Well, with one more assignment out of the way and about another five to go, before the end of the University semester, I decided it was time for a break and thus began searching for a new MMORPG to test out. Fortunately, the past few weeks have seen a slew of recent releases, some good, some not so good and some… well, let’s just say I wouldn’t even play them if you paid me. Anyway, being in a rather strange mood, I was looking for something new, something completely different and fortunately, after a little digging around on the net, I came across Aeronauts, developed by JCE entertainment and currently being hosted by Game and Game.

From the website, the graphics and screen shots looked pretty sharp, much sharper than previous flight combat MMO games such as Space Cowboy, now known as Air Rivals, Flysis and several another names. Nevertheless, I tried not to expect too much, as lately I have been rather disappointed with the games coming out. However, I am happy to report that for the first time, in ages it seems, I was pleasantly surprised with this little air combat game.

Like most action based MMORPG games, Aeronauts play is broken into several sections, allowing players to experience various facets of interaction, which include training, mission, Multiplay, PvP and team based missions. Thus, you can choose to go solo, earn money and experience, or continue on through the story based adventure with your friends, whom are also able to aid you through the game, by playing gunner or driver.

When you first log-in, you choose between a male and a female character, after which you are sent straight into the training section of the game. At this point, you are able to choose your preference of either the arrow based control method, or the mouse based control method. Essentially, the choice is up to you and any selection you make should not have an overly large bearing on your ability to play the game. Nevertheless, in the context of the mouse method, your craft will follow the target cross-air, whilst W is used for boost, S for break, D to fire your secondary attack, which can also be done by a right muse click and A gives you the movement ability screen. These abilities are somewhat different when talking about normal MMORPG games, as they relate to your movement pattern, allowing you to easily get yourself out of a sticky situation, or to drop down and come up behind your enemy before riddling his plane with a hail of machine-gun bullets, or sticking a nice heat-seeking missile up his tail pipe.

As you play though the game, you will earn both money and experience points. The money can be used to purchase new air-crafts, equipment, weapons, and attachments for your craft, outfits for your pilot and even adornments for your plane, such as paint, banners and flags. As you gain experience and level up, you are able to access new features of the game, such as the higher and more difficult levels, later story missions and to take part in other styles of PvP games.

In the end, this game is rather fast-paced, has a lot of action, a nice array of story based side missions you can play through whilst bored of fragging friends and a large assortment of customisation options, allowing the player to fit out their craft and weapons to match their preferred method of game play. The graphics and sound FX aren’t too bad either, which is always a nice complement. However, how long this game can hold a players interest, is of course based on individual choice and the style of game they enjoy playing. For me, the game was fun and a welcome break from the countless clones being released lately.

All in all, I’m going to give this one a 7 out of 10.