With the exception of one interesting gameplay feature and some nice set-piece battles, you'll be hard-pressed to find much in "Heroes Over Europe" that hasn't been done better in other games.

"HoE" does have some points in its favor, but nearly every plus has an accompanying minus.

The game is the sequel to Transmission Games' modest 2005 hit "Heroes of the Pacific." This time around, predictably enough, you'll fight the good fight over the continent as an American, a Brit and a New Zealander through 14 missions in four story-driven campaigns. Even if each battle is lengthy, that's a bit skimpy for a $50 game.

The controls are tight and responsive, but the 40-odd planes in your hangar control so similarly that there's little to differentiate them, even between a puttering biplane and rocket-powered proto-jet.

Like its predecessor, this is an arcade flyer through and through, with auto-restoring health bars and unlimited ammo. Expecting G-force-induced blackouts and sun blindness might be asking a little much, but when the differences between planes are so negligible, you feel like you're changing paint jobs, not cockpits. Speaking of which, there is no internal view, so learn to love the back of your plane.

For those willing to stick it out, "HoE" has a couple of challenging missions, including a standout battle royale over a rainy London during the Blitz. Unfortunately, the maps tend to be reused. By the fourth time you've defended the peaceful seaport of Dover, you'll be ready to let the Nazis start setting up beach chairs.

The combat is an engaging game of cat-and-mouse flying to find the perfect angle, but the lack of mission variety is disappointing. Most are search-and-destroy affairs against wave after wave of enemies.

The game's "ace kill" system is an interesting mechanic that rewards keeping the reticule on a plane long enough to unlock the ability to temporarily slow down time, zoom in and target weak spots for one-shot kills. Unfortunately, after the 100th time, this, too, feels repetitious.

Graphically, the game looks good from afar, but the terrain and special effects don't stand up to close scrutiny. The plane models are nicely detailed, however, and after a series of dogfights, your plane will look convincingly disheveled.

Even if the sad excuse for emotional twists in the campaign don't pluck your heartstrings, the situation online is truly sob-worthy. Both times I logged in to the PlayStation Network, there were no nonranked matches and only four players flying in one ranked match. That's pathetic, if perhaps understandable, given the bare-bones offerings of only four maps for 16-player battles in survivor and deathmatch modes.

For all its faults, "Heroes Over Europe" isn't a total wash. The game has the mysterious ability to latch onto you again after you've taken a break for a couple of hours. Still, that doesn't make its faults any less glaring or easy to ignore.

GAME REVIEW

"Heroes Over Europe"

* Systems: Xbox 360/PS3 (reviewed)

* Graphics: C

* Sound: B

* Gameplay: B-

* Replay value: C

* Final grade: C