Alright, let's clear some things up first before we start this review.
- This game is no flying simulator.
- Yes this is based off the movie
- The song Danger Zone is in here
- This costs 15 bucks
- I have a strange soft spot for top gun
- You can be my wingman anytime
Allow me to go into more detail.
Top gun is the personification of an arcade flight combat game, taking tropes from other popular video games, such as regenerating health and unlimited ammo, and doing away with typical flight simulator concepts such as stalling Top Gun even has “Controlled Flight Instability” mode, which is a time limited fixed camera mode that is very reminiscent of how HAWX plays. The controls feel a little stiff most of the time, but they get the job done. This game also requires the use of a controller, and if there is one thing PC gamers hate to play with, it’s an xbox 360 controller.
The campaign loosely follows the plot of the movie. You start with a prologue where you fight soviet baddies, then go through Top Gun Academy, then you fight the Russians over the Indian Ocean. The game is also filled with miss-remembered quotes from the movie. If you’re a big fan of the film then every time you hear dialog you’re going to shudder with contempt. You know what’s the biggest problem with this game? It doesn’t deserve to exist. That’s harsh but let me explain. Top gun came out 24 years ago; it already had multiple games that came out back then. Top Gun as a franchise isn’t making some strange Scarface like resurgence in popularity; you don’t see people walking around wearing T shirts with a black and white silhouette of Tom Cruise on them. So why make this game?
Well I’ll tell you why they made this game. So people could fly around in an F-14 Tomcat and shoot down enemy jets to the sound of Danger Zone! Yeah, the moment you enter the games “horde mode” your ears are treated to Danger Zone playing on an infinite loop as you fight endless waves of enemy fighters. This is by far the best part of the game. Just based off of the awesomeness of Danger Zone, this game already deserves a 5 out of 5. But wait, what’s this? It isn’t the original recording of the song. That’s a real bummer, never mind 5 out of 5.
There is also an offering of five different 16 player online modes, including the standard Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, CTF, Top Gun mode where you have a wingman by your side, and an attack and defend style Bombing Run mode. I say “an offering” of multiplayer because try as I might I could never find a full game of 16 people. At launch no one is playing this game online.
Now we get to the pricing. Fifteen dollars is just too much for this game. This is a problem I’ve been noticing for some time now. Games often overprice themselves compared to similarly priced better games. The one that comes to mind most recently is Snoopy Flying Ace for the 360, a much better controlling and much deeper arcade flight combat game that is only ten dollars. It’s a problem that is bigger than Top Gun and doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.
There just isn’t enough meat in this game to justify paying $15. When it goes on sale sometime in the future you might want to think about picking this up. As it stands now, there just isn’t any reason to buy Top Gun unless you feel the need… the need for a very average game.