Rogue Aces is a 2D aerial combat game, developed by Infinite State Games, published by Curve Digital and released on April 12, 2018 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PS Vita.
History
A plane, enemies, missions, various objectives, humor, the second degree, it does not need anything more to have a crazy and excellent game!
The game does not have a story to speak of. It takes place during the Second World War and we embody an airplane pilot (or one, at your choice!) On a mission!
Game and gameplay
Rogue Aces is therefore an arcade-type shooter aviation game. There are no frills, the game immediately plunges us into the action, first with a tutorial. The latter teaches us to fly the plane, to use its weapons (machine gun, missile and bomb) as well as the different mechanics and to show us examples of missions (and how to succeed).
Once this tutorial is finished, finally, rather when you decide to stop it (because the latter is "unlimited" in time, which is a good thing, allowing to really train well!), We can switch to mode countryside ! This campaign mode has several modes, the basic one, and two others that must be unlocked.
The first mode takes us on an aircraft carrier and our commander will give us missions to carry out. The missions are very varied and are offered in a completely random way, as are also the areas where we operate. Thus, one can have many missions such as shooting down enemy fighter planes, bombers, battleships, supply trains or destroying enemy bases, or even capturing them for one's own use!
Even if the game is intended to be arcade, there is still a small management side. Your ship does not have unlimited ammunition (apart from the machine gun). The same goes for fuel, which is not unlimited and above all, will be spent more or less quickly depending on the speed of your plane (which you can adjust), the use of the boost, etc. In addition, even if the driving is arcade, we can not do everything and anything. If you are vertical for too long, the plane will eventually "stall" and you risk crashing. Likewise, it is more difficult to maintain yourself when you are at a very high altitude than at sea level.
The game also offers a damage management, with several "areas" of the aircraft that can be damaged and destroyed, such as the engine, wings, tail and tank. Having a damaged engine can cause it to "misfire" and cause you to lose altitude or crash you. Damage to the tank will cause you to use more fuel. The tail and the wings will make handling very difficult.
Fortunately, it is possible to repair the ship and rearm it by returning to the aircraft carrier and / or to the airport (if you took one!).
In addition to that, you will have the possibility improve your plane. To do this, you will need to collect "improvement boxes" that appear when you destroy certain enemies (mainly planes, but not only!)
The second game mode is unlocked once you have successfully taken an airport in the first mode. The latter is called "First line campaign". The latter will ask you to complete several objectives in specific areas. The difference compared to the normal campaign mode is the fact that you will only have a limited time to complete the entire campaign, but also that once in play, the mission objectives will not be indicated on the map, that is, it's up to you to find them “the old-fashioned” way. In addition, you will not have to return to the aircraft carrier each time between each objective to validate them, you will have to achieve them in one go!
Another game mode is the survival mode, the latter will simply ask you to survive (wow, the scoop!) against waves of enemies.
The game thus offers a multitude of possibilities and styles of play, there is something for everyone! The fact that the levels and missions are randomly generated provides endless replayability. In addition, the game also offers a "level" system for the character. Each time you level up, it will give you bonuses at the start of the game. To gain level, it will obviously be necessary to successfully complete missions, objectives, kill enemies, etc. !
Graphics, sound and optimization
On the visual side, the game is really very clean and beautiful. The game has very nice cell-shading graphics with quite varied environments and backgrounds. Explosions, smoke, lighting effects, etc. are also very beautiful and well made. The day / night cycle also provides very beautiful lighting effects (especially at dawn and dawn).
On the sound side, it's very fun and it fits perfectly with the atmosphere. There is not much to say about it!
And finally, on the optimization side, I played on switch and the game is perfect. No framerate drop, no slowdown, or nothing, whatever the circumstances. Even when there are dozens of explosions on the screen. Whether in portable mode or dock mode, there is no problem.
Conclusion
Rogue Aces is a really great game. The first 10-15 minutes, I thought it was going to be repetitive and boring, but you quickly get caught up in the game and quickly unlock new modes. In addition, the game lends itself to long gaming sessions as well as small sessions. Whether you have 1h-2h of gameplay in front of you, or just 15-20 minutes, you can play it worry-free! It's entirely possible to just do one mission, save, quit, and resume later.
If you are looking for an arcade game that is fun, colorful and funny, don't hesitate to give it a try!
