G-Rebels: Sci-Fi Flight Combat Needs Tuning for Thrilling Experience
I've been hooked on flight sims since the pixelated days of the Apple II. From dogfighting in Wing Commander to soaring through the skies of Microsoft Flight Simulator, I've seen it all. So, I was excited to get my hands on G-Rebels, a game blending aviation, Blade Runner vibes, and open-ended gameplay. It's an intriguing mix, brimming with potential, but it still needs some fine-tuning.
G-Rebels throws you into a post-climate disaster world. You're a Skyblade pilot, part of a faction battling it out between the skyscrapers of a dystopian LA, hunting enemies and rogue "replicants." The setting is cool, but the flying experience itself is where things get a little bumpy.
Vehicle-based games live or die by how fun it is to control the vehicle. Here's where G-Rebels stumbles. The Skyblade is described as a glider, but it handles more like a helicopter. You can hover, strafe, and scoot around, feeling more like a FPS avatar than a pilot. If you’ve ever played the ancient FPS Descent, things will feel eerily familiar. It's weirdly forgiving, lacking the momentum and gravity you'd expect. Your Skyblade has the handling characteristics of a sci-fi Nissan Versa: slow, reliable, and frankly, boring. I drive one in real life; I don't need that in my games!
Upgrades and Missions
Upgrades help a bit, boosting gun power and speed. But I still felt like I was upgrading my sedan into a minivan. The controls don't quite match the canyon-flying gameplay. There's a need for better proximity warnings and spatial awareness, especially with the escort missions and timed waypoint challenges. These feel like relics from a bygone era, detracting from the game's potential richness. The mission design is pretty straightforward: go to waypoints, look around, find targets, and blow them up without dying yourself.
There's a story, but it didn't grab me. The voice acting felt forced, and the pilot dialogue sounded AI-generated, which was confirmed on the Steam page. A real let down.
The Good and the Bad
The worst part? Timed waypoint dashes! I thought we were done with those after Superman 64. Why make players sprint to waypoints in a vehicle they're still learning to fly? It's beyond me.
On the flip side, the gunplay is solid. The short-range gun mode and long-range missile system are well-designed. Leading targets and adjusting for distance felt natural. I mostly stuck to the guns, popping out from behind buildings to snipe enemies.
The HUD, however, is a mess of form over function. It looks pretty, but it's hard to get the info you need quickly. It prioritizes aesthetics over practical use during high-speed maneuvers.
Don't expect traditional dogfighting. Gravity isn't a big factor, so battles are more like shootouts between flying tanks. It's more about shooting first and fastest than fancy maneuvers.
The city itself is bland. The buildings are okay, but lack character and feel. It feels more like a set than a living, breathing world.
G-Rebels has promise, but it's still a work in progress. It's cool, but not consistently fun. Mission and aircraft handling need work. I'm hoping the developers have enough time to refine their vision and create the flight combat experience they're aiming for.
Source: IGN