Windows Phone Central Game Roundup: Air Combat Games
Over at the Windows Phone Store there is a healthy selection of games to choose from. You have games where you battle zombies, solve puzzles, race cars, play board games and other genres that can be rather challenging. In this week's roundup, we focus in on games involving air combat.
Games where you pilot your planes through various missions, battling enemy aircraft and saving the day. Some are more strategy oriented while others are more of a straight forward shoot 'em up style.
Dogfight (free): As the title implies, Dogfight is a World War I era air combat simulator for your Windows Phone 8 device. The game reminds me a lot of the Xbox Windows Phone game Rise to Glory but with more flight controls and maybe slightly scaled back graphics (which aren't shabby in their own right).
While you have combat missions and an assortment of plane to pilot you also have the ability to battle friends online in a multiplayer mode. Membership is required but is free.
Flight is controlled by a series of on-screen levels on your plane's instrument panel and by your Windows Phone's tilt sensors. It takes a little time to get accustomed to the steering sensitivity but it's nothing a few practice runs won't take care of.
Dogfight is a free, ad supported game for your Windows Phone 8 device that you can pick up here in the Windows Phone Store. You can get rid of the ads through an in-app purchase of $1.99.
Furball Over the Front - Deluxe (trial/$1.99): Here's another World War I air combat game. This time instead of viewing everything from the cockpit, you have a ring side seat.
There are two story modes, one where you are an Allied pilot and the other a German pilot, that follows thirteen historical campaigns from WWI that involves over one hundred missions. There's also a quick play and endurance mode just in case you need more gaming to keep you busy. Furball Over the Front has six different planes ranging from the Sopwith Camel to the German Fokke E that you can pilot plus five historical Aces to battle.
You control your plane's horizontal position with your Windows Phone tilt sensors with bomb deployment and machine gun controls on-screen. You also have two controls to spin your plane away from danger.
Game play has enemy planes entering the screen from either side and straight at you from the background. Graphics are decent and game play rather challenging. Furball does have an arcade feel to it but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
There is a trial version available for Furball Over The Front or you can opt for Furball Free (Allied) which is a sample version of the Allied story mode. The full version of Furball Over The Front is running $1.99 and you can find it here in the Windows Phone Store. It is available for both Windows 7.x and 8 devices.
Steambirds (trial/$$1.99): Steambirds is a turn based air combat game that is played from an overhead viewpoint. Steambirds has sixteen missions and a local multiplayer mode (pass and play).
Steambirds is more about strategy than action, although the action isn't too bad. You have flight arrows that you set to guide your airplanes during your turn. Once set, tap play and the combat round goes into motion.
Playing fields are touch scrollable and zoomable. Graphics are nice and gives Steambirds a game board type feel to it. As you progress through the levels of play you get to control multiple planes with a wide assortment of weapons that goes beyond the front firing machine gun.
Steambirds has been around for sometime and is a fantastic combat game for your Windows Phone 8 or 7.x device. There is a trial version available with the full version of Steambirds running $1.99. You can find Steambirds here in the Windows Phone Store.
Aces of the Luftwaffe (free): Aces of the Luftwaffe is an arcade styled air combat game that has you fighting off wave after wave of Axis planes and tanks as you pilot your plane to take on the game's bosses.
Flight control is done by touching the screen and guide your plane by sliding your finger about. When you touch the screen, your planes main guns fire automatically. Bonus items are dropped as key enemy planes are wiped out that will give you two wingmen and increase your plane's fire power. You also have a panic button that will send in a squadron of planes to wipe out the enemy planes currently on the screen.
Aces of the Luftwaffe is a fast paced, arcade styled game for your Windows Phone that has excellent graphics and challenging game play. It's a free game and available for your Windows Phone 8 device here in the Windows Phone Store.
Air combat games may not be everyone's cup of tea but they can be a fun way to pass the time. We've listed four that are well worth the try and if you have a favorite air combat game, toss out your recommendation below in the comments.
