To be frank, no they didn’t. Transmission Games were the masterminds behind the brilliant Xbox/PC/PlayStation 2 title, Heroes of the Pacific. Not only did the title impress, but it gave gamers a look at what a new studio – in terms of WWII titles – could do with the Second World War. Now with Heroes Over Europe, expectations are much higher and the quality delivered is too low for satisfaction. Stuck in the middle of an arcade and simulation shooter, Heroes Over Europe is a title without a real identity. It wants to present itself as an intelligent shooter, but also wants to attract the fans of explosions and over-the-top deaths.
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| Heroes Over Europe goes down in flames. | The gritty look doesn’t aid in the visual department. |
The first misstep that Heroes Over Europe takes is with its Ace Kill gameplay mechanics. The purpose of the Ace Kill system is to allow for moments in the title where players are wowed with impressive kills of their enemies. Similar to any other typical shooter nowadays, the Ace Kill provides the ability slow down time. Slowing down time allows for players to aim at particular spots on an enemy plane such as targeting the fuel tank. The worst of the bunch is that Ace kill allows players to aim directly at the enemy pilot and kill them in a matter of seconds. Unrealistic and cringe-worthy, the gameplay ultimately suffers from too many moments where players should end up shaking their head in disbelief – or if they are into the whole “watch every thing explode while doing as little as possible”, they might enjoy themselves.
Another disappointing aspect is the storyline. If players find themselves amongst the group of people who look for clever storylines in their video games, they need to be prepared to look away in horror. Throughout the fourteen missions that follow the footsteps of three pilots from three separate countries – England, the United States and New Zealand – Heroes Over Europe is clichéd until the bitter end. The majority of the objectives will have players scratching their head wondering what the developers were thinking. From clearing debris in the middle of the streets to ordinary dogfights, Heroes Over Europe feels horribly dated and out-of-place on the current generation of platforms.
Speaking about feeling out-of-place, Heroes Over Europe doesn’t present beautiful graphics for visual aficionados. The title’s visuals are on par with what the developers were serving up on the original Xbox and PlayStation 2 – they aren’t pretty and there’s no real sense of style either. Even the plane models are ugly when closely examined. There’s not much to say about the graphics besides that they are old-fashioned and archaic.
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| The level of carnage is high. | Someone just felt the wrath of an Ace Kill. |
Furthermore, the controls and physics of the title are outrageous. As easy as it comes, Heroes Over Europe isn’t a challenging flight-combat title. Due to the over-simplification of the controls and Ace Kill system, players should breeze through Heroes Over Europe within a weekend’s time. Being able to pull off impossible swan dives and incredible twists and turns, players should come away feeling more impressive than the “Red Baron” ever was behind the control stick of a fighter plane.
Top Game Moment:
HEROES OVER EUROPE VERDICT
As uninspiring as it is, Heroes Over Europe does deliver adequate multiplayer features that are found in a majority of other similar titles. The online dogfights can be entertaining when there are smart users behind the aircrafts. From the typical free-for-all (Dogfight) to the last man standing gametypes (Survivor), Heroes Over Europe is a better multiplayer game than it is a single-player title. It’s best to avoid Heroes Over Europe, unless it is serving the purpose of a weekend rental.
TOP GAME MOMENT
When players figure out that the multiplayer is better than what was offered in the single-player.
