Aerial Strike: The Yager Missions - PC Game Reviews


	Platform PC Genre Action Publisher Dreamcather Developer Yager ESRB T (Teen) Released February 2005

- Great graphics - Some really cool dogfights - Reminds me a lot of Wing Commander games of old

- The control kills practically everything

Review: Battle Engine Aquila (XB) Review: Echelon (PC) Classic Review: Wing Commander (PC)
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Aerial Strike: The Yager Missions

Score: 5.0 / 10

As Aerial Strike: The Yager Missions opened I couldn’t help but experience a flash of nostalgia. In a former life, I cut my teeth on the Wing Commander games – Wing Commander II is still one of my all-time favorite games – and Aerial Strike brought back some strong memories. But some strong memories are not enough to save Aerial Strike.

You assume the role of wily and footloose Magnus Tide, out to make some cash and maybe make up for some past mistakes. The story is mission driven, your employer sends you on the standard variety of “fly around and shoot things” missions between cutscenes. While the story is somewhat wooden and the acting is a little too earnest, it’s an enjoyable blend of action and acting, if you can stand the hellishly, awful controls.

A mouse or joystick can be used but both have to be used in conjunction with some keyboard controls. The mouse sensitivity is atrocious, even when set to maximum. To perform a simple turn it’s not uncommon to have to lift the mouse a half dozen times in an effort to coax the damn ship to complete the turn. While this situation is mildly irritating during routine maneuvers, it becomes hugely frustrating during dogfights. But you’re not supposed to play this kind of game with a mouse anyway, right? Plugging in my trusty joystick didn’t help matters. In fact, it probably made me even more frustrated because there’s no calibration tool and turning still felt

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sluggish even at the best of times. With a game like this, which features lots of flying and fighting, it completely boggles the mind why the control isn’t solid or at least passable. Although a patch could address this issue, the fact Aerial Strike shipped with this giant problem doesn’t bode well for its future. Will you still be interested in the game if a patch is released? I know it killed my interest in about ten minutes and I only slagged through the frustration because Omni was expecting a review.

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My other major complaint (but not a deal killer) is the seven CD installation. Why not a couple of DVDs? I’m not one to sit in front of my PC when programs are installed, but it took the better part of an hour to install Aerial Strike.

For $20US, Aerial Strike has some very good visuals. I mean, take a look at the screenshots – not bad for a “budget” title. Even better is that the details can really be cranked up.

Aerial Strike: The Yager Missions might be a fun title if something is done to address the controls. It has everything else including an attractive $20US price tag that would make it a great title for a casual gamer.

- D.D. Nunavut

(March 29, 2005)