Over G Fighters has potential but it's deeply buried. by Lee Wu

July 11, 2006 - In the future, aerial combat will be as simplistic as the gameplay found in Ubisoft/Taito's Over G Fighter for the Xbox 360. You'll strap yourself in, fly towards your target with GPS, lock on, shoot and destroy and then continue to your next target and repeat the same procedure. In essence this chosen path of employment will become as drab and boring as working on an assembly line. You can get a taste of just how dull the life of future fighter pilots will be for only $59.99 and my advice is to just take my word for it and save your money.

Following Over G's mission mode, you'll take to the unfriendly skies in hopes of stopping an international threat which spans the globe. In a devious attempt to wring more replay value out of the game, as you tackle various campaigns other branching paths will be closed off leaving them aside to be played during another run through; if you ever decide to come back for more. The online modes removes the AI from the equation, making for a more balanced game experience, but you will need to unlock all of the best jets before setting foot in a room and then you might not be able to find that many people to play against. You can test your skills in the Challenge mode which is really just a great way to test pilot your crafts while learning how to land, reload weapons and take off.

Over G's threadbare foundation permeates the entire quality of the production. It's not just one element that provides the game with it's lackluster feel, but rather numerous areas which bring the sum total of the game to mediocre. Starting with the repetitive and bland nature of the missions which while somewhat varied, never amount to any white knuckle moments. As I said at the start of the review, you lock on, fly to your target, destroy it and move on. Some missions require a little more finesse in the cockpit but aside from flying low to the ground through canyons and under bridges, providing escort services (you know what I mean) and shooting a variety of targets, it's nothing you haven't seen or done before in superior games like Namco's Ace Combat. As you progess the missions do get much harder due to a ramped up AI and your reliance on your wingman becomes more of a priority, but the missions never really all that different from what you experienced at the beginning of the game.

Over G's unresponsive controls carry over to every jet you'll fly which is disappointing when you finally earn one that you know to be extremely agile and maneuverable in real life. Finally the game's visuals don't compare to some of the graphic love we've seen the Xbox 360 capable of in other releases. The ground looks about as convincing as Microsoft Flight Simulator circa 1998 and the speed of the jets can only be described as "sluggish minus speed". I swear Sega's arcade Afterburner felt faster than this. The control is divided into "real" and "default" and surprisingly I found the "real" setting to be less sluggish than the default (or arcade) config. At least there felt like a little more to do. Utilizing your wingman and controlling him is easy enough and since he is virtually invincible (although he'll tell you otherwise) you can almost "set him and forget him" when you fly into battle. Rarely did I find occassion to help him as he always came out unscathed.

Repetition aside, the game falls into frustrating madness in later stages as your jet's engines will be knocked out from ground fire, which happens randomly. This means you can be going along, just fine and BAM - one of your engines is out, crippling your craft and making the rest of the mission a suicide attempt. With no other recourse but to restart, you'll continue only to have your engine knocked out again somewhere else without being able to see where it came from. I understand this probably happens in real encounters, but that doesn't make it all that fun when I'm playing a game.

The game's strength really lies in all of its extras such as the plethora of fighter jets to unlock, the weapon customization, the wingmen selection and the achievements, but it's all windowdressing once you delve into the meat of the game and realize it isn't all that exciting. Flying the various jets, looking at their realistic cockpits and playing around with their controls is fun and will excite regular Air Show attendees, but gamers looking for some all out air combat action will be less than enthused by midpoint.

I can't fault Taito for the attention to detail of the game's numerous aircraft. This is obviously where most of Over G's development time went in. The cockpits, designs and various parts are picture perfect as far as I can tell. You'll even notice that they went as far to simulate the feeling of blood rush when fighters climb too high at too fast a pace and risk passing out. Crafts such as the F-22A even hover as they do in real life.

Having played most every game for the Xbox 360 I can say that Over G Fighters is one of the least visually appealling titles to appear on it. The backgrounds in this game would look more at home on the PS2. For $60, I expect much more than this. The generic rock soundtrack is perhaps one of the most annoying, cloying soundtracks in a video game ever. It's like listening to a collection of tunes that didn't make the Team America soundtrack, minus the funny lyrics.

