Prepare for dogfights as Microsoft launches Cold Alley on Windows 8

By Rich Edmonds
last updated

Microsoft has released Cold Alley for Windows 8.1 and RT. If you enjoy dogfights in the air, Cold Alley puts you in control of various planes for an extensive single player campaign and numerous skirmish modes to get stuck into. Fly past the break to see some screens and read more about the game.

According to the store listing, Cold Alley boasts multiple visual, audio and special effects to help immerse the player, whether you're flying on a Windows tablet, or on your laptop and PC. Bump mapping, realistic atmospheric effects, clouds, sun glare, day and night cycles and more are included to bring the world to life. What's more is Xbox Live integration is present.

Playing through the story driven campaign, players will be tasked to land and take off on landing strips, as well as aircraft carriers, soaring through rendered cities and contending with other jets in a highly detailed cockpit. It doesn't matter if you're not a veteran, however. Cold Alley is "designed" for everyone to enjoy, regardless as to how much experience or skill you have.

Cold Alley

Controls can be configured for your favourite style, be it mouse and keyboard, virtual pads or utilising the accelerometer (if present). What's a real bummer is the lack of online multiplayer, which would have been a nice addition to compliment the single player game modes. It's also worth noting that while the game looks impressive, initial store reviews have been poor.

This is most down to the rather shabby controls of the planes themselves. For example, should you kick off the dog fighting game mode with only a single enemy, it's simply the case of going head on, firing some missiles and attempting to dodge. The UI, while attempting to fit in with the style of the cockpit, fails to provide an intuitive way to play effectively.

It's a shame because Cold Alley has potential to be such a sweet Xbox Live game, especially if there were multiplayer connectivity. The ideas and some of the graphics are both impressive, but Cold Alley definitely falls short.

You can download Cold Alley (opens in new tab) from the Windows Store for $6.99. Thanks, Salman M., for the tip

Rich Edmonds
Rich Edmonds
Senior Editor, PC Build

Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.

48 Comments
  • Is it there for windows 8 and is there a trial
  • No trial £4.99
  • Not for me then
  • +1. price are too high
  • I went and paid the £4.99 on my surface rt. Works fine, controls ok, and graphics are good. Battery ran out though and I am too post chrimbo lethargic to go upstairs for the charger.
  • Fun game though.
  • MS also released, in selected countries, MS Bingo, MS Hexic, MS Full House Poker Pro and Disney The Little Mermaid...
  • MS Hexic yayy!!!!
  • Need to bring this to all countries
  • I'm pretty sure all those games are coming to all markets, they just did staggered, selective releases in some markets as a pseudo 'beta' test, it seems. For example, Bingo is only available in Canada and Hexic is only available in Trinidad and Tobago. I'm really looking forward to Hexic (loved Hexic Rush on Windows Phone) and WSOP Full House (I hope, hope, hope it has cross-platform play with the Xbox 360 version!). I am frustrated waiting, though. It would be easier if Microsoft would just announce a solid release date for these games so I can stop checking the store every day!
  • If you want to install Hexic, change your region to Trinidad & Tobago, close the store then relaunch it, search for Hexic, install it, then change the region back to the previous value. I just did this, worked fine, Hexic is installed and running
  • Perfect game for multilayer and being a showcase game on Windows but as usual Microsoft fumbles. No testing on their own hardware? No trial? There seriously needs to be a mass cull of Microsoft management, they take the word incompetent to new levels.
  • THIS. Somebody at Microsoft. For the love of cheetos. PUT REALTIME MULTIPLAYER IN YOUR NON-CONSOLE GAMES. I've asking this since 2010, really? Its almost 2014 now. Card and board games aren't gonna cut it. Tie it to XBL Gold, IDK. Just get behind it and set aside some server space for mobile multiplayer. //rant
  • Gud Microsoft....goin gr8
  • Correction - You can download it from the Windows Store, not the Windows Phone Store. (Yes, it's pedantic, and we know what you meant. Still, someone'll complain about covering Windows 8 on a Windows Phone site. I, for one, am quite happy you cover both in one place. Thanks!)
  • Also, the author confuses "compliment" for "complement."
  • well. can i suggest some it newsites for you? why even bothering looking for it news on Windows PHONE central?
  • I really wanted to play this, but I am not paying so much money without trying first....
  • Ok, I'll prepare.
  • no trial, not interested. most of the games like these are half assed.
  • Damn people are so frickin cheap.
  • I agree, but for that price I think there should be a trial, also.
  • I do not consider myself cheap but a Flight Sim coming out of the blue with no trial is no go for me. I always played military flight Sims on PC and paid them $50/60 with no problems, my HOTA was a Thrustmaster Cougar and ended up costing around $1,000 so again I am not cheap but a flight sim advertised for a Tablet....? Let me try it first because I am very skeptical.
  • says the person who uses Windows 8 consumer preview from 1.5 years ago because "it works" and "its free" (not to mention its not even legal to use it since it expired on january 2013)...
    oh but of course you arent cheap, so you can call others cheap /s... rightttt some people should see themselves on a mirror before calling others "cheap". but of course Im not talking about you /s
  • No trial and it has a 2.5 rating
  • dont think that game is gonna fly
  • I see what you did there
  • you watching me 2?  ;-)))
  • HA, HA!
  • So a newer version of Rise of Glory?
  • Rise of Glory was sweet on wp8 but I beat it. Anymore games like that for wp8?
  • We need a xbone version also
  • Agreed
  • Bought. Will play at dinner party tonight ;)
  • Good stuff
  • Does it work with the Xbox 360 controller like Microsoft Flight did?
  • I was wondering this as well
  • I bought the game. 1. Great graphics 2. Controls are OK ... They're not the actual problem, it's just that the game is too, TOO difficult. In the first mission there are too many enemy fighters and they're way too responsive and capable, you can't even get an A2A missile kill because bandits are firing flares left and right. After a couple of tries the game drops from being GOOD to mindkill. If the developers can ease up on the AI a little. 3. Xbox 360 controller does NOT work.
  • Dang, no controller support...
  • Is there joystick support?
  • Yes.
  • Game played twice, then crashed. Won't start up again. Seriously, wtf Microsoft.
  • What device? Rt? Intel?
  • Need help! Off topic though! I cannot connect through WiFi to Facebook or YouTube but other websites work great! Other video sites work too only YouTube can't get access. It either loads videos very slowly or gives a connection error. Any fix for it?? I tried restarting my WiFi but its of no use!!
  • Wpcentral?? Can you guys please post a video review of this game???
  • With a US$6.99 price tag, it should have trial version. I want to try it on my low-end Windows tablet to see the graphics...
  • For a good simulator on WP there is infinite flight still they favoring iOS and Android now since they have too rebuild the app since WP8 came out. I sometimes cry out there as one of the first users. These games have nothing to do that comes near realistic flight models dough it flies and is the first W8 flight app so i bought it. And i could only run it once ..yep 1 X now it crashes continiously. Im a pretty much hardcore flight simmer the more realistic the better. Somebody make me free falcon for WP ;) One thing MS also should do is make a WP able to be there as game input device . So every game could come with a profile wich makes your WP a button panel. That would be a win because every gamer wants this.
  • What i mean is this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKv8KR8bX7w   This should be the on windowsphone aint that a challenge   It would be a big waste of our touchscreens if we cant do this via our phone/tablets in the future. MS please read this :) It would be a killer option against iOS or Android