Steel Sky HD

Planes changed war almost entirely when they were first introduced, mainly because they allowed people to do a lot of damage over great areas without fear of losing too many troops in the process. There was no need for costly and slow troop movements on the ground, given the fact that planes could easily bomb their targets and return to safety in a different country altogether.

Steel Sky HD is a flight sim with arcade gameplay mechanics, in which the goal is to complete a handful of simple missions while piloting three different types of aircraft. It’s worth noting right off the bat that everything about the game is as basic as it gets, and the controls are actually annoying and imprecise, making the whole a bit difficult to play for more than a few minutes at a time.

To begin with, there are three different game modes to choose from, each one of which features a different era and plane. Whether you want a classic World War II encounter, a modern battle with jet fights, or a futuristic scenario with almost the same jets, the choice is yours. The handling of the planes barely changes from one to the other, and the missions remain almost the same as well.

You can only use the mouse to control the plane, and it’s incredibly frustrating to do so. It’s a pain just to fly straight and perform basic maneuvers, let alone when you have to battle other planes or use your guns to destroy targets. Speaking of which, the missions are very simple as well, and they barely differ from one era to the other, since even the buildings and the maps are almost the same.

Lastly, the graphics are nothing to write home about, but they are not ugly either, depending on your standards and expectations. The greatest offender is the level design, because the map is both small and dull, so you get bored of it after surveying it a couple of times. The music gets on your nerves as well if you keep it on for too long.

In the end, Steel Sky HD might be somewhat fun in short bursts no longer than a few minutes, but it’s painfully repetitive and frustrating, especially when it comes to the controls. Hence, it doesn’t have what it takes to be the kind of game you come back to time and again.