The starting point is FTL – Faster Than Light: Bomber Crew puts us in command of the crew of a bomber during the Second World War. Each crew member has his specialization and can be assigned to a certain role, which unlocks certain functions.
For example, the pilot can take off and land the aero and obviously can maneuver it, making it follow the indicated route and making it rise or fall; a machine gunner, on the other hand, takes care of defending the bomber occupying one of the available turrets; while a bomb attendant can drop bunches of explosives on targets, or even take pictures of sensitive targets. In short, every area of our aircraft, built in a more organic than FTL spaceships, requires the use of a human resource to be exploited. And here comes the beauty … and the difficult. But let’s proceed calmly.
MILITARY LIFE
Despite being a strategic simulation, Bomber Crew is an unusually dynamic title that requires constant attention from the player. Basically it is made up of two macro sections: the base and the actual missions.
The first of his is divided into a series of menus that allow you to manage men and vehicles: for example, in case of need you can recruit new levers, or you can buy the most performing equipment, both for staff and for the aircraft; or you can also customize our vehicle by purchasing embellishments such as decorations, new colors and yet more.
Obviously everything has its price, which can be expressed in dollars or in intelligence (there are no microtransactions, rest assured).
Both currencies are obtained by carrying out the assigned missions and are given in quantities that allow a balanced growth of our team, although they require to make decisive choices, which have implications on real missions. Better a jacket more resistant for the bomber, or is it preferable to install more parachutes to give an escape route to our men in case of danger?
Better an extra turret, in order to make opposing fighters less effective, or is it preferable to invest in medical kits? However, if there is one thing Bomber Crew taught us, it is to never assume that you can overcome any situation by focusing only on the upgrades you have purchased. Finished with the management phase, you can choose which mission to deal with in the briefing tent and then board the bomber.
DO NOT WORRY TOO MUCH
As already mentioned, Bomber Crew is brutally difficult. The missions are all visualized in the same way: at the center of the screen there is the bomber, which can be shot at different zoom levels (the closed one shows the inside of the plane), on the left side we see the list of our men, while in the lower part there are the radar and the various functions unlocked by selecting the available resources. Our main task is to manage staff in real time by giving orders.
There is no pause button, although if you want you can slow down the time for a short time. Despite the simplicity of the control system, personnel management can become hectic.Imagine a typical situation: there is in sight our target to be bombed, but at the same time we have to deal with the chases that are on our heels and, perhaps, of the turrets on the ground that shoot us without too much concern.
By opening the hatch to unhook the bombs, the aircraft would slow down, exposing us to enemy fire, but at the same time turning too much over the target would be easy targets for anti-aircraft. What to do? First you need to adjust the route, so you have to tag the targets to be hit by the men put to the towers (in both cases just highlight the objectives to tag them and tell the pilot and the artillery what to do).
Unfortunately an enemy fighter manages to hit a wing by sending it into focus: you must immediately send a technician to turn it off, if we want to stay in flight. In the meantime our machine-gunners have run out of ammunition, so you have to order them to recharge.
Unfortunately, the enemies are too many, and we just have to try a desperate action: we aim straight towards the target and open the hatch of the bombs. Damn it: the pilot was injured and lost a lot of energy, so you have to send him to the infirmary and have him replaced by an unskilled crew member (another slowdown).Meanwhile, we are already on the target: we have to drop the bombs.
