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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.
Secret Weapons over Normandy
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 26 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 9 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game >
Game Info
Publisher: LucasArts
Developer: Totally Games
Genre(s): Flight Action
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
Release Date: November 18, 2003
Summary
Join a secret squad of pilots dedicated to thwarting the most heinous plans of the Third Reich. Fly over twenty authentic aircraft across thirty daring missions in this new WWII action-flyer. Lawrence Holland, the legendary creator of "Star Wars X-Wing," "Star Wars Tie Fighter" and "Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe" returns with an exhilarating new game of action and intrigue. Can you be trusted with the most dangerous secrets of the war? Immerse yourself in intense WWII flight action as you make your way through the ranks of an elite fighter squadron. Fly more than twenty realistic aircraft across a variety of combat theaters over World War II Europe and other territories as you make your way through the ranks of an elite fighter squadron. Engage in over thirty action-packed missions featuring air-to-air and air-to-ground battle scenarios. [LucasArts]
Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central
Also On The Web: GameSpot Preview GameSpy Preview IGN Preview Official Website
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
GameZone
The target lock system, time shifting controls, excellent sound effects and smooth controls were a pleasure to this gamer.
Read Full Review >Next Level Gaming
While I would have liked to have seen online gameplay (and I do take off points for that), the single player campaign is very stong, and the storyline will keep you sucked into it. The controls are great, and the presentation is great.
Read Full Review >Games Radar UK (Pre-2006)
A more significant shortcoming than the absent interiors is the frankly inexcusable lack of selectable difficulty levels. [PC Gamer UK]
Read Full Review >Armchair Empire
A good game – almost achieved "great" but, sweet momma, some of those missions are hard – filled with action, challenge, the obligatory references to Star Wars, and a first-rate presentation.
Read Full Review >Gaming Age
The mission variety and complexity, with multi-tiered goals and mixtures of dog fighting, bombing and strafing, make Secret Weapons Over Normandy a long-lived, rewarding experience.
Read Full Review >Worth Playing
Though SWON can be a little linear and two-dimensional (in a console-kinda way), it succeeds in being fun and gives you an immersive (if romanticized) jaunt through the terrifying and fascinating world of flight during WW2.
Read Full Review >Game Chronicles
From “console port” to delightfully entertaining diversion, SWON eventual won me over and vanquished my early skepticism.
Read Full Review >GMR Magazine
Holland has done a brilliant job of focusing on gameplay over realism.
Read Full Review >Yahoo! Games
Its instant accessibility, great overall presentation and tremendous historical feel make this game a secret worth spreading.
Read Full Review >PC Arena
Though there's no multiplayer (in the PC version) and it's clearly geared more towards the console crowd, it's still very much a worthy title.
Read Full Review >IGN
I can appreciate it as a fun action game but it holds little of the weight you'd expect from a World War II dogfight game. The lack of a compelling narrative enhances this pick-up-and-play mentality and detracts from my own involvement in what's going on.
Read Full Review >Edge Magazine
Isn't a game that does anything obviously or overtly clever or innovative. But any game that takes such a simple premise and polishes it, hones it and refines it until it's this engrossing, this absorbing, and this much fun, is quite obviously doing something very clever indeed. [Christmas 2003, p.114]
PC Gameworld
It's arcade control scheme, as well as the almost total lack of realism in its flight physics, makes it more suitable to fans of the fast and loose space shooters for which SWON’s developer is best known.
Read Full Review >1UP
As a WWII fighting experience, it rivals EA's Medal of Honor in atmosphere and immersion. The in-game graphics are spectacular, with detailed aircraft and some lovely explosions, and the only obvious issue is some pop-in from high altitudes.
Read Full Review >Playboy
The confusing gauges have been banished and the pesky laws of aerodynamics relaxed, freeing you to focus on sending Japanese and German pilots to their graves. [Dec 2003, p.44]
Gamer's Hell
It's generally well designed and made, but if you have the choice between a console and a PC version of the game, I'd advise you to grab the console one – solely because it features multiplayer, which I've personally missed in the PC version.
Read Full Review >GameSpy
It emphasizes the bad side of console games: unlockable planes and maps, cartoony characters and situations, a lame checkpoint save system, and no multiplayer support (something the console versions of the game actually get). Missing are the imagination, innovation, and style of the best console games.
Read Full Review >Game Over Online
The lack of difficulty levels, imbalanced gameplay mechanics and lack of multiplayer support reduce this game from being much more than a rent for anyone other than the most hardcore flight fanatic.
Read Full Review >GameSpot
While it accomplishes its goal of providing a fun WWII-themed shooting gallery, it doesn't really shine in any one particular area, resulting in a game that's competent but not very compelling.
Read Full Review >PC Gamer
A curious amalgam of campy storytelling and abysmally simplified flight dynamics. [Feb 2004, p.68]
ActionTrip
Other than the thrills of fast-paced flight action, and occasional turret-oriented missions, the game doesn't demonstrate any particularly rewarding features.
Read Full Review >Village Voice
Secret Weapons' assortment of bombing runs, dogfights, and detail missions fly by thanks to an emphasis on arcade-style ease-of-play, but one simply leads into the next.
Read Full Review >GamerFeed
If you're looking for a stripped-down, arcade-style approach to the usually arduous and otherwise inaccessible air combat genre, a "third person air shooter" if you will, then you won't want to let SWON take off without you!
Read Full Review >Computer Gaming World
Despite the arcade emphasis, flying these planes is a bitch. [Mar 2004, p.90]
Computer Games Magazine
Another second-rate port of a mediocre console shooter. [Feb 2004, p.66]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this game is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 9 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Christos T. gave it a 4:
Once you start using the reflex time button (slows things down) the game becomes too easy, but some missions (Midway, german jet fighters) are impossible to get through without it anyway. God knows why there is no option to choose between different difficulty levels. Average gameplay and graphics, don't waste your money for this game.
Simon D. gave it a 4:
No multiplay, easy mission until 7 then I have been playing this level for 5 days, needs to be consistent reminds me of previous lucas arts games i threw them on the fire as well!!!
Macky E. gave it a 7:
Arcade Game Flight Sim which Will only be Fun for a while , needs more adjustment of gameplay and flight models, needs multiplayer. Be much more fun if a good mission kill rate was 5 rather than 25.
Eddie R. gave it a 10:
This is a very realistic game and fun to play i mean who doesn't like shooting down other planes instead of locking on with missles.
