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| Ask any casual PlayStation player about Black Dawn, and you will be fortunate to find someone who even vaguely recognizes the title. While arcade style flight sims have traditionally attracted comparatively little attention on consoles, Black Dawn seems to be overlooked even by people looking to find a decent flight sim. This title is the perfect example of a sleeper hit, and has all the makings of a great game. Although Warhawk still takes the cake for best graphics to be found in a PSX flight sim, Black Dawn holds tightly to the second place position in the visuals category. The texture maps are bright and clear, and the pixelization is kept to a minimum. The various aircraft were modeled with precision and appear quite detailed and realistic. Effects such as explosions and smoke are convincing, and even the rendered "now loading" scenes have a crisp, artful appearance. Taking away from the graphical excellence is a frame rate which could have used a bit of improvement, as well as pop-up which is abrupt and distracting. Nevertheless, the graphics have a superb overall appearance, and set the stage for intense aerial battle. The sounds were also handled with a great amount of care and musical finesse, and suit the game perfectly. The music is similar to that of Warhawk, and features suspenseful melodies performed by a convincing digital orchestra. The sound effects are equally impressive, and feature excellent explosion effects and aircraft sounds. As well, the crystal clear voice which explains your mission and directs you is bordering on sonic perfection, and never leaves you asking yourself "What did he say?" The control in Black Dawn, like that of most other flight sims, requires practice and patience to master. At first, you will experience the frustration of reversing direction when you really wanted to shoot, and landing when you wanted to shift right, but after a while and even a little configuring, you'll appreciate the excellent control that Black Dawn has to offer. The missions vary in objective and setting, and some interesting areas (such as Central Park) have been chosen as settings for the action. On-screen radar panels supply key information which places the emphasis more on shooting action than on strategy and terrain exploration. In comparison to other PlayStation flight sims, Black Dawn is a fairly lengthy offering; More than thirty missions await you, each with a slightly different objective and thrill. In conclusion, Black Dawn seems to have crept onto the PlayStation library unnoticed, and, for the most part, remains that way. Unfortunately, games like ID4, which don't even come close to the Black Dawn experience, fair better in a market preoccupied with movie licenses and hype. Black Dawn is a great rental, and a must-buy for any flight sim fan. With great graphics, sounds, and gameplay, this is an all around quality title that deserves much more praise and recognition than it has received thus far, and will probably remain only a sleeper hit despite its excellence. Oh well, c'est la vie. |
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