Red Baron is back! Be excited! Or be upset! As with all things internet this one is going to be controversial. Red Baron, one of the most beloved flight sims of all time is back in the hands of its creator, Damon Slye, and he’s looking to bring back some of the magic.
The new Red Baron is similar to the original in many ways; it’s got a non-linear single player campaign, real aces with realistic personalities, a real feeling but fairly simple flight model, and more of those awesome between mission newspapers. New features include a whole mess of new features, including MOBA style online combat, aircraft customization, the ability to engage ground forces, a full tech tree, and Oculus Rift support.
So what’s the problem? The graphics look solid, they’re keeping a lot of the features of the original, and it’s Damon Slye! Flight sim fans can be a picky bunch, especially when you start messing with such a beloved series.
For example, Red Baron was the first PC game I lost countless hours to. My 286 probably spent more cycles pumping out aerial combat in Red Baron than all my other games combined. It was the game that defined my childhood. It was fun, educational, and wholly engrossing. My first reaction to seeing that Mad Otter was back to the series was borderline tears of joy. Then I saw the gameplay video, complete with bright graphics and an arcadish looking flight model, it felt like a punch to the gut. But then I started thinking about some of the best times I had with Red Baron. They didn’t involve an ultra steep learning curve with a punishing flight model; they didn’t involve dying over and over. The best times were flying around looking for combat that, while challenging, didn’t render enemies so realistically so as to be impossible to find without using a follow command. Jump in, crank up the realism, and enjoy; not a bad way to go.
Don’t think of the new Red Baron as a sequel to Red Baron 2 (or 3D), but rather what it is, a sequel to the original Red Baron. If nothing else, be happy you won’t go broke playing it on Sierra’s ImagiNation Network.
Funding for Red Baron runs until November 21st and has a funding goal of $250,000.
