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Does SWON really suck that much? I say NO!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 15 / 15
Date: February 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I'm in the last stages of the Secret Weapons over Normandy single player campaign and thought I would share my experiences with this game. I have had a copy lying around for a while, and wasn't very enthused about installing it, particularly after reading the negative remarks posted here and on the various sim forums, nor was I very impressed with the demo. But there it sat wasting away and so I finally decided to give it a go. And I have been pleasantly surprised.

I refer to this as a game, which it is. It is not a simulation except in the roughest sense of the word, and that seems to have been the biggest criticism. The flight models are far from realistic. You can accelerate and decelerate at ridiculous rates. You have nearly unlimited ammo. You have HUD-like targeting to show you where you should be aiming. There is even the reflex time (like Max Paine's Bullet time!) option where you can slow everything down to gain an advantage. So far I know it doesn't sound very compelling to you flight sim aficionados. But what I quickly realized is that, as other reviews have noted, what SWON does bring to the table is an experience roughly similar to the various Lucas Arts Star Wars Games. In other words SWON is to flight sims what X-Wing fighter was to space sims. And like the Star Wars games this is lots of fun!!!!

Visuals are pretty good at 1600x1200, if a bit cartoon like. The only time I ran into performance issues at that resolution on my mid-performance pc was in the Norwegian fjord missions and even there it was still playable. You get about 15 planes (that only vaguely resemble their historical counterparts) to fly, in various areas in Europe and the Pacific. You get to use a large variety of weapons like torpedoes, rockets, missiles and cannons to blow up a larger variety of ground, naval and air units, usually with spectacular results! It does require some, but not a lot, of skill to fly since you can stall in flight and you will occasionally be fighting faster, more maneuverable and better armed opponents. The missions are well designed - interesting and varied objectives and not too long, and well placed checkpoints so you don't have to play the entire mission over if you screw up.

Some of the things I did to make the game more interesting included using the "realistic" controls set and enabling the first person mode. This still is far from a simulator experience but it does make the game more challenging and engaging. Pick up a copy at the bargain bin price and give it a try yourself. Which I heartily recommend to anyone who wants a fun gaming experience and doesn't insist on realism.

NOT A SIM! IT'S AN ACTION GAME!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 14 / 15
Date: December 23, 2003
Author: Amazon User

HEY! All you SIM-Heads! This is not a sim. "SWON is an air combat action game following in the tradition of the X-Wing and TIE Fighter and Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe series. Like those titles,SWON is strongly focused on action."- from the LucasArts Secret Weapons over Normandy official web site.
If you're a heavy sim player, you probably will not like this GAME. I've seen a couple of poor reviews citing poor realism or flight dynamics. IT'S A GAME! IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE REALISM! LucasArts focused on historic accuracy AND fun. If you like action games without bothersome "flight models" and reality (I turn reality off in CFS1,3 and other of my sims)then you may like this game.
Hey sim-heads, lighten up.

One of the Best Arcade Flyers Ever Made

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: May 22, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I may be a kid, but I know this game inside and out.

A lot of the other reviews for this game say it is a piece of junk, but not why. This is probably because the reviewers were expecting a flight sim. Notice that the average console review for this game is higher, because they anticipated an action game. If you still think this is a sim, read the back of the box; "intense WWII action-flyer." If you want a sim, buy Pacific Fighters. I've played it and it's the best sim I know of.

With that clarification, let's get down to business.

I gave this game four stars because it has wonderfull gameplay, good graphics, a wide variety of planes, secret weapons, and engaging missions. However, there are only fifteen campaign missions (the others are shot bonus levels), and they stop with D-Day. If it had twenty missions I'd give it five stars, no questions asked. Because of the short storyline the German secret weapons program has been accelerated. For example, intercontinental bomber prototypes and operational jet fighters in 1943. The designers could easily have kept close to reality with twenty missions, possibly with Gotha Go 229s over western Germany, or Natters over Berlin. Also, the designers left out some rather significant aircraft on all sides. F4U Corsairs at Iwo Jima or P-47 Thunderbolts at Bastogne are noticeably absent to the WWII enthusiast. Even more aggravating is the fact that some of these missing aircraft are being made availible, along with extra campaign missions, are being made availible on XBOX Live. I'm not about to pay $130 for an XBOX plus XBOX Live subscription for these add-ons.

Summary

Secret Weapons Over Normandy is an excellent game, and is a huge bargain at the $9.99 I have seen it for at several stores. the plot is a little weak at times, but that doesn't really matter, unlessyou obsess over Ace Combat-style, which, incedentally, almost made me throw up. The airplane and vehicle models are superbly done, and the landscapes are generally well done. The flight controls are also well done, with the option of either simple controls or realistic, stick-and-rudder controls. Arial gunnery is also simplified, using a gunsight and target "lead indicator." A nice inclusion is the SLED Mission Editor, which I haven't really messed with yet.

Conclusion

Buy this game if you are looking for a great action flyer. I have never even seen Crimson Skies, so if you're looking for a comparison, go find another pilot. If you have a good graphics card and joystic get it for PC. Otherwise, get it for XBOX. If you don't fit in either of these categories, the PS2 version has two-player levels, but no updates. Then again, if you are reading this you probably don't have a console sytem.

