The best way to explain this game is with a simple list of pros and cons.
Pros- Very fun, the battles are enjoyable and destroying enemy planes is a great source of instant gratification.
Stunning visuals, all of the levels are truly beautiful.
Large levels, unlike some of the last generation's fighter games, I truly feel like I'm in a free-roaming map. Although on occasion I find myself being forced back into the area of play.
Unlimited ammunition, this is both a pro and a con. It takes away from the realism, but at the same time increases the fun. This is really subjective as to what you're looking for in your game.
Diversity, unlike most WWII games that make me focus on one theatre of war, this one has levels in both Europe and the Pacific.
Grandeur, some of the levels feel distinctively like being part of a truly large scale war. This was one of the great things about Call of Duty 2, and I'm happy to see that it can still be done in new games.
Cons- Time consuming tedious activities. Shooting down enemy planes is easy, the hard part is getting the reticle on them. I don't know if it's just that I have yet to master this skill, but it seems like I spend most of my time in the game hopelessly unable to target the enemy.
Poorly animated humans, this was largely not a problem for most of the game. In most levels the humans you can see on the ground are quite far away. However in the Pearl Harbour level you begin with many American soldiers running in front of your plane. They are dismally poorly animated, to the point where they seemed like something out of a PS2 game. I was very disappointed in this. It seemed very unprofessional.
REPETITIVE DIALOGUE! This was by far the worst part of the game, and largely the most unprofessional showing. Both the Japanese and German enemies repeatedly utter such phrases as "You shoot worse than you fly!", "My mechanic flies better than you!", "Shot! By an American!", "That ought to feed the sharks!", "Man overboard, ha ha ha!" "The fuhrer will be displeased!", "You have no honour", "For the Emporer!", and my favourite, "Rising Sun! Falling Plane!". (The last few, obviously, are country specific.) Nothing is particularly wrong with these phrases. It's merely the mind-numbing repetition of them that annoys me so.
Racism, this game is horribly racist. Japanese pilots are depicted as ruthless and cruel. Case in point withe the quotes "Man overboard, ha ha ha!" and "That ought to feed the sharks!". They target civilians during the Pearl Harbour level. I was very disappointed in this. They also have very stereotypical and unfunny accents.
