When I first fired up Crimson Skies I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I had read several favorable reviews about the game though, so I was expecting it to be fun. After the first 5 or 10 minutes I thought, “This game sucks. I’m doing the same things over and over again.”

But after playing a little bit more, I was quickly addicted. The action is fast-paced and fun. Not only do you shoot from planes, but you shoot from AA guns on the ground and from in the sky too. Crimson Skies is all based around missions to make money or get information and each one is a little bit different. Over the course of the game you aquire new planes, each having their own strengths and weaknesses. One thing I didn’t understand was that my hanger of planes never filled all of the available spaces. Maybe I skipped a part of the game somehow.

The graphics are some of the best I’ve seen on the XBox, with the in-game cinematics being THE best. Seriously during some of the videos it was hard to tell if it was computer generated or if it was real video footage. The reflections off the water, the lighting, and some of the surrounds were awesome. The human renditions in the cinematics were also top notch. The in-game graphics are pretty sweet too. What I really liked was how easy it was to control the flight of the planes. With all of the special moves you can perform in the air, I rarely got “lost” on my course. There are quick turn-arounds, barrell rolls and more.

Playing on normal difficulty didn’t make the game very long although I did have to play several missions over a few times. It’s an all around good game…in the single player at least. I haven’t had the chance to try it out on XBox Live yet.

My score: 9.3