ARCADE ALL THE WAY!! Try the demo!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: November 29, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Well first of all , all the people down below have no idea what they are talking about. IT IS NOT A SIM PEOPLE IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE THAT WAY, IT IS MORE LIKE AN ARCADE SHOOTER? THATS THE WAY IT WAS MENT TO BE!! NOT A SIM!!, so get that outta the way and you realize it is a Great shooter in WW2, finally you dont have to worry so much about the sim aspect you can do amazing flight acrobatics to find and destroy your enemies without having to worry about geforces and passing out. I Love flight Sims, I cant wait to get Lock on modern air combat. and i have played all of the older ones. this is great arcade fun!! it is not a sim but was not meant to be. the missions are fun slick and graphics are great!if you want a Game you can sit back a little bit and get dirty and still shoot down lots of bombers and fighter pilots and blow up bridges and so on all with the knowledge you can fly like a maniac and still keep in flight without warning lights and the airplane chatter yelling at you your too low then I think this is for you!! even if you like Flight sims like me you will still enjoy this game Just remember it is not a flight sim so dont expect that..read the Box before you Buy if flight sims is all you like then you should be used to reading bible thick manuals, if ya read the back of the box it will tell you about the game and that well its a shooter....not a Sim....anyway I got mine and i am enjoying it!!...Have fun!!

Hardly a follow up to SWOTL

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 11 / 14
Date: February 16, 2004
Author: Amazon User

When this game was first in development I was psyched. Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe is possibly my all time favorie game in the world... and this is no follow up to that game. I've heard it claimed that SWOTL was an arcade style game and thus flight sim lovers should expect the same from Normandy, but that's really wrong. Luftwaffe was clearly a flight sim. It was all first person, there were concerns of conserving ammo and fuel, and damage was realistic. You had watch your engine temp, and your oil and manifold pressure. If it didn't seem like a flight sim because of the flight characteristics, think about when the game was made! For its time there was no better flight sim than Luftwaffe.
I'm not saying that Normandy is a BAD game, but for lovers of the previos trilogy of Battlehawks, Battle of Britian, and SWOTL, this game is going to be a total let down. There has yet to be a game that has been able to represent WWII in the broad and expansive nature that SWOTL did, and Normandy is no exception. It's too dependent on its "story" mode, and totally overlooked the best aspect of SWOTL... the campaign battles.

Secret Weapons Over Normandy is not a flight sim!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 14
Date: November 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Secret Weapons Over Normandy (SWON) was designed by Totally Games, whose founder, Larry Holland, has a history of making very fun, very accessible, flight action games, such as X-Wing, Tie Fighter, and Secret Weapons Of The Luftwaffe.

SWON is the continuation of that heritage, and fans of flight action games, and fans of earlier games by Larry Holland, will not be disappointed. However, anyone excepting SWON to be a flight simulation is just setting themselves up for disappointment, as SWON has much more in common with flight action games such as Starfighter and Crimson Skies than it does with flight sims like Falcon 4 and IL-2 Sturmovik.

That being said, SWON is a very fun game. It is fast-paced and throws you right into dogfighting and air-to-ground action from the very start of the game. The best thing about SWON is how accessible it is. You don't have to read 200 page manual just to be able to play the game. Just jump in and play and in no time you will feel like an ace fighter pilot defending liberty in World War II.

The graphics in SWON are gorgeous, and the sound and music are second to none. I strongly recommend Secret Weapons Over Normandy!

looks impressive and very fun!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: December 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I heard that this is not a flight sims game that you all seemed to think. This is more of an action fun game designed for the console rather than the more intense flight sims that's from this company. I find the graphics impressive looking and very detail oriented and easier to play for beginning gamers like me. I'm so hooked. I think you would enjoy this more if you know what the game is intended to do from the sites below. Don't take my word for it. Try out the demo and see for yourself!

Official site: http://www.lucasarts.com/products/normandy/
Mini site: http://www.totallygames.com/games/swon.htm

Pretty to look at, pathetic to fly.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: November 20, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I read as many reviews of this game as I could find. Most described it as "arcade like". That is an understatement.

Now I have been playing Lucas games since the days of Battlehawks 1942 (circa 1988) and Their Finest Hour (circa 1990). They were really fun to play and they were as realistic as could be reasonably expected at the time. SWON is neither. The flight dynamics are laughable. I know it wasn't made to be a flight sim. But how Lucas Arts could honestly put their name on such an inferior product is shameful. They have so much experience creating flight-based games that this acts like something that could pre-date Intelivision. If it weren't for the graphics this game would be almost worthless.

I do wish to commend Lucas for the narrator and the music. Fantastic! The combination does give the player a History Channel feel of the game. Unfortunately the game gets silly after that. The main character, Chase, is so busy bad-mouthing his flight instructor you wonder if he will turn coat and start fighting for the Germans. The dialog seems to have been written by a teenager with some kind of complex. The in-flight dialog isn't as bad but I found myself too busy trying to figure out the flight dynamics (or lack thereof) to really listen to it.

I have only played the game through a couple of missions. So far, it's about 3 hours worth. It's a shame Lucas Arts didn't take this to the level I know they can achieve. It could have rivaled MSCFS for players that don't want a full flight sim but want the feeling of flying combat. Perhaps Lucas should just stick with Star Wars where they can get away with make believe flight dynamics. How I yearn for a game that can rival Ace Combat 4. I was hoping Lucas wouldn't let me down. Alas...

My first score!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: December 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I've tried many combat flight sims and have found most of them overly complicated. I do not have time to 'build' skills to become a simulator ace. I just want to get in the a/c, go up against the enemy, fly interesting missions, blow the crap out of stuff, shoot down bad guys, and live to talk about it. The very first time I jumped into SWON, I shot down 4 enemy a/c; this is the first time I actually scored a kill. How satisfying!! 5 stars for this fun & interesting game.

Let Down

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 10
Date: January 11, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I am a huge fan of Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe. This game was a huge disappointment. I would have preferred a scaling back of all the bells and whistles if it meant that SWON were truly a follow up to SWOTL. I wish there was a game out there that really brought back the fun of SWOTL.

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