Let's go flying!
Air Combat Action takes the essential gameplay and background of the classic arcade hit 1942 and throws it into 3D, but while this sounds like it could make for a fun experience, it ultimately proves to be a less than an enthralling game. It's not detailed enough for flight sim fans, who are better off sticking with Falcon, but it's also not exciting enough for dedicated shooter fans, who should probably stick with the game that inspired it or something like Flying Tigers. There's something of a storyline here but it basically involves flying off against waves of enemy planes and ships, and blowing them apart with a hail of gunfire. You have a choice of three World War II era aircraft, each with their own unique handling and other characteristics, and then you get to fly them in a series of twenty five single player missions across five scenarios. To spice things up, you have access to a small range of weapon upgrades, including machine guns, missiles, and rather confusingly, a ray gun, and careful use of them should help even the odds a little. You've got several different enemy types to destroy too, including bombers, tanks and other planes, each of which offers its own challenge. Air Combat Action just about delivers on its simple premise, and if you're just looking for a way to mindlessly while away a couple of hours, it will probably do the job. Flying is simple enough, thanks to the intuitive controls, and there's certainly plenty to keep the trigger finger firing. However, it all gets a bit repetitive pretty quickly, making this fairly unmemorable.
