Wings

aka: Wings (Emulated Amiga Edition)
Moby ID: 7287
Amiga Specs
Buy on Game Boy Advance
$99.92 used, $699.95 new on eBay
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Description official descriptions

You are an allied fighter pilot in WW1, duking it out with the "Huns" up in the sky in over 200 missions.

The missions usually come in three flavors: Top-down view bombing missions where you have to take out strategically important targets, isometric strafing runs where you get to blast anything that you fancy blasting with an unlimited supply of ammo, and of course the main part: Dogfights in the sky. Rendered in 3D, seems from behind your head.

The game is set in the years 1916 through 1918, and to loosen things up a little, we get to read a page of our character's new entry for the diary-like journal in his company between every mission.

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (Amiga version)

14 People (12 developers, 2 thanks)

Game Design
Computography
Additional Computography
Graphic Artist
Original Music
Sound Effects
Executive Producer
Producer
Screenplay and Handbook
Handbook Maps and Illustration
Handbook Photo Reproductions
Special Thanks to

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 79% (based on 27 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 46 ratings with 2 reviews)

A simple but very effective WWI flight simulation

The Good
this game has a range of different types of missions, which keeps you interested. Firstly you must train your pilot to earn your wings and become a qualified fighter pilot. you can check your stats against others to become the best pilot with the most kills, you can even earn medals and get promotion along the way. Wings also includes other famous pilots of the first world war such as The Red Barron.

The Bad
to save your game you have to exit the game then reload the game to carry on.

The Bottom Line
An exiting WWI flight simulation which will have you addicted for weeks, climb through the ranks to become the best pilot in your squadron. come face to face with the infamous Red Barron and his illustrious 'flying circus' . Once you've finally completed the game you will want to start again.

Amiga · by Triggerhappy (2) · 2006

Dogfight sim with atmosphere

The Good
You have to leave it to Cinemaware. All their games just burst with devotion to presentation, and this game is no exception. Right from the start with its stylish introduction sequence through the nice menus to the actual game sequences themselves - wonderful graphics, good sound.

If you look at the core, Wings does not have that much - a solid 3D dogfight simulator, a simple top-down bombing sequence and an isometric strafing run. In over 200 missions, all you get is one of those three (with the 3D missions dominating the bunch).

What totally sets this game apart from all the others however is the squadron's flight journal. Before every mission, the player character pours his heart out in this "diary". In those 200 missions that stretch from 1916 through 1918, we get sucked into the world of the squadron, from funny incidents like a dog showing up on the base, immediately turning into the people's new mascot, to amusing events like a fistfight between the company's priest and the cook over the chow, to touching episodes like the normally tough CO breaking down in tears over problems with his wife.

And of course, war stories. War stories. And war stories. Members of the squadron getting killed in action. A young soldier deserting as things get hot, only to be sent to trial and jailed. A snitch inside the base who regularly informs the enemy and causes the bases to get bombed over and over again, with nobody having an idea about the identity of the spy. And of course, important historical events have their place in the journal too.

From a technical point of view, the game is solid - good music and excellent stereo sound effects, paired with brilliant, moody graphics. The graphics have been embedded brilliantly into the gameplay - in the 3D game, we can see the back of our PC's head, and not only does that look cool - the head is also our "radar": The PC will look to the left if there are enemies somewhere to the left! Bullet holes on your plane indicate how shot up it is. The 3D view is - while not spectacular - still very good, pairing flat 3D graphics and 2D images.

Another aspect of the game is the building up of your character's skills: As you progress, your PC will get better at handling the biplane, hitting enemies more easily and shaking less. That is, until you get killed - while you can move over to the next mission, your character has died and you have to start over with a new greenhorn.

The Bad
As I mentioned, if you strip down the fancy presentation, you're left with a very basic bombing mission, a simple strafing game and the dogfights. Cinemaware was smart enough to put all their efforts into that 3D section, but even those fall a little bit flat after a while.

I love the journal - I still think this is what makes the game - but it's kind of sad that the journal and the actual game are totally unconnected. While the journal introduces the next mission most of the time, once you're in the sky with your crate you're back to your little 3D dogfighting game. It would have been incredible if the outcome of the game sequence had an influence on the journal.

The Bottom Line
I loved this game. Without the journal, it'd be some nice flight sim. But the way it is, it's a war epic. Especially in the 1917's, the journal makes you feel the desperation of the men in the squadron as the body count rises, and the accompanying missions get increasingly unfair. In one solo mission you end up having to fight eight enemies! At times like these, you are not expected to win. You are expected to get downed or die. This is not a game of superheroes, it's the story of ordinary men at war. Then, in the 1918 missions, the tension slowly dies down, the end of the war seems imminent. It's still the same 3D dogfight game with just the odds evened out, but the journal brings the necessary atmosphere.

Cinemaware did it again.

Amiga · by EboMike (3094) · 2002

Discussion

Subject By Date
Wings: Director's Cut funding failed Yearman (29385) Sep 12, 2012

Trivia

Awards

  • Amiga Power
    • May 1991 (Issue #00) - #51 in the "All Time Top 100 Amiga Games"
  • Computer Gaming World
    • November 1996 (15th Anniversary Issue) - #65 in the list "150 Best Games of All Time"

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Related Sites +

  • Wings
    Publisher's site (for GBA version) with game info screenshots and more.

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 7287
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by EboMike.

Game Boy Advance added by Corn Popper. Windows added by Cavalary. Macintosh, BlackBerry added by MAT.

Additional contributors: MAT, PCGamer77, Jo ST.

Game added September 26, 2002. Last modified March 3, 2024.