November 16, 2009 - Imagine my excitement when I was handed my first review assignment, gleefully I trekked home, already eager to install and play the game. Flight simulators aren't normally my thing. In fact, the last one I played, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000, was nearly a decade ago. But now was as good a time as any to play catch-up, and so enters Rise of Flight: The First Great Air War. The game was developed by Neoqb, quite possibly the name of our future sentient, robotic overlord, but also a Russia-based IT company. This is Neoqb's first game, but their website alluded to the possibility of more in the future. Rise of Flight was published in North America by 777 Studios, who appear to be new to the industry as well, with only two published games to date.

Simulation games have two big draws. One is player immersion; to make them feel as if they're accomplishing what the game is simulating. The second is realism, and with that often difficulty. I was ready for the game to be difficult; aware that flying World War I aircraft would be harsh compared to their modern, autopilot friendly cousins. Ultimately, I have to be more than a dude controlling a plane with a joystick. I have to be a World War I ace pilot with the wind slapping my face and the sound of nearby anti-aircraft fire causing me to jettison last night's supper. Rise of Flight is a mixed bag in this regard, and I hope I get that point across shortly. For now, I'll talk about what the game features.

There are five major components to Rise of Flight, and all of them revolve around flying your plane. First up are the Training Missions, which serve as your flight school for the game. Sporting some of the corniest cut scenes I've ever witnessed, the Training Missions are easily one of the more brighter points to the game. There's a structured narrative between the American instructor and his new pilot, whom Neoqb aptly named "John." There are thoughtful and even cutesy animations and diagrams to explain basic flight dynamics and how these dynamics will relate to your actual flights. After the comedic cut scenes, the game explains each step of a training mission in the real level, and then you set off to do them. It doesn't take long before you realize Rise of Flight is a really difficult game. You'll crash, and you'll burn. Nine years of hiatus on flight simulations caught up to me and Rise of Flight took me into the ground enough times to warrant uninstalling the game, but I persevered. Luckily, all the modes in the game allow you to tweak various game settings. You can disable wind, simplify physics, enable autopilot, start the engine easier, manage the rudder automatically, make yourself invincible, and so on. I found myself activating more and more of these options the longer I played the game, but that's not a bad thing. The inclusion of these features are essential however, since the "hardcore" version of the game alone would make it playable only to a tiny, highly skilled demographic.

Once you graduate from the Training Missions, assuming you do, you're thrust into the harsh reality of Rise of Flight and World War I air combat: almost everyone, including most historic ace pilots, tends to die. Between the sixth and final Training Mission and any other mode, I found a significant increase in the game's difficulty. The remaining game options include Mission, Career, Multiplayer, or the Mission Editor. Missions deliver drop-in scenarios that typically consist of a simple dogfight, bombing run, or ground attack, and sometimes a mixture of objectives, but without the narrative or structural elements of the Training Missions. Career mode is another game type, but it falls short of separating itself much from Mission mode. It's the well-advertised portion of the game where you can join an authentic World War I air squadron and "become an Ace Fighter Pilot," but it's really just several missions stringed together even more loosely than the Training Missions. There were no cut scenes or plots, just text descriptions and occasional objective prompts in mission.

Though my initial optimism had been tested by Rise of Flight's difficulty, I used my memory of Canadian Ace Pilot William Avery Bishop from high school history class for inspiration. With baseball cap secured atop my head, I jumped into Bishop's preferred Nieuport 17 and selected a combat mission. Oh, wait, it will cost me $10 plus applicable taxes to unlock the Nieuport 17 and its applicable missions. Rise of Flight ships with a few planes, but to have them all, you'll have to pay. A lot. I should, historical accuracy willing, be allowed to simulate the planes of the "First Great Air War!" All of them. Full immersion, sadly, will cost players an extra $80.