Play Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders in WWII and Win Dogfights on Android
Flight simulators and also air combat games are a tough nut to crack in mobile gaming. On a PC or Mac there is a large amount of screen real estate to fit all the dials and controls on to, plus the expansive keyboard and mouse provide extensive controls. Switch to a smart phone or tablet experience and it becomes a whole different deal.
Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders is not a new flyer. It has been around on the iOS mobile platform and as a Mac game for over a year, but it has just now finally reached over to Android and touched the gamers who sport a droid and came to play.
The Back Story
Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders sets itself within the intense World War II theater with epic dogfights and important bombing runs to help the alleys gain a key advantage for freedom in the European and Pacific theaters. Fly through tunnels, provide overwatch for cities and fleets below, and protect key assets.
World War II Locations
The coast of Dover in England, Midway, France and Germany, plus Pearl Harbor are all accurately featured in flight to create a realistic war time experience of flying missions during World War II.
World War II Missions
Take off and return to aircraft carriers and assigned landing strips. Navigate to the target, complete the mission and navigate back to the landing zone even if your plane has taken a hit and can barely stay in the sky.
Play with teammates online as you battle foes in the air and on the ground firing up into the night sky.
The HUD gets a bit crazy with all the action as friendlies and nt so friendly aircraft zip past your cockput at incredible speeds.
Graphics
The graphics continues in the tradition of what was previously seen on the iPad with realistic graphics that truly put you right into the cockpit. The cloud cover is volumetric for accurate rendering and even the rain that hits the canope protecting the pilot feel real during flight.
The technical details include High Dynamic Range (HDR) rendering, heat haze, sun glare, visual transitions from day to night and back again, bump mapping, atmospheric scattering, and all the bells and whistles.
Controls
The control system for touchscreen devices does take some getting used to. There is a lot going on with the on-screen dials and how to pilot the aircraft correctly. Even with experienced flyers this will take some times to get used to. There is full pitch, yaw and roll controls so you'll feel like you have real controls at your fingertips.
The control system does vary depending which plane you are piloting that day so even when you think you've become quite accomplished, you'll be learning all over again on a new plane.
For people who prefer the flying and are less interesting in the shooting down of planes, there is an auto-aim feature which they might enjoy using.
Flying Through Tunnels
Perhaps the toughest assignment requires the pilot to fly straight through a tunnel to reach the other side of the mountain. Many flyers meet their unfortunate end right there. It will take a number of tries to accomplish this feat but you'll have a real sense of accomplishment when you too reach the standard required of elite pilots.
Online Modes
There are many online modes to choose from. These vary from more competitive ones to more cooperative ones with teammates.
The modes include Survival, Last Man Standing, Free for All, Capture the Flag, Assault, Team Match, and Free Flight.
Online play requires either Wi-Fi or a 3G/4G connection.
Video Preview
Verdict
For anyone who wants to take to the skies or try to shoot down some WWII planes then Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders is ideal.
The game currently sells on Google Play store for just $0.93 (there is also a version for iOS). There are a few in-app purchased but no digital currency. The purchases are entirely optional and revolve around unlocking more interesting planes earlier in the game.
