The missions, as mentioned earlier, take the player all over North America and even the Hawaiian Islands where the objectives vary from zeppelin attacks to raids on trains to mini-squadron sized dogfights. Players can play a full campaign as Zachary or just take to the sky for some quick action, where they can determine who and what to go against and where to do the flying. Of course, the final version promises to allow multiplayer matches so it shouldn't be long before Internet based Crimson Skies squadrons start forming.

The popularly of the Crimson Skies universe also seems almost guaranteed as there is already an existing board game and figures on the market, with two novels on the way and plans for a comic book series. This could be one alternate universe that won't just become history but hopefully will become a franchise of game titles. Considering that Crimson Skies is full of the right stuff and is on course to deliver loads of action when it arrives in October, the sky seems to be the limit for this type of adventure simulation.

By Peter Suciu
Contributing Editor