B-17: Fortress in the Sky

 DS
Metascore
38

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 4 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 4 out of 4
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  1. Console Gameworld
    25
    Incredibly shallow, even for a budget title.
  2. Gamers' Temple
    30
    The biggest bomb in B-17: Fortress in the Sky is the game itself.
  3. GameSpot
    40
    B-17: Fortress in the Sky is a simplistic World War II-themed shoot-'em-up that lacks variety and panache.
  5. IGN
    40
    Sort of a fascinating failure. The game is overly simplistic, lacks variety in its missions and isn't nearly as playable as it should be. At the same time, it's an interesting approach to air combat that hasn't really been done in games, especially on the DS.

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User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 3
  3. Negative: 1 out of 3
  1. ninjaguy454
    Sep 27, 2020
    5
    B-17 Fortress in the sky is an admittedly faithful port of the original game from 2001 on the PC and even does a fairly decent job of adding aB-17 Fortress in the sky is an admittedly faithful port of the original game from 2001 on the PC and even does a fairly decent job of adding a few QOL features. But the problem is that the original PC game wasn't good unto itself.

    The original game, while being technically functional and playable is not fun. It has a very repetitive shallow gameplay feel to it. As has been stated numerous times by other reviewers, there are pretty much just 5 phases. 3 of which, you are shooting down oncoming planes that deal damage to your aircraft. I've not had any issues with the game technically other than it seems you are unable to damage the planes until they get almost too close to your bomber. Also, you are the only person shooting and that paired with the distance limitation, it is very easily overwhelming. Not that it seems to matter as I never died from not being able to shoot down aircraft. This is where the majority of the meat of the gameplay lies and it's disappointing at best.

    When you are not alone gunning down oncoming aircraft, you are dodging anti-air missiles in the second phase. These are basically just puffs of smoke, kudos to whoever can navigate left or right and not get hit by a single one, as your craft is so wide and the shots are so frequent and random that I'm almost certain it's not possible. Overall, it is a shallow experience and again, is very repetitive.

    3rd phase has you go back to shooting, and it's the exact same gameplay as phase 1.

    4th phase, you are now dropping bombs. At the beginning of each stage, you are given primary and secondary targets. Because the graphics are so bland it's really hard to differentiate what each of the buildings you are bombing are and where they are located within the cities. I pretty much just spam bomb and hope for the best.

    The final phase is another turret defense like the first and third. After returning to base the mission is complete and you are told whether you not you failed.

    I don't understand why this game was ported to the DS. The original game didn't do well and was cited as being shallow.

    I was curious to see if the original even sold well so I tried to find any sort of sales figures on it and was unable to find ANY documentation outside of the fact it existed, and who developed and published. Hell I couldn't even find the financial information on the original developers (Sunstorm interactive as stated on this site) outside of what other games they published and what eventually led to their fate. I have a feeling this game was a contributing factor to that.

    With that being stated, I do wonder why this game was even made. I know DSI was responsible for the port and with the other experiences I've had with them... I'm not surprised by its rating.

    Overall, the game doesn't really have much for glitches and the sound design is pretty good, but the gameplay is too dull and shallow to merit a recommendation to anyone.    … Full Review »
  2. AnonymousMC
    Jul 31, 2007
    0
    This game is awful in most of the ways that a game can be awful, and not worth playing, even if you get it for free and are a huge fan ofThis game is awful in most of the ways that a game can be awful, and not worth playing, even if you get it for free and are a huge fan of B17s. There are 25 missions, each with five phases.
    Phases 1, 3 and 5 have you manning the guns of the B17. Sadly, you're the only person manning the guns, so you have to switch between the different crew positions to shoot down incoming planes. The graphics aren't great, with you seeing a rough 3-d model of the bomber and attacking fighters. The real unforgivable problem with this part of the game is that the background image of sky and clouds is fixed and doesn't change as you move from one position to another, or scroll as you aim the turrets. If you get in the ball turret and look straight down, you see sky. Fortunately, the incoming planes don't do enough damage to shoot you down so these portions of the game don't actually seem to matter. The only benefit of actually shooting down the attacking planes is that it seems to end these phases of the games faster.

    Phase 2 involves steering the plane to avoid anti-aircraft fire with mediocre 2d graphics. AAA can do a lot of damage, but is easily dodged. Just move left to right in pretty much any random fashion and you will avoid enough damage to finish the level.
    Phase 4 is when you actually drop bombs, and you need to hit at least some of the targets, presented in the same mediocre 2-d format as the graphics in phase 2. Fortunately, you are blessed with an unlimited number of bombs so you can drop a whole bunch of them all over the place. Unfortunately, bombs don't hit where the crosshairs indicate, especially if you're maneuvering a lot to hit targets, so drop a lot of bombs and hope for the best.

    This game is boring, generic and does not take advantage of the touch screen or any other unique feature of the DS. The audio is pretty good if repetitive, but is not enough to redeem the general awfulness of the game. Save your money and your time for something worth playing.    … Full Review »
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