If you are a dyed-in-the-wool jet fighter fanatic, who has model planes, knows what each jet can do, when it was made, generally takes an interest in anything jet fighter related and has an above average set of gaming skills, Over G Fighters might be for you. You're only other option is Blazing Angels and that's not quite jet fighter material. The game is repetitive to a fault and far too frustrating in later stages. Replay value is definitely high with over 75 missions to complete and there are lots of unlockables for your efforts. The visuals are very disappointing, the music is terrible, control is weak, the gameplay is average and the price is $60. You do the math.

Features:

• Fly the world's most powerful fighters: Fly every modern jet fighter in the western arsenal including the F/A 22 Raptor, the US air superiority fighter of the 21st century. Face more than 90 Western and former Soviet enemies and get in the cockpit of the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Viper, F/A-18 Hornet, Su-27 Flanker, Mig-29 Fulcrum, and F-117A Stealth Bomber
• Attempt more than 80 intense missions in a modern day global conflict: Players take the fight to the enemy in aerial battles all over the world and face massive, challenging missions with interlocking sub-missions. After successfully completing the sub-missions, players will attack the most challenging primary mission objective.
• Check Six with 360 degree cockpit views from realistic, highly detailed, and functional instrumentation. Feel the g-forces and hear the roar of jet engines in 5.1 Channel stereo sound as you ignite the after burner.
• Get right into the action: Players can jump right into the action and instantly engage in dogfights either one-on-one or in massive dog fighting “furballs.”
• Save your aerial exploits with the Flight Data Recorder.
  Players can save their combat triumphs and learn from their defeats by recording and replaying their aerial exploits.
• Xbox Live for up to 8 players online.
  Engage in head-to-head dogfights or cooperative team play between squadrons on huge detailed maps with varied geographies.

By Lee Wu
CCC Freelance Writer

Rating out of 5 Over G Fighters (X360) 1.5 Graphics Not an impressive looking Xbox 360 game even accidentally. 2.8 Control Control feels unresponsive in turns and the sense of speed is almost nil. 1.5 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting Music is grating, while the jets and explosions are decent. 4.0 Play Value Lots of missions, replay value, online play and unlockables. 2.5 Overall Rating - Average Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

May 8, 2006 - In Over G Fighters, a terrorist organization threatens the world’s peace and security as players take to the skies in a united world air force. Players command more than 30 of the most powerful jet fighters ever conceived and battle for air superiority in massive dogfights in the skies above Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. Players combat enemies in the air and on the ground with challenging and dangerous strike missions against well defended targets deep in the heart of hostile territory.

Features:

• Fly the world’s most powerful fighters: Fly every modern jet fighter in the Western arsenal including the F-22A Raptor, the US air superiority fighter of the 21st century. Face more than 90 Western and former Soviet enemies and get in the cockpit of the F-15E Strike Eagle, F-16C Fighting Falcon, F/A-18C Hornet, Su-27 Flanker, MiG-29A Fulcrum, and F-117A Nighthawk.
• Attempt more than 80 intense missions in a modern-day global conflict: Players take the fight to the enemy in aerial battles all over the world and face massive, challenging missions with interlocking sub-missions. After successfully completing the sub-missions, players will attack the most challenging primary mission objective.
• Check six: With 360-degree cockpit views from realistic, highly detailed and functional instrumentation. Players will feel the G-forces and hear the roar of jet engines in 5.1 channel stereo as they ignite the after burner.
• Get right into the action: Kick the tires and light the fires! Players can jump right into the action and instantly engage in dogfights either one-on-one or in massive dogfighting “furballs.”
• Flight data recorder: Players can save their combat triumphs and learn from their defeats by recording and replaying their aerial exploits.
• Xbox Live® online gaming service for up to eight players online: Engage in head-to-head dogfights or cooperative team play between squadrons on huge detailed maps with varied geographies.
  

By Staff
CCC Staff Writer