Red Wings: American Aces (Switch) Review

In late 2020, All in! Games released Red Wings: Aces of the Sky where I praised its arcadey gameplay and responsive controls. This sequel, Red Wings: American Aces, is exactly the same as the original release only with the addition of 10-player online multiplayer support.

Everything is the same as the first game right down to the unlockables, level progression, and even the pistol sniper shot fatality super move. In fact, American Aces mostly just feels like a patch or DLC from the original release, just updated with online multiplayer support.  Not to be confused with low quality, because this series is fun and plays like a spiritual sequel to the original Xbox’s Crimson Skies, it is just a repackaging with one updated feature. If you didn’t play the original, this would be the version to get. If you played and enjoyed the original, just realize there is nothing new other than shooting down real world players online. Unfortunately, at the time of my review, not many players were online either.

American Aces, just like the original, is a game that leans into the arcadey nature of the gameplay. Super abilities are on a cool down timer but is the spice that makes aerial fights constantly fun, fast paced, and even strategic.  The way the aiming reticule locks online targets with its slight auto assist also is a considerate feature.  Some missions can be brutal, like being stacked against a ton of fighters, or only being able to take down planes with the barrel roll move, but there is usually enough variety to make plane combat fun from mission to mission. The unlockable upgrades is an awesome incentive to play well too. Earning the best rank, 3 stars, allows players to unlock more abilities faster so you’ll want to do well and even replay missions to earn that better score or faster time.

Red Wings: American Aces is a fun aerial dogfighting shooter but the repackaging of the final product might make fans feel a little short changed as there is nothing new to experience other than the online mode.  If you didn’t play the original upon release, this is the obvious version to consider. 

More Arcadey Than: Warplanes WW2 Dogfight

Less Arcadey Than: Jet Lancer

Not To Be Confused With: Rogue Aces  

By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com

Twitter: @ZackGaz

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