Sky Combat Review

Captain, Your Plane is Ready for Takeoff

Jump into the cockpit of the world’s most famous fighter jets and take to the skies with Sky Combat for Android from Azur Interactive Games. This action-packed flight simulator will crank up your adrenaline and test your reflexes as you scream into perilous aerial dogfights on par with classics like Ace Combat. This game takes me back to my youth as an aspiring aviator, playing F22 Lightning 3 with a joystick. But Sky Combat offers customization and reward systems that mini-me couldn’t even imagine. Prepare for some serious G force, because Azur Interactive has put together one heck of a joyride.

Real Planes, Real Physics

Each plane is modeled true-to-form after planes from various branches of the military from numerous countries. Azur Interactive pays homage to the aeronautic innovations of the 20^th and 21^st centuries, featuring aircraft from as far back as the 1940s all the way through the Vietnam and Cold War eras to Desert Storm and today’s jets. They are all indeed jet fighters, so no need to worry that you’ll be like Charlie in M*A*S*H, trying to hit targets by chucking grenades out of a rickety prop plane. You may choose your plane using a chart of historically and mechanically accurate measurements of weight, firepower, speed, maneuverability, fuel capacity, and engine efficiency. All of these factors will affect how you play.

Plenty of Ways to Dominate the Skies

You start each match equipped with a machine gun, as well as both guided and unguided missiles. The UI is straightforward and user friendly. When you get close enough to enemy planes, your guided missiles will lock on automatically. Your HUD will display a flashing red diamond around the targeted plane. Press the missile button and let your arsenal do the rest. Get even closer to your opponent and your machine gun will automatically fire at them, as long as you point your reticle in front of them to account for the travel time of the bullets. Each team has stationary NPC units as well. Bases throughout the map allow you to refuel and reload when you fly over them. Your Mothership, a big floating fortress, will fire back at enemies with terrifying precision and power. Your opponent has a Mothership too, and she hates you. Stay clear. Deploy chaff to disorient incoming missiles and fire up the afterburners to evade attacks or swoop in on your enemies.

Pay to Slay

In the main menu you will find an astonishing amount of upgrades and items to purchase. You can pay with either in-game currency or real money. However, real currency is by far your fastest ticket to success. But you’ll find plenty of options to go around. In fact, you might be a little overwhelmed by the selection. Every time you start up the game or come back from a match, you’ll be prompted to buy new weaponry. They’re pretty cheap, but the offers can be a little annoying. If you aren’t interested in paying, there are free daily rewards that require you to watch an ad but then let you choose an item. They are a bit lengthy, but worth the wait. Add gold or cash to your in-game currency or gamble on a random item container. They contain tons of items and even rare planes, each with their own drop rate. As nice as it is to have these free options, it takes a long time to save up enough cash to buy anything significant.

A Work In Progress

While Sky Combat is a blast to play, there are limitations that hold it back from its full potential. Currently, the only game type is Team Deathmatch, and it is 100 percent online. You’d better stay close to some Wi-Fi. An offline campaign mode would take this game to the next level and make it accessible to so many more players. Plus, I frequently had trouble finding a match, despite this game showing over one million downloads on the Google Play Store. There was no message other than “No Room Found,” so I don’t know if it was due to maintenance, low player volume, or connectivity issues. Luckily, the developers at Azur Interactive are very present and responsive in the review comments. They have made it clear that they are listening to the fans and are always tweaking things. Overall, they’ve done some excellent work, and I’m excited to see what they add on to Sky Combat.