While playing it again this weekend, I realized two things: 1- it's still way fun, and 2- it's an awful like "Uncharted" in the sky. Sure Microsoft, you'll have Halo: Reach all to yourselves next year, but wouldn't you like to have some of the "game of the year" buzz Uncharted is getting? Here's 3 ways you can make a Crimson Skies reboot as successful as Uncharted 2, ready?
Story: You need a coherent, exciting plot, that takes between 12 and 24 hours to play out. Hire a full team of TV quality (as in- writers of 24) writers, to flesh out a story that will make people want to keep on playing. Use extensive in-game cutscenes to develop a deep story, and make each action level have a purpose. While there exists some story of the Crimson Skies universe, take a lot of creative license and craft a new story. The setting is great, but we need a new protagonist, new antagonist, and lots of supporting characters. You can't simply have one goal from start to finish, there have to be a lot of plot developments, and an unpredictable end.
Marketing: Take a page from Uncharted 2's book- make this THE system exclusive to get. Do combo ads with Halo: Reach for all I care. Sell the movie-like experience, and the "awesome factor", not just the typical "Look at how much fun this game might be" sort of advertising. The PS3 ads where the guy is complaining that his girlfriend won't let him stop playing because she thinks Uncharted 2 is a movie is genius on several levels. It sells it to the target demographic- 18-34 year old males with the promise of action and adventure, but it also appeals to pretty much everyone by telling them that if they like movies, they'll like this.
Gameplay: Crimson Skies is essentially Rogue Squadron- with more options. You can repair your plane, upgrade it, do missions, etc- but the main gameplay is still "Arcade Flying". "Arcade Flying" is fun, but it won't get the buzz, or the money that an "Uncharted" will, because flight doesn't appeal to everyone. Some flight though- accompanied by lots of 3rd person action would work fine. In the vision I have for a reboot- planes are tools, used for transport, air-to-air combat, and other such things. The core of the game would be 3rd person shooter. You can hop in planes, and would spend plenty of time piloting and defending planes, but to sell this as a full movie experience, you need the ground combat too. Combining the two types of play is a decent enough idea- pilot plane to zeppelin- retrieve object inside on foot- escape zeppelin by plane- land on ground and fight off enemies- sounds like an exciting enough experience. This adds possibilities for multiplayer too, where 2 teams could defend their zeppelin and try to destroy the other's, in the air, on the ground, and in the zeppelins. The inclusion of both elements also means that you can include things such as boarding other planes mid-air or bailing out over zeppelins, both of which would make a great action shot for commercials, and would make the game memorable not just for the cutscenes.
So if anyone else thinks that this might be fun, or a decent idea for Microsoft, let me know! If anything else, this is simply a game I'd love to play, whether or not MS makes money on it. And as a bonus, pay homage to the movie "The Rocketeer", and give the protagonist a jetpack and helmet for at least part of a mission.
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