flight

I purchased Crimson Skies because it fit the narrow window of being new enough to run under Windows 2000, but having low enough video requirements that it would play on my slightly outdated ThinkPad laptop. I installed Crimson Skies, and was delighted to find that the installer was smart enough to crank down the video settings to where it would actually play. This was a good trick, considering that my laptop only has 4MB of video RAM, instead of the 'required' 8MB. The video was a little choppy, but workable (anyone who's tried to get a video game to play on a laptop knows to be happy if it works at all!).

However, I was greatly annoyed to learn that, even though I had selected the 'full' install option, the game wouldn't play without the CD being inserted in the computer! This may just be an annoyance on a desktop, but my laptop has a separate, external CD-ROM drive (since this doubles the weight of my laptop, it doesn't get carried around very often). So my dreams of aerial dogfighting on the road were shot down in flames! I carried Crimson Skies home and put it on my desktop computer instead. With 32MB of video RAM, all choppiness disappeared, graphics were stunning and the sound was great. I looked forward to sitting down and learning the game. However, since it still required the CD to run, I decided to make a backup copy of the CD (just in case it got dropped on my hardwood floor or something). Guess what? The CD won't copy, either. Apparently, Atari screwed with the file system to prevent CD copying! Again, this isn't a big problem with desktops, just treat the CD gently and it'll last for years. But with most all notebook CD-ROM drives, the CD has to be physically pried on and off of the spindle, greatly increasing chances of fingerprints, scratches and general destruction. As it's currently set up, the game will only play until the first time the CD gets a scratch in it. By then, it'll probably be impossible to even locate another copy.

Why would Atari do these things to laptops owners? Why take a great game that actually plays well on any reasonably modern laptop and then deliberately make it hard to carry around? Well, Crimson Skies has a multi-player mode and would be great for LAN parties, so maybe these measures were designed to prevent people from buying one copy and then sharing it with ten friends. I realize that illegal file sharing is a serious problem. But I don't want to share the program, I just want it to run off the hard drive. I don't want to illegally copy the CD. I just want a backup copy in case the master copy gets damaged. Maybe these measures are necessary in today's world. However, it's still kind of ironic that the makers of a great game about Air Piracy in an Alternate Universe are so concerned about software piracy that they deliberately make their own product unusable in the real world.

Would I recommend the game? Definitely! But I really wish that Atari wouldn't let their paranoia get in the way of legitimate users trying to run their software.

Great game, excellent value at $9.99. Perfect for LAN parties at this price too.

The Crimson Skies game was originally developed as a tabletop game, using miniatures and dice to simulate dogfighting. Here that is translated into one of the best dogfighting sims I've ever played.

The storyline is based on an alternate history. It'd take too long to discuss it here, but in short the United States fractured into smaller countries in the early 1900s, and rather than falling in love with the automobile, America fell in love with the plane. This story takes place in 1937, where you lead a band of sky pirates against a number of enemies.

Combat is always intense without being stupidly difficult. This game shouldn't be called a flight sim, as it's focused more on fun than physics, and it pays off in a big way. The story is engaging and the voice work that goes along with it is intentionally cheesy to invoke the feel of old comic books... which it does perfectly. Multiplayer is also entertaining.

I'm glad to see it getting new life in the bargain bin form, because this one is well worth picking up. Now my friends have no more excuses not to.