Aces of the Luftwaffe Squadron is a bullet hell, vertical scrolling shooter, taking place at the end of World War II. When Aces starts the German army hasn’t been defeated therefore it is up to you to take them down. They have set their eyes on taking over locations in the United States starting with New York. The German’s are not alone. They have enlisted the help of a mad scientist who has created UFO’s. Standing for Unauthorized Flying Objects. In the original game, you play as Squadron One which is made up of 4 members. This allows you to play cooperative with 3 other players so each person controls a plane. If you are playing on your own you will control all 4 planes and they will fly together in formation.
If you have the Nebelgeschwader add on you will have the choice to play on the other side as the German Forces.
The story in Aces of the Luftwaffe Squadron is divided into chapters with 4 missions each. This has you completing a variety of missions in multiple locations. The unique thing is in some missions you are destroying targets, in others rescuing survivors, dropping off weapons or being as stealthy as possible to get near a base. It’s definitely not your typical avoid the bullets and shoot down the planes like many other games of this type. To throw a wrench into your missions you soon discover each of your squadron members has a unique weakness that will pop up when you least expect it.
Since when are pilots afraid of heights???
This is a list of your squad members and the weaknesses you get to look forward to; Mark Taylor is the leader of the squadron. As a kid Mark was poisoned and to this day still feels the effects. Your planes need to move slowly until it passes. John King has severe bouts of road/air rage, so stay out of his way! Steve Davis keeps falling asleep while flying, so you have to guard him from taking enemy fire. Melissa Monroe is afraid of heights and flies off to take a break sometimes.
Visually the graphics are bright, colorful and have a cartoony yet realistic look to them. The characters in the game are fully voiced with very interesting accents! This isn’t something you see very often in games like this.
While flying when you destroy the enemy planes, medals and special crates will be dropped. Crates contain power ups and medals which will be counted at the end of the mission. The points will all go towards leveling up your team, unlocking new planes and points to use on skill trees to power up your characters.
Aces of the Luftwaffe Squadron is a unique twist on your usual Shoot ’em Up game. Handy Games and THQ Nordic were very successful giving this game personality to make it stand apart from your usual flying vertical shooter games. It’s definitely a title to keep on your radar and is a super fun single player or as a local cooperative game. The game has 3 choices for difficulty, so no matter your skill level one should fit. It is available to play on Xbox One, PS4, Switch and PC.
