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Platform Filters:   All Platforms  Xbox   GameCube   PlayStation 2   PC   Game Boy Advance   Site Sections:   Updates  News   Games   Publishers   Developers   Reviews   Previews   Release Dates   Editorials   Glossary   Contact Us		Review:       3rd November 2003: Echelon: Wind Warriors  Will it rip along like a tornado, or float away, never to be heard of again? Find out inside. Posted by Peter Cavan - PC - UK and Europe Star Wars had an interweaving storyline, full of twists and turns, of a quality that would rival most of today's books. Echelon: Wind Warriors has a Federation being attacked by enemies. Why? Dunno. Who? Don't really have a clue. How? Bit foggy on that one. As you can see, EWW won't be winning any awards for its storyline, but it serves its purpose: to get hundreds of enemies for the player to fight and multiple craft to do it in. Echelon: Wind Warriors is a futuristic flight simulator where the player takes the role of Major Jason "Wolf" Scott, a pilot in the Federation Air Force. The game is played through a first person viewpoint (although the view can be changed, only one viewpoint allows you to see any kind of information - health, position, weapon etc). Once broken down the missions are very simple affairs of taking off, blasting at everything, and landing; but they do offer some variety. Killing enemy craft or ground targets, protecting a convoy, recon behind enemy lines; these are all included throughout the course of the game. Some are much harder than others of course, but even the most taxing areas follow the same basic formula. You can play the Tutorial for a very basic guide for beginners but the main meat of this title is the Campaign mode. This contains the game's main single-player missions, and is the only mode with any sort of storyline, however vague that might be. In the missions you get to pilot over 30 craft, and see over 250 other objects (building, ground units, enemies etc). The craft range from behemoths that look like they couldn't take off because they have so many guns, to the speedy Interceptors, and everything in between. Interceptors sacrifice much of the weaponry, but can go up to 2.5 times as fast. Power v speed, its up to you. You won't get every craft for every mission, but there is usually at least a choice. The further you progress, the more exotic cockpits you can strap into. On the subject of weaponry, there are quite a few of them. Bullets, plasma and missiles are the main 3 types. Bullets have the shortest range (500m), while the guided missile can go for over 30 miles. Every weapon goes from basic to advanced, as you advance you gain power but lose speed, therefore you need to be far more accurate. Each craft can only hold up to 3 different weapons, so the choice is critical. Missiles are powerful but in limited supply, plasma guns have unlimited ammo but you need to be close to your foe. So many decisions… There is a default choice, but these are rarely the best. The control system is good in EWW - IF YOU HAVE A JOYSTICK. Don't be drawn in by the writing on the box, "craft are equally joystick and mouse controllable - thanks to the innovative 'Echelon-style' mouse control mode." You can play the game with a mouse, but it is a hundred times better with a joystick. Try playing golf with a cricket bat, and you'll get the idea. Once you have a joystick controlling the craft feels natural and easy, the default button configurations are pretty good. The control is far more realistic than more arcadey titles; if you turn sharply you will continue in the same direction for a while before you actually turn. Also, turning slows the craft down, like a car. This allows for some spectacular moves; pulling a 180-degree turn on a pursing enemy, which stalls you, and blasting away with all you've got. Some of the controls aren't really told anywhere (Ctrl and O to see the last objective springs to mind) but most of what you need will be on the joystick itself. Whatever else it does, EWW looks lovely. The scenery stretches away as far as the eye can see, and there are some pretty effects closer to home. Dust and particle effects, and indeed all of the graphics, are provided by a proprietary 3D graphics engine. MADia have tried hard to make this title look good, and they have succeeded, by how much is up to personal taste. This is not an easy, forgiving game. There is no in-game save, and with such long missions this can be very annoying. You've just single-handedly destroyed an entire enemy fleet and in your jubilation you put on Autopilot, which pilots you straight into a cliff. Bugger. You'll have to start again. The Autopilot is usually good but can have some dangerous glitches, the most notable being trying to fly through mountains. This is a hard game, but MADia have added options to make it far easier. There is a difficulty selector, but also in-game cheats. These are freely selectable from the start in the Options menu and include infinite ammo, invincibility, and no damage from hitting other craft. This does make the game artificially easy, and most gamers should persevere without cheats, before turning them on. Some of the missions can be mundane enough, play them in invincible mode and they're positively boring. Overall, Echelon: Wind Warriors is a good, solid title. It successfully blends the elements it tries its hand at, with still sufficient polish and flourish. The scenery can be magnificent, the action might not appeal to everybody, but for a new game at £20 you can't get much better. Peter Cavan             Latest Images:		Review Scores:    Graphics:   Sound:   Gameplay:   Length:   Overall: Click here for our Review Score Guidelines.  Review Summary:  A good title overall, not for everybody. Let down by a few minor porblems, but wraps a solid shooter in nice graphics and at £20 it won't burn a hole in your pocket.  Related Games:  Echelon: Wind Warriors for PC  17  Screenshots  1  Review  1  Preview Click here for All Game Information.
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