I bought a bi-plane after getting through Crimson Skies, it's so fun. Now I'm feared all along the East Coast.
User Rating: 8.9 | Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge XBOX
OK, so I didn't REALLY get a bi-plane, though I wish I had. Crimson Skies has a lot going for it, though. The single player game is great - a wide variety of challenging and plausible missions, a bunch of different aircraft to find and...procure...for your own use, some neat little side games and extras, and a pretty cool story with great voice acting. I haven't even tried XBL with this, but supposedly it's one of the better games to play. I could believe it - who doesn't love dogfighting? The game is very easy to get used to, with intuitive controls and a good tutorial. It'll still take a little bit to get used to flying your plane, how and when to brake, boost, and such, but in no time you'll be flying like it was second nature. With a large pool of air vehicles, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and special weapons, you'll have a good time experimenting, though ultimately, you'll likely find one or two planes that really tickle your fancy. I could've used a few less planes, and a bit more upgradeability, but it's nothing I would complain about too vehemently. Oh, and the shaking and kickback of the anti-aircraft machine gun? Maybe one of the most entertaining simulations of a weapon I've ever experienced. The graphics are solid - how could they not be on X-box? The planes fly along, turn, shoot and such very believably, and your targets generally behave as you'd think they would - i.e., they dodge your incoming fire, but they look like what they're supposed to when doing that. What really impressed me, graphically, were the character models. They weren't beautiful and nearly flawless (a la Final Fantasy cutscenes), but the facial expressions, especially of the main character, were terrific, and did a lot to add to the story. Sound is another strong point of Crimson Skies. Again, the general gameplay sounds are solid, and in some cases, great. The boom of firing an anti-aircraft gun or cannon is VERY cool, and, though I've never actually fired live ordinance at enemy planes, I feel as though I've gotten a general feel for what it'd be like. The music was epic and fit the mood well, though it never made me feel I needed to buy the soundtrack or anything. Of course, NO game has ever made me feel that way. There are different difficulty levels in Crimson Skies, so once you've beaten the game once, you can try it on a harder setting, which I assume would make the game more challenging still. There are also a few collectibles along the way that help you upgrade your plane. Personally, I would've liked to upgrade based on money alone, and just leave the collectibles out that, but whatever. There are also minigames like time trials, side-missions, and such. Finally, there's X-box live to keep the fun going long after you're done the single player game. Overall, this game was just fun. I bought it on a whim after reading a review and hearing from a friend. Turned out to be one of the better X-box purchases I've made. I'll have to go back and play through it again soon, see if I can't find more upgrade tokens to make my planes stronger, maybe use some different ones. If you like shooting things out of the sky, and are tired of the standard FPS-overpowered-rocket-launching-demon-killing-beach-infiltrating...stuff...give Crimson Skies a go. Heck, give it a go even if you AREN'T tired of that stuff. It's great fun. If you'll excuse me, I have to go refuel and then make a raid on Hartford. Feel my wrath, Connecticut! 
