Crimson Skies PC
Crimson Skies Image
Metascore
83 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critics What's this?

User Score
8.6 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5 Ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
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  • Summary: It's 1937. Air pirates roam the skies over a shattered America. You are Nathan Zachery -- dashing air pirate. Lead a squadron of privateers in thrilling ground-level missions. And romance a bevy of dangerous femme fatales, but be warned -- they can turn on you faster than a Fairchild in a terminal tail spin. [Microsoft]… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. Daily Radar
    100
    Innovation, game play and design are blended in near-perfect measures, resulting in a game that's such a delight to play that I'm already begun working our way through it for the second time.
    All this publication's reviews
  2. Antagonist
    96
    With a good mix of action, story, and character elements, there's sure to be something here to appeal to everyone!
    All this publication's reviews
  3. PC Gamer
    85
    A great game that narrowly misses classic status due to its bugs. [Dec 2000, p.160]
    All this publication's reviews
  4. Game Over Online
    74
    The huge number of fatal and annoying bugs is unfortunate, because Crimson Skies would be a very good game without them.

See all 32 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. John
    9
    For once all you have to do is read any of the first 3 reviews above. Because for once, the game reviewers got it right. This is is a fantastic game that is like an old Saturday morning movie our Parents/Grandparents may have gone to see and give that adrenaline rush that they probably felt watching while we have the chance to be involved it in rather than just watching! This is gaming as it should be. Great gameplay first then surrounded by excellent graphics, great voice acting, oodles of charm and immersive world creation and huge production values in general. I have to say that the only reason Microsoft is not on my hate list is the games they release. This is another one that makes me forgive them for the other things they do! :)… Expand
  2. MikeM.
    9
    I remember picking this up at the time of release. It deserved every poor review it got when it hit the shelves. It truly was an unplayable mess, due to MS rushing Zipper to get it finished & out the door. (typical behavior for them) After patching though... WOW. Nothing like it on the PC at the time, or since really. Not a typical flight sim, but an inventive, exceedingly fun atmospheric alternate-history arcade flying game. Unlike most other PC flying and racing games, Crimson Skies had a story thrown in. This is usually the cornball out-of-place sort of thing you find on consoles (Midnight Club for example), and it could have really dragged the game down. Thankfully it was well done, fit the theme perfectly and actually made the game better than it would have otherwise been. In addition to the engaging story mode, there are a considerable number of fully customizeable instant action missions. In these, you can choose your plane, number of wingmen and their planes, number of enemies, their planes and pilot expertise, weapon loadouts and the environment in which the mission takes place. There's also an online component, which is free, as any proper game should be. It's fun, but there are only a handful of die-hard people still playing these days. Graphics were fantastic at the time, and are still nice today due to crisp high resolutions. Smoke effects in particular are nice, and flying through clouds still hasn't been done better visually. The planes are interestingly designed and have moving control surfaces. One cool touch: when your plane has taken enough damage from enemy fire that it is about to explode, your pilot opens the canopy, climbs out onto the wing and jumps off with a parachute. Many of the environments are much more detailed than your run-of-the-mill flight sim, with various buildings and structures to fly around/through. It's fun to simply fly around, low to the ground, checking out all the cool destructible stuff, which can include automobiles driving around city streets. The textures, water textures in particular, don't hold up well compared to today's games of course. The terrain is slightly more angular/low-poly as well. However, looking at what was available on consoles at the time, and even a few years afterward, the visuals and details were downright amazing. The sound is masterfully done, with authentic sounding 40's era music, professional voice acting and perfect sound effects. Control with a proper joystick is excellent. This is one of the best games ever released for the PC. Once patched, it's really difficult to imagine how it could have been improved upon. My only lament is that the sequel isn't available on PC.… Expand

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