The demo for Project Sylpheed was release on the Marketplace yesterday. Before I saw the news that the demo was available I had not heard of the game. It is a space fighter with a slightly anime look to it. Generally I’m not a big fan of flying games because I find them hard to control, but I thought I’d give it a try anyway because it was something new. I was pleasantly surprised with how the controls work. The demo has a full tutorial and then a single mission. I would say that going through the tutorial first is pretty much a requirement. The controls for maneuvering were pretty normal, but after that the controls are fairly unique. However, I found them to work well. They have added a couple of unique options that make playing a little easier. When targeting an enemy you can match their speed by pulling both triggers, which are your accelerate and brake, at the same time. So, once you get the enemy in firing range you can easily hold that distance. Also, by clicking on the right thumb stick the camera will lock into the enemy and follow them instead of staying aimed in front of you. This helped me get them aimed in my cross hairs a lot easier. Once the tutorial was complete I found that I could fly the ship pretty well.

Before starting up the mission they are options for customizing the weapons on your ship. There are quite a few options that you can choose from and it looks like their are quite a few more that will be in the full game that are not in the demo. I went with all the homing rockets and missiles I could find since my aim is bad.

The mission itself is an escort mission where you need to kill the enemies before they kill you or the ships you are trying to protect. Nothing to new here, but I found that it was pretty strait forward to kill an enemy and the go after the next one. In addition to controlling yourself you also have a few wingmen that you give squad orders to. Since this was an escort mission I figured that I was suppose to kill the enemies a fast a possible so I set them to attack mode and forgot about them. I could have also set them to defend me or fly with me in formation.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with the ease of playing the game. Without the tutorial it would have been a nightmare, but with the tutorial it was pretty fun. The game will be released with a $40 price tag in a few weeks. It is nice to see not every game coming out has the $60 price tag. Hopefully it sells well and other companies release games at lower prices.