Screaming out of the sun, machine-guns blazing, with the distinctive shark mouth emblazoned on the nose of its P-40 Warhawks, Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China releases today on Microsoft’s Xbox One family of consoles. Featuring a variety of American, British, Japanese, and Russian aircraft; this flight-action game puts players in the boots of pilots in the Southeast Asian theatre during World War II.
Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China (or FTSOC for short) primarily depicts action of the American Volunteer’s Group (AVG), the famous “Flying Tigers.” Additional missions take place with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) after that group officially reclaimed the AVG.
The game features multiplayer dogfights for up to sixteen online players. Multiple online modes include the classic Team Dogfight mode, as well as the “Rocket Battle” mode and a Capture the Flag variant called “Flag Busters”. 3rd- and 1st-person views are available in all modes.
An AVG P-40 Warhawk engages the enemy.
The campaign includes historical missions that highlight some of the most significant events that occurred in theatre during World War II. Notable battles include the Japanese Christmas raids on Rangoon, the AVG’s first combat over Kunming, the Battle of the Salween Gorge, “Hump” transport missions over the Himalayas, flight-training at Kyedaw in Toungoo, and the surprise invasion of Malaya.
An RAF Westland Lysander goes into action
FTSOC has already been available to PC gamers via Steam for several months, but the developers note that the game was originally designed with next generation consoles in mind. As such, it should be right at home on a big screen TV while played with a gamepad, or perhaps Thrustmaster’s T-Flight HOTAS stick if gamers are feeling particularly ambitious. The PC version comes in both a standard and deluxe editions, with the Deluxe Edition including two additional aircraft, an additional multiplayer map, and the sunset weather option. The Xbox One version appears to be only available with the deluxe content.
FTSOC has been developed and published by independent developer ACE MADDOX.
