Keep It Steady, Joe

Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII gives you plenty of hints and directions along the way, if you know what to watch for. I pinned on my own pilot's wings and took a turn at this game, performing a little reconnaissance to determine where the frustrations lie. Now that I know where they are, I can warn you and hopefully save you from getting too shot up.

What I discovered was that a few easy tricks, if you keep them in mind, will save your derrière on more occasions than one, and make the game all the more enjoyable for you.

You navigate with your eyes, your ears,
and sometimes your gut.

Navigation
Being a fighter pilot isn't easy, especially in these old prop planes. You're intimate with nature, with the weather, and with gravity. All these aspects affect you in visceral ways that you don't experience in a modern jet with autopilot, proximity alarms, and equipment that allows you to navigate blind. You navigate with your eyes, your ears, and sometimes your gut.

Perhaps the most important thing to learn is how to maneuver and orient, or re-orient, yourself in three-dimensional space. You get nowhere if you keep crashing into the ground. You have two different views available to you in Blazing Angels. The first is standard, a third-person, behind-the-plane viewpoint. This is the viewpoint in which it's easiest to re-orient yourself to the horizon. The second view is the Follow view which centers on your target no matter what direction your plane is facing. You get the opportunity to practice flying with this viewpoint in the training mission, and I recommend you take advantage of it.

Fast and furious.

The Follow view shows you where your primary target is. Hold the left trigger to activate it. Release to go back to the regular viewpoint. The Follow view can sometimes be disorienting because it usually isn't aligned with your plane. For example, even though you're flying straight ahead, if your enemy is on your six (right behind you) then the Follow view will be a rear view. You maneuver the controls as if you were still flying forward, which you are, even though you're looking behind you. It takes a little practice, and if at any time you begin to feel disoriented, switch back to regular view and re-orient yourself.

Wingmen
Know what your wingmen can do and use them to their full advantage. You almost always have three buddies flying with you, and each one has special abilities that help you out in specific situations. One of the three repairs your plane when you call on him, in midair no less. Another calls attention to himself, taunts the enemy, and draws fire away from you while you do your thing. The third loves nothing more than to go crazy on the enemy, cutting them down with gusto.

You also have the option of giving them commands as a group. You can have them fall into formation and stick close to you, attacking when you attack. You can have them break formation and take on the enemy individually, shooting at will as they encounter foes. And last, but not least, you can put them on the defensive, which means they protect your tail. Don't forget that you have these options. Your wingmen always start a mission flying in formation with you. If you want them to do something else, you have to give them the command. Attacking at will and defending you both have their time and place.

High and mighty.

Speed
Accelerating comes in handy. "Go faster" is often a useful option. However, braking also has its important functions, and I was surprised to find that I actually ended up braking more often than accelerating. If nothing else, the fact that braking during a U-turn allows me to turn more tightly and with greater control than if I did it at regular speed or even while accelerating.

On the other hand, accelerating gives the plane additional lift, and therefore is useful if you're coming out of a dive or attempting to quickly clear an obstacle below you, such as a tower, a tree, or a radio antenna. Just remember that you push up on the right stick to accelerate, and you pull down on it to brake. Thus, it works opposite of how altitude control works. You gain altitude by pulling down on the left stick and lose altitude by pushing up on it.

Chatter
The game has built-in clues in the chatter you hear on the radio and in the environment in general. Pay attention to what you see and hear. Sometimes, your wingmen drop hints as to what's coming. Other times, they out-and-out announce that a new wave of Luftwaffe is on its way. Whether subtle or brick-like, these heads-ups are important. Stay alert to them.

Slow and steady.

The environment also gives you clues as to how to complete your mission. For example, the game doesn't let you fly too far afield. If you get out of range of your mission, it takes over and turns you back. In missions where you're searching for your target, say, in the midst of a blinding desert sandstorm, this becomes a clue and guidance to lead you towards your final destination. On bombing raids, watch for bullet trails, because if someone is shooting at you, you can bet you're near where you want to be.

Avoid getting shot. That's just plain good
sense, pal, no matter what the situation.

Sense
As you fly through the missions, you'll pick up your own tips and tricks, though hopefully the trial and error isn't too frustrating in the beginning. The game does have consistent themes, though, so it's a safe bet that if something works in one place, it works in another. Watch for these themes.

Braking, for example, works not only when landing and when approaching a bombing target, but also when taking a picture. Flying even with the horizon not only works when your dogfight has spun your head around backwards, it also works when you're in a blinding sandstorm and you can't see the ground. Avoid getting shot. Well, that's just plain good sense, pal, no matter what the situation. Bottom line: Brake, keep your eye on the horizon, and avoid getting shot. It doesn't get any simpler than that.

Article by Angel Leigh McCoy