Review
Dogfighter -WW2- Review: A Battle Royale Fought in the Air
Forty pilots, one shrinking zone and no buildings to hide in. Dogfighter -WW2- moves the battle royale into the sky, and the change works better than its rough edges suggest.
Released February 14, 2020Reviewed on PlayStation 4 ProDeveloper IGGYMOB, Grumpy, I-BONGPublisher IGGYMOBPrice Free-to-play, in-game purchases
By 2020 the battle royale had settled into one shape: drop in, loot, shoot whoever is left. Dogfighter -WW2- keeps the structure and changes the ground it is played on. Every player is a Second World War fighter pilot, every fight happens in the air, and the shrinking circle chases planes rather than soldiers. It launched as a PlayStation 4 exclusive, and it is a genuinely fresh take on a crowded genre, even if it inherits the genre’s monetisation and arrives with some technical rough patches.
Forty planes, one map
A round holds 40 players. That sounds small next to the ground-based games, but planes cover distance quickly and the pacing in the sky is entirely different. There is no drop from a transport plane. Each player chooses a starting zone, and that choice works the way landing spots do elsewhere: the edges give time to scout, while the centre is packed with upgrades and enemy fighters.
Flying is comfortable rather than demanding. Planes cruise at a set speed and the bumpers raise or lower it for tighter turns. Once a target is in the sights, a Chase locks onto it, at the cost of finer aim compared with steering the crosshair by hand. A Chase can be broken with an evasive manoeuvre on a cooldown, and the manoeuvre changes with the stick direction, which makes it the main tool for looping behind a pursuer. The basics take minutes. Mastering them takes far longer.
Blimps as loot boxes
Upgrades decide a lot of fights. Blimps parked in fixed spots around the map drop power-ups and refills of ammo and fuel. They do the job of chests in other battle royales, but because they hang visibly in the sky they turn into crowded kill zones, especially in the opening minutes. Stocking up on health or fuel early and using it in the final circle is a valid plan, and a fuel pickup grabbed from under a blimp a few hundred feet above the ground is one of the game’s best moments.
Bombers appear at intervals as well. They lay a trail of useful items and fire heavy cannon at anyone who flies too close. Their route shows on the map, and like supply drops in other games, every run attracts company.
The Battle Zone
Instead of closing gas or fire, a circular Battle Zone moves around the map and shrinks each round. There is no countdown, only a one-minute warning before it restricts, and its next position is hard to predict. Staying on the map screen is essential, and late fights turn into tight spirals between keeping a bead on an opponent and staying inside the zone.
There is nowhere to hide. With no bushes and no buildings, cover means terrain and altitude. Enemies regularly show on the minimap while being invisible on screen, because they are several hundred feet higher. Map awareness matters more than in almost any other battle royale.
Planes in focus, world out of focus
The planes are detailed; the world under them is not. Landscapes look soft next to the aircraft, a gap that stands out even on a PS4 Pro and more so after the sharp launch trailer. On its own that is cosmetic.
Draw distance is the problem that affects play. Enemies and objects sometimes pop in, distant planes are sometimes visible only as a yellow marker, and far-off targets can stutter where close ones move smoothly. Even with a Chase lock, that makes it hard to judge a burst.
The store and the AirPass
The store sells items for DF-Coins, earned by playing, and for DF-Points, the premium currency. Coin skins and decals are reachable with a little time, and the PS4 launch included a starting batch of coins. Premium skins cost roughly $10 to $25 each and only fit one specific plane. The “Wearables” section, at launch, held only oversized headsets for planes. Decal options are broad, but the premium selection was thin a week after release.
The AirPass is the best purchase in the store. Its track pays out premium points, decals and other cosmetics, and it unlocks all 14 additional planes, which widens the roster considerably. A neon skin on an A6M Zero makes a plane an obvious target among the green and grey camouflage, and looks spectacular doing it.
The single-player campaign, Into The Fire, sits in Scenario Mode as a separate paid add-on at $24.99 USD.
The verdict
Dogfighter -WW2- shows what happens when a developer takes the battle royale out of its usual mould. The blimps, the roaming Battle Zone and the lack of cover all create situations no ground-based game can, and the flying is easy to pick up. Soft environments, pop-in and stuttering distant planes hold it back, and the store needed more in it at launch. For a free game, those are reasons to expect polish, not reasons to skip it. Anyone tired of the same drop-loot-shoot loop has a good reason to take off.
Questions readers ask
Is Dogfighter -WW2- free to play?
Yes. The battle royale mode is free on PlayStation 4, with optional purchases: the AirPass, premium skins and decals. The single-player campaign Into The Fire is a paid add-on at $24.99 USD.
How many players are in a Dogfighter -WW2- match?
Each battle royale round has 40 players. Instead of dropping from a plane, each player picks a zone of the map to spawn in.
What does the AirPass unlock in Dogfighter -WW2-?
The AirPass is the season pass. Besides its reward track of premium points, decals and cosmetics, it unlocks the additional planes, 14 in total.