Warplanes : WW2 Dogfight
Nintendo Switch

Developed By : Home Net Games
Published By : 7Levels
Category : Action, Air Combat
Release Date : Feb 21, 2019

In recent years, aerial combat games have become a new genre that I’ve fallen in love with. I personally own every console from the current generation, all the way back to the NES, and each one of those consoles offers plenty of options in this genre. However, there was one that was lacking in options, and I was hoping that Warplanes : WW2 Dogfight on the Nintendo Switch would be the first to fill that void.

This game allows you to fly back in time to World War II era and jump into the cockpit of over two dozen time-accurate fighter planes. Players get to choose one of three campaigns to fly in, between British, German and USSR fleets. Although, if we’re being completely honest, the word campaign is used very loosely since there really isn’t one no matter which region you choose, and if there had been it would have excelled this game to the top.

Whichever flag you choose to fly under, your experience will only vary in minor and mostly unnoticeable ways, save for who your enemies are and where your missions take place. At first, the game holds your hand, telling you that there’s “no time” to be shown around the hangar just yet since there’s urgent missions.

These missions supply you with a plane or two to fly, and your objectives that need to be carried out. The objectives are pretty straightforward, and range from anything like simply eliminating all enemy fighters in the sky, destroying fuel supplys or convoy’s on the ground, or running defense on your own buildings. Eventually in each campaign, you’ll reach a point where you’ll actually get to choose which type of mission you’ll want to participate in.

Which planes you’ll need to use will change with the mission. Warplanes slowly introduces you to the different types of fighters so you can get used to things like aiming your guns at other planes, or timing dropping bombs on targets on the ground. As you play you’ll also be able to unlock not only upgrades for these planes, but simply better planes overall.

This all brings us to the one element of Warplanes that you typically don’t see in aerial fighting games, and that is maintenance and simulation. Between missions, the things you do and the choices you make are equally important as what you do in the sky. You’ll be responsible for things like maintaining and repairing your planes, supplying them with ammunition, even running and expanding your hangar to grow your arsenal of flyers.

The game promises to have easy pick-up-and-play controls, and I found this statement to be very true. Being guided around the hangar (after trudging through those urgent missions) is very simple, with everything being explained quite nicely for you. Missions will yield you certain supplies that are used for maintenance and expansion, and some missions even allow you some bonus supplies if you complete your objectives and choose to remain until all enemies are killed.

And if you’re not a fan of simulation type stuff, don’t let that dismay you. Warplanes almost lets you put this element on the back-burner, with your tour guide being there to tell you when it’s actually necessary for you to work on a specific upgrade. This leaves you plenty of mental energy to focus on flying those planes. One thing I found rather…interesting about this game though, was that the default Y-Axis controls weren’t set to inverted which, for anybody who has flown a plane in a video game, you probably know how awkward and mentally jarring that is.

I found my experience with this game to be quite enjoyable. I’d been hoping for a game of this genre to find it’s way into the Switch library, and while Warplanes : WW2 Dogfight might not be perfect, it’s definitely a strong hitter. So if you’re also a fan of dogfight airplane combat, this is most certainly a title you’ll want in your Switch collection, added bonus points if you’re a history buff because while the missions don’t seem to be pulled form World War II (at least nothing disclosed that they were), the planes are and they are digitally built to perfection.