A World War II air combat game, now there's something you don't see everyday on a console. But will it fly high or be shot down in a ball of fire?

In the main campaign mode you play as James Chase an American pilot who's brought into the RAF to make up an elite squadron called 'The Battlehawks', whose mission is to uncover the secret weapons of the German 'Nemesis' squadron. The campaign features 15 missions with varying objectives ranging from escorting bombers to sinking U-boats. Also there are also over 15 challenges that are related to the storyline but are an optional diversion between missions.

The game plays in a very arcadey away, and is sort of half historically accurate, half not. With real missions like sinking U-boats and the battle of Midway, but also including unrealistic missions like stopping Rommel making it to Africa. S.W.O.N. plays nicely and is fun while it lasts, but on the other hand it can be a tad repetitive with dogfight after dogfight - but they're engaging enough that I didn't mind. There are 26 planes to unlock through out the game, ranging from Spitfires to jet powered Messerschmitt Me-262's and even a few X planes thrown in. Note: There are already 2 planes available to download over Xbox Live. 15 different planes can be used in the campaign with the other 11 used only in 2 player and instant action modes.

   

Your planes can be equipped with a number of secondary weapons such as rockets, bombs, cannons and torpedoes. When doing missions there'll be bonus objectives that you have to find by yourself to unlock planes or more upgrade requisitions, the upgrade requisitions can (unsurprisingly) be used to upgrade your plane's engine, armour and airframe, and also to give you more ammo.

Instant action mode is just you versus a CPU plane over a variety or terrains. The two player modes are pretty poor with only a few scenarios and in the head to head dogfights you spend most of the time flying in circles trying to avoid being hit whilst trying to get a hit on your opponent.

   

In general this game looks good, not great or bad just good. There are a lot of varied plane designs that look decent (if a little lacking in detail), with a shiny paint effects and there are some good visual touches like great explosions and reflections in the water - but the terrain looks bland and we know the Xbox can do better. The game is also pretty smooth with a constant frame rate throughout. The sound is great with good orchestral themes for the good and bad guys. Guns and explosions sound like they should and the engines sound big and loud. The voice acting is really good and the all the nations speak their own language, which is nice, and you get the stereotypical Brit as the commander.

To be honest, I really wasn't expecting much from this game but it turned out to be my surprise hit of the year, it's fun and there are plenty of secret movies, planes and missions to unlock (and you can also go back and redo any mission you've completed to improve your standing). But I think some people will be put off by the game not being flight 'simmy' enough (Crimson Skies feels more like flying) and the repetitive nature of the missions. Maybe if it had Xbox Live multiplayer support (like Crimson Skies) it would have scored higher, but even so this is a good solid air combat title.