Bomber Crew, The wonderfully addictive WW2 strategic bomber simulation took off on Steam last October and now it has finally come in to land on consoles. Having previously reviewed Bomber Crew after EGX last year I have been excited and curious for the console release. I couldn’t wait to finally get hold of this cute, fun and emotionally draining game on PS4 but also dubious as to how well the controls would be adapted.
Bomber Crew’s story is quite simple. You are in charge of a Lancaster bomber and her crew. Everything from weapons to Livery is customizable and as you progress through missions you can use both money and recon (gained from photos of optional targets) to unlock and purchase.
As you progress through the war missions become more difficult and complex as well as the introduction of ace pilots that while harder to bring down reward you with big cash bonuses.
The main difference between the steam and console releases is, of course, the control system. Runner Duck has done a wonderful job of transferring the control system from a mouse and wheel to the joypad.
The control system is really fluent and has an instinctive and natural feel to it. Which was paramount for the console port as when you are in the middle of a bombing run with a squadron of enemies planes flying shooting at you, your engines are on fire, your gunners are out of ammo and you need to navigate towards the target, a seamless sense of control to be able to handle everything at once. That is exactly what you get with the PS4 controls and it really is a testament to Runner Duck that they have pulled this off so well.
Almost everyone who as played Bomber Crew instantly likens it to the classic Cannon Fodder. The resemblance to Cannon Fodder is initially in the games art style and game mechanics but unfortunately that’s where the similarity ends as the emotionally draining and brutal difficulty of the Steam version seems to be lost somewhat and the PS4 version is a lot easier.
The lure of Bomber Crew on Steam was the difficulty of the game. Upgrading your crew and holding your breath as you hope your crew survive a crash or screaming in angst as you watch your engineer get shot of the wing of your bomber and drop into the deep blue sea is a heartache you rarely see in games and for some reason is missing from the console port.
All in all the port from Steam to PS4 does a wonderful job of implementing a new control scheme but loses the challenge, difficulty and ultimately it’s soul somewhere in the crossover to console.
Overall Score – 6/10
1 thought on “Bomber Crew – PS4 Review”