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Naturally this is true of Pearl's story as well, which forgoes the overdone cinematics we've seen in other WWII titles. Pearl supplies some sharp comic book-styled storytelling in replacement - a creative compromise that other developers should look into. Cleanly-drawn frames and word bubbles quickly introduced each characters' narrative, getting us into the cockpit without too much fancy exposition. The overall menu design takes on this template as well, with a large, graphic-style typeface displaying the information, creating a fun tone for the play that follows.

Pearl's multiplayer was what we invested the majority of our flight time in, and all the accessible, simple qualities of the single-player scenarios were put on better display here. On the surface, multiplayer seems relatively shallow: the six maps we played weren't varied significantly, and each player has the same weapons available to them: missiles and machine guns (unless you opt for a torpedo or dive bomber, whose secondary weapons won't get you far against an airborne foe).

Instead of integrating bells and whistles in this regard, it was transparent during our time that Legendo focused more on polishing the core of the experience. Free-for-all and team-based modes, with dozen-player capacity, evolved round after round into satisfying aerojousting. What stands out most in multiplayer is the feeling of balance that arises between the munitions and controls, creating a kind of airborne rock-paper-scissors. A barrage of bullets can put pressure on planes to get evasive, but a patient missile shot will cancel this out, nearly always scoring a one-shot kill, while a crafty pilot will know how to crawl away and re-position themselves for a counter-attack.

What results is a real sense of give-and-take perpetuated by Pearl's steady pace; a kind of slippery, dynamic play. You'll find yourself lining up to play chicken with frequency, trying to time your ascent and missile release to be the only one that walks away. There's palpable satisfaction when you thread a rocket at long range, or if you pick off a foe tailing one of your teammates. Even getting shot down proves to be a spectacle now and then because you recognize when a bogey pulls off a great shot. Missiles continued to catalyze the play-sessions as we continued: punching a plane from the sky in a single blow doesn't get old, and Legendo did good work to grant precisely the correct amount of difficulty in executing a missile shot.