Overview

Developer: Zipper Interactive
Crimson Skies official page: http://www.microsoft.com/games/crimsonskies/
ETA: Fall 2000
More Crimson Skies Resources

Ahoy Matey, Great Depression Ahead!

When you think of pirates, odds are that the Caribbean comes to mind first, with Sir Francis Drake and the Spanish Main. Of course, there were pirates before and after. Pirates riddled the Mediterranean during the Roman Republic and after the fall of the Empire. Pirates also assaulted shipping in the colonial era from the New World all the way to the Far East. Piracy was a fact of life for most of human history. It's part of our mythologies, histories and even entertainment (with numerous pirate movies and games being out.) In its own way, piracy is romantic.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it

Rain, gloom and doom

So is flight. After all, in the 20s and 30s, aviation was a booming industry. Pioneers were making and breaking all sorts of records all the time. Historic flights were being made and historic disasters occurring not long after. Even in the midst of the Great Depression, people managed to be at least interested in, if not outright excited by, flight. Great airships like the German Zeppelins were seen as the future of transportation. They were as large and comfortable as ships, but without the need for a sea. The same enthusiasm that greeted the era of the cruise ships greeted the era of airships. But just as cruise ships had their Titanic, airships had their Hindenburg. If anything, this just added more to the mystery and romance of the skies.

Foliage, 12 o'clock low!

Nutso terrain to fly low in

So why not combine two very interesting concepts? That's what FASA thought when it made the Crimson Skies universe. In this world, 1920's North America is fractured - there is no USA or Canada proper. Regional powers have set themselves up and they don't like each other very much. Lines of communication, be they roads, rails, or shipping, are cut. The airways are the only 'safe' way to do any business. Well, if you can get past the pirates out for their own gain, or mercenaries hired to stop you. Oh, and the regional air forces that don't like people intruding on their airspace. Make sure your seatbelt is securely fastened and have a nice day!

XYZ

Zipper Interactive, developers of MechWarrior 3, are the guys behind Crimson Skies. They, along with publisher Microsoft, were kind enough to send us a beta build of CS to play with a while.