Lethal Skies II Review

Developer	Asmik Ace
Publisher	Sammy Studios
Genre	Action

Do you feel the need for speed? Lethal Skies II can help. Have you lost that lovin’ feeling? Lethal Skies II can....well…. you’ll probably need to seek professional medical help for that problem. But before you start popping those little blue pills, lets pop Lethal Skies II into the PS2 and take it for a spin.

Gameplay – Lethal Skies II attempts to ride a fine line between flight sim and arcade action. For the most part, Asmik Ace did a fairly decent job of this. There are times, however, where the Dual Shock will spend more time in the air than any fighter jet in this game. That is because you will be throwing your controller in frustration and disgust.

The primary reason for this is that the focus of far too many missions in the game is on ground based objectives. Case in point; during mission two, you must destroy three armored columns of ground units making their way through a vast system of canyons before they reach specific points on the map. The goal is to line up all the units and down them in one fell swoop. The reality of it is that you'll have serious difficulty traversing the twists and turns of the canyon, keeping close enough to the ground to stay in firing range and locking on to the targets, all while avoiding fire from above and below.

And basically this boils down to a control scheme that works great during air-to-air combat but doesn't amount to a hill of beans when you're going after ground forces. I know what some of you are thinking, "That’s what war is all about, using air supremacy to cripple ground forces." If you thought that, you're right, that is a component to a successful ground war. But this isn't Baghdad; this is Lethal Skies II. Sometimes it seems as though this game would have been more aptly named Lethal Canyon or Lethal Earth or perhaps Lethal Landing Strip.

Remember what made movies like Iron Eagles and Top Gun great? Okay smartass, aside from Louis Gossett Jr. and Kelly McGillis, what made those movies great? They were great because we got to see commie bastards and terrorists blown out of the sky. Emphasis on sky. If I buy an air combat game, I want the focus to be on air combat. At the very least, there should be a more precise way to hit ground targets than by using line of sight. That isn't how the real air force operates and the same should apply here.

I will give credit where credit is due though. The developers really tried to mix up the mission objectives and throw something different at you every time. Despite what I've mentioned in the previous paragraphs, I'm not adverse to ground based missions. It's merely that the existing control scheme was not designed to effectively accommodate such missions.

Lethal Skies II requires the use of every single button on the Dual Shock but it isn't as overwhelming as one would think. In fact, the overall setup is quite comfortable. A wide array of maneuvers is at your disposal but there are no canned moves here, so to speak. Don't expect to become an ace pilot on your first play-through. But when the dust settles, it feels satisfying to know that you've achieved victory through true mastery of the controls rather than by cheap gimmicks.

Again, the control scheme is bad per se. The loose analog control allows for some pretty crazy, law of physics-defying maneuvers in the open sky. But once you approach the ground, it simply isn't responsive enough. You will crash and you will crash often. In a game like this, where arcade action is emphasized over simulation, it would be nice to see sliding scale control. By that I mean as you approach the ground, the control becomes tighter and more responsive. Sure, a feature like this eschews some realism, but it would make the game markedly less frustrating.

Once you've mastered the basics, there are roughly around 20 planes to unlock and try out. Each plane has subtle and not so subtle differences when it comes to maneuverability, speed and weapon payload. The selection is pretty wide too, everything from the harrier II to bombers to futuristic prototypes. Each plane has a no fuss default missile layout but the detail-oriented pilot can customize this facet of the game if they so choose. You'll even have chaff grenades at your disposal to through off those pesky homing missiles. Aside from finding your niche plane and preferred weapon layout, you'll also be able to decide what type of planes and missiles you want your wingmen using.

Speaking of wingmen, you'll find that they're unexpectedly intelligent. You'll be able to issue a few commands to them via the d-pad, although the commands basically amount to attack and defend. They'll aggressively attack enemy fighters or provide support for you while you tackle the mission objectives. Just don't count on them to get the job done for you. Oh, and what's up with their names? It isn't as though I have something against the names "Matt" or "Rita". Those are fine and honorable names. But if I were an ace fighter pilot during an apocalyptic world war, I'd choose something along the lines of "Ravenous Glacier Weasel" or "Psychosomatic Bitch Cake". Call me crazy.

That leads me to the plot of Lethal Skies II. Quite simply, it is pure acronym-filled chaos. It either symbolizes Japan's latent deep-seeded resentment over losing World War II to the "Evil Empire" or it attempts to project the "Cold War turned Hot" paradigm into some indiscriminant future. At any rate, the story is campy and irrelevant. I just imagine that every enemy I shoot down is the commie bastard that killed Goose from Top Gun. That seems to work pretty well.

Graphics – Lethal Skies II is a mixed bag in the graphics department. It seems that for everything that was done well, you'll find something that brings the game down a notch. The game has locked on to a solid framerate even in the most harrowing of battles. You'll definitely appreciate the solid performance when the going gets tough and you're surrounded by bogeys.

Obviously, some sacrifices were made in order to maintain such high performance. Everything looks washed out and there is little contrast or attention to detail. Even most of the planes, which are the main focus of the game, do little to differentiate themselves from one another. But in all honesty, I would take solid performance over breathtaking graphics any day. Not like it really matters what anything looks like when you're flying at mach speed.

I do like the artwork used during the mission briefings. It encapsulates decades worth of military art into a succinct package. The artwork seem as if it would be just as at home in a book depicting the events of World War II as it would on the box of a G.I. Joe action figure.

Sound – This game has Sammy Studios slapped all over it so you know there is going to be some whacked-out wailing hard rock in there somewhere. It all seems totally inappropriate for a game centered on a devastating world war but somehow it works. There's nothing as memorable as Kenny Loggin's "Danger Zone" but it is fairly decent nonetheless.

The narration is done in an interesting manner. Much like the artwork, the narration serves as an amalgamation of varying styles used throughout the years. You can definitely tell that it draws inspiration from the old newsreels used before the age of television. At the same time, it also feels like it is trying to emulate the "always on, always plugged in" style of, say, CNN.

Aside from the narration, the voice work in this game makes Shenmue sound like Shakespeare. It is just plain bad. Hey, lethargic voice acting just called and he wants his F-14 back. Not that voice work is going to make or break a game like this but a little enthusiasm never hurt anyone. Attention Matt and Rita; tell the doctor to up your dosage of Prozac for the next installment of Lethal Skies.

Overall Value - Lethal Skies II had its sight on becoming the ace of aerial combat games. It almost made it only to be shot down by a couple of critical flaws. But for many of you, almost isn't good enough mister. A few tweaks will have this series back in the hunt for air supremacy in no time. To those of you who can’t wait for the next installment: proceed with caution, be patient and enjoy. Oh, and avoid hitting the ground.

Review by Erick Kelsen