1951 World War One is a top-down dogfight shooter set in an alternate history in which the assassination of Franz Ferdinand in 1914 failed due to a freak gun jam, preventing the onset of the Great War until 1951. Without the technological growth and global destabilization of two world wars, the world of 1951 still resembles that of the early 20th century. Biplanes rule the skies while rock and roll rules the ground. Adolf Hitler is just some guy.
The game is played from a top-down perspective. You are flying a biplane high above Europe, trading bullets with increasing numbers of ever more vicious enemy pilots. Tilting the phone left and right turns your plane in tight circles, while your speed is controlled with a throttle slider along the left side of the screen. Also available are maneuvers like loops, Immelmanns, and special powers depending on your character class.
The pacing of the combat is slow, deliberate, and rewarding. It’s hard to beat the feeling of spending a minute carefully maneuvering your plane behind an enemy before unloading a barrage of hot lead into his fuselage, and the thick, rapid, metallic crunch of bullets shredding your foes lends a satisfying visceral element to every hit. Every time you defeat an entire wave of enemy pilots, another, more deadly wave enters the sky to replace it. Repeat until someone finally tags you.
Controls are tight and responsive. Your plane can execute extremely sharp turns with ease perhaps too much ease, as enemy planes can only turn very slowly, making it a bit too simple to outmaneuver the enemy at times. This is counterbalanced somewhat by the sheer chaos of combat in later levels, when the tight steering often becomes your only hope of survival.
The AI is something of a mixed bag. On the bright side, the enemy presents a great challenge, skillfully zeroing in on you when you’re too distracted chasing down a smoking plane. Unfortunately, the AI is also completely suicidal, never turning from a collision course before ramming into you, leading to a lot of unfair deaths.
These cheap deaths would be forgivable if not for the fact that every time you die, you must restart from the previous wave. I can see some wisdom in this if the player is unable to handle Wave 6, send him back to Wave 5 and maybe he’ll be in better shape by the time he climbs back to 6 but the fact that most deaths occur more because the enemy has crippling self esteem issues and less because you legitimately screwed up turns this well-meaning mechanic into a world of frustration.
You gain experience points with each kill, eventually leveling up and earning upgrades like increased speed, durability, or firepower. The promise of advancement gives great incentive to keep playing the game (“I wonder what the next upgrades will be!”), but it often seems like level-ups occur too infrequently and confer too little visible benefit. Sure, you’re telling me that my bullets do more damage now, but it doesn’t feel any different.
The story concept is never followed through on, and it feels like a sorrowfully missed opportunity, especially since the alternate history setting is was what turned me onto the game in the first place. There is no story driven campaign mode, and you’d never know about the setting unless you intentionally took the time to read up on the background story. Also regretfully missing is multiplayer, a baffling omission for a game that centers on such a tactical combat mechanic. The main menu promises future updates, however, so perhaps at least one of these game modes is forthcoming.
I’ve been holding off (read: procrastinating) on reviewing 1951 for a couple weeks now, as, for the life of me, I cannot decide how I feel about this game. On one hand, the suicidal AI and the frustration of being knocked back by a wave every time I die makes the game feel thoroughly unfair. Yet on the other hand, I keep playing it, despite my better judgment, to experience the satisfying combat and to see what the next upgrade will be. 1951 is a lot of fun, but several blinding flaws make me wonder what kind of game this could have been with a bit more thought put into it.
At any rate, I’ll keep playing it. Take from that what you will.
1951 � World War One is available on the App Store for $1.99.
1951 � World War One was independently purchased by the post author in the�iPhone�App Store. For further information regarding our site�s review policies, please see the �About� page.
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