Torpedoing Imperial Japanese Navy flattops and dogfighting enemy Zeros never gets old, so when Trickstar and hardware-maker Mad Catz teamed up for Damage Inc., we jumped to the head of the recruitment line. Originally titled War Wings: Hell Catz, the newly monikered arcade flight-combat game delivers an explosive, relaxed-realism romp through World War II’s Pacific air war.
The core single-player campaign offers 23 unlock-as-you-go missions stretching from Pearl Harbor to Iwo Jima. Some are quite engaging, while others involve tedious, overlong photo-recon sorties where you’re curiously asked to dogfight Japanese fighters with your completely inappropriate-for-the-task PBY Catalina floatplane. That this is even possible says a lot about the game’s realism. There’s some interesting history here — including a number of detailed narratives explaining real-world Pacific war events — but the game throws too many implausible conflicts at you to tie it together.
In fact, several of Damage’s multi-part missions task you with sinking enemy ships or destroying ground installations and then immediately transitioning your heavy SBD Dauntless dive-bomber into an aerial furball with nimble A6M Zekes and N1K-J Georges. This isn’t a one-on-one thing either, as you’ll need to splash dozens of those aircraft single-handedly before you can unlock the next objective. A handy “Reflex Mode” super slo-mo cheat helps tremendously here; you also have A.I. wingmen, but they seem more interested in spectating than fighting, so you may wish to enlist some friends for the two- to four-player co-op mode on Xbox Live. You can also involve up to eight players in the game’s more traditional (and hiccup-free) versus and dogfight modes.
Fanciful flight modeling aside, Trickstar did an admirable job with the individual aircraft renders, and when things blow up, they do so spectacularly. The lengthy and sometimes meandering campaign missions could use a rewrite, but Damage’s diverting pyrotechnics and shallow learning curve should earn it solid points with the plug-and-play arcade crowd.
PUBLISHER: Mad Catz Interactive • DEVELOPER: Trickstar Games • ESRB: Teen • MULTIPLAYER: 4 in cooperative, 8 in versus (both on Xbox Live) • ACHIEVEMENTS: Measured • COST: $50 for game only, $100 for Collector's Edition (which includes a Saitek Flightstick, shown below) • RELEASE DATE: August 28, 2012
ACE HARDWARE: Drop an extra $50 for Damage Inc.’s Collector’s Edition and you get a spiffy new Saitek Pacific AV8R flightstick to control and maneuver the game’s 32 aircraft. This surprisingly lightweight peripheral definitely ramps up the realism with its removable rubberized stick, integrated throttle, twist rudder, aircraft-style toggle switches, and detachable leg supports. For the most part, it’s a sweet piece of gear — though because it’s a wired controller, you’ll need to sit less than nine feet from your console, which could be a deal-killer for couch-bound aviators with big living rooms.+ More than 30 impressively detailed World War II warplanes.
+ Newbie-friendly learning curve with optional Reflex Mode slo-mo cheat.
– Uninspired photo-recon and mismatched dogfight missions drag down the game.
? Why does the American narrator refer to petrol rationing?
