can move on to more important matters. The majority of the single player game seats you as a pilot in the plane of your choosing (usually, some restrict you to certain planes) performing a standard multirole: dogfighting, bombing, interception, defending, etc. A few missions (or sections thereof) put you instead in an anti-aircraft turret or the ball gunner’s position in a heavy bomber. The primary missions are multi-section affairs, with primary, secondary, and bonus objectives presented on the loading screen or added in-mission. Primary objectives, obviously, must be accomplished to succeed and move on. Secondary objectives are technically optional, but I often found myself forced to complete them in order to accomplish my primary goals. The bonus missions are hidden from you at first, and usually require you to go out of your way in order to complete them. Completion of the various objectives will allow you to progress, unlock planes (twenty-six in all) or ordinance, and give you requisitions, which are used to upgrade your planes’ performance. You also unlock short bonus movies, some interesting quickie interviews with people who have flown the planes featured in the game (including a WWII veteran) or staff members, others just filler.

An interesting gameplay choice presents itself in the pseudo-bullet time option. I say “pseudo” because you can’t actually dodge anything; time just slows down. The option is presented as a sort of controlled adrenaline rush, allowing you to take more time to aim or what have you. You may also speed time up, useful for travelling distances, as these planes are none too quick (rightfully so, I might add). You may also ignore this feature entirely if you wish.

You are rarely presented a mission where you are without support, either from wingmen under your control or other Allied pilots who are not. Wingman control is simplistic, but anything more complicated (like SOCOM, for example) would not only be unnecessary, but it would detract from the game’s focus: action. Wingmen respond pretty well to commands (defend player character, attack at will, attack selected target) and generally hold their own against any sort of enemy, so no complaints here.

My only real complaint regarding the single player mode is that you cannot re-earn requisitions. I would have liked to fully upgrade all of my planes, if only for the sake of thoroughness. Minor quibbles include the fact that, should you find yourself out of position during a mission (say, your base is being attacked and you’re a fair distance away), the slow nature of the planes often costs you the mission. Yes, these are WWII planes, but it’s still annoying. Wingmen are not immune to this either. Also, the single player campaign does not allow you access to all of the unlockable planes, which I find odd. Lastly, scrolling through available targets one at a time to find the ones you need to kill can be irritating. I found myself using the slow motion feature solely to keep anything important from happening while I find my objectives. Still, fairly minor issues, all things considered. Potential complaints are largely restricted to people expecting a flight sim with realistic handling and weapon loadouts. In fact, the only major concessions to reality gameplay-wise are the slow speeds of the planes and the ability to stall your plane by climbing at insufficient speeds.

If you’re like me, you feel uncomfortable and slightly dirty flying a plane without real life controls (Rogue Squadron/Leader, I’m looking in your direction). Fortunately, this scheme is available. You other people also have a more newbie-friendly “stick left make plane go left” version available as well. The button layout is not customizable, but quickly becomes intuitive with a little play time. The movement controls are, depending on its setting, either too sensitive or too sluggish, with no real middle ground. I grew accustomed to this as well, eventually, but it still causes problems even today (I bought the game at its release) when I end up turning waaay too far and missing a chance to attack a target or rolling too much and nearly diving into the ground or something equally embarrassing.

Graphics:

The least important aspect (to me) manages a rather impressive showing regardless. Most notably, the colours have a muted, slightly blurred quality that calls to mind old photographs. I suppose this is entirely subjective, but I really like the look of this game, going right back to the whole immersion factor that I keep rambling about. The quality of the graphics is quite good as well; the only poor models I noticed were paratroopers in the cut scenes, but they normally have a total screen time of about five seconds, so that’s forgiven. Speaking of cut scenes, they utilize either in-game graphics or still photos with added effects thrown in for story and narration purposes. Some of the effects look a little cheesy or unrealistic (a female POW with perfect hair and makeup in a prison camp? Hahaha!), but they get makeup points for trying something different.

Planes and such look as they should, explosions are quite pretty (nothing like a rocket explosion tossing a tank through the air), and the landscapes are gorgeous with lots of appropriate scenery added (trees, roads, houses, etc.) to make it all look believable.

Sound:

This sound team really went all out. Part of the research phase of the game’s development involved heading to an air museum and recording the various in-flight sounds of the planes. Engines revving up, misfiring, cannons blazing, Stukas dive bombing, bombs whistling, it’s all here and goes a long way towards immersing you in the game world. I literally can’t find a single thing to complain about.

The game music is provided by one Michael Giacchino, who seems to be getting rather popular these days. You might recognize his work from the Medal of Honor series. Regardless, his work here is very reminiscent of the MoH games (i.e. instrumental and very good). Fun stuff to listen to, and furthers the immersion factor considerably.

Voice acting is, surprisingly, both well acted and presented in the speaker’s native tongue (German and Japanese, with a little Russian here and there) with subtitles. Most notable here is the player character, who narrates the historical background prior to the missions (which also doubles as a briefing).

Longevity:

First, the good news. Enemy AI is good enough to make replaying levels a challenge, though it isn’t nearly up to par with the game that is compared to all other Xbox games despite how ridiculous it sometimes sounds (Halo). As mentioned previously, there are a decent number of missions to peruse, and I still enjoy all of them after several playthroughs (except the training levels). I also enjoyed replaying the levels with different aircraft, which led to my lament on the lack of sufficient requisitions.

The bad news is that nothing else really changes in the missions. All of the objectives are the same, presented in the same order. Inexplicably, the bonus missions are revealed after surviving the level whether you completed them or not, completely taking away the challenge therein. Enemies, while performing different actions depending on context, always appear from the same bases and from the same direction.

Maybe this is pushing it, but I’ll say it anyway. Level randomizers for modern games have been around since Diablo (maybe longer). Soldier of Fortune 2, while hardly boasting great level design, still managed to incorporate a random level generator. Why is this not used more often? Hell, I would have been happy with relatively minor changes like having the airfields move around or enemies approaching from altered vectors!

The multiplayer aspects with which I have had experience involve straight dogfights (with bot support for loners) and cooperative challenges not unlike their single player counterparts. Again, I don’t have access to Live, so I can’t comment on any of its features. I’m told that there’s already some download material though, with more planned. In all honesty, I haven’t seen enough to make any sort of judgment. I do wish there was a cooperative mode for the main game, though.

Round up:

Anyway, I find that I do still enjoy playing the game. As always, however, I would suggest that you rent first, unless you’re a really good judge of how much enjoyment you’ll get from a game.