A good, solid shooter with plenty of eye candy
Im revising my initial review in light of the developers excellent update that addressed my biggest concern (having to restart the entire campaign when youre out of lives). Clearly, Chillingo has been paying close attention to customer reviews, and this is much appreciated.
Sky Combat delivers a lot of eye candy -- high-res graphics, explosive battles and detailed terrain. The FX are well-done (I especially like the metallic clang of shrapnel and ordnance as they tear into your copter/vehicle), there are plenty of control options, and you can choose from Campaign, Single Mission or Endless Mode (each with 3 levels of difficulty). Gameplay occasionally "hiccups," as it sometimes "hangs" briefly when a new wave of enemies join the fight, but its not too distracting. Overall, the game looks, sounds and plays well and is an engaging 2D shooter.
The only disappointment so far has been the "bosses" at the end of each mission. They tend to be similar so far and are relatively easy to defeat. Some greater variety would make gameplay more compelling.
One UI tweak Id ask Chilingo to make -- Please reposition the "Pause" button and make it MUCH bigger. Currently, its sandwiched between 2 HUD icons at the top of the screen and is both tiny and awkward to tap.
Looking forward to future game updates!
gr6120 about
Sky Combat, v1.1