Firemint’s Flight Control is hugely acclaimed by iPhone and iPod Touch gamers everywhere for its ability to easily entertain the masses. This game is easy to pick up and hard to put down.
I first tried out Flight Control as a suggestion from a Twitter user. I can’t recall who, but I thank them. This game isn’t anything amazingly revolutionary, but it’s definitely one of the most addictive iPhone games that I’ve played. Flight Control is nothing short of breathtaking. You may think that I just contradicted myself there, but just because something isn’t incredibly revolutionary doesn’t mean it isn’t absolutely amazing. If you find a great formula and expand on it, you may have a diamond on your hands, and Firemint hit the nail on the head here.
Flight Control is a simple game where you.. Well, you control flight paths. You tell planes, helicopters, and other aircraft, where to land, and what path to take to get there, by dragging on the aircraft and sliding your finger along to the landing pad or runway. You need to keep the path free of destruction, or you’re doomed to cause a collision, for which you get a game over. This game over is quickly followed by a screen that gives you another shot, with a big shiny “RETRY” button. I’ll be surprised if my iPod Touch doesn’t soon have an indent there from overuse.
You are given the choice of three maps; Original (not too tough), beach (a bit harder), and air carrier (I cannot get a high score here to save my life). My favourite is beach, and I’ve barely touched the other maps, yet I’ve still put in hours of gameplay. Are you beginning to get how much fun this game is? Maybe when I get a bit better, I’ll try out the air carrier, and it will add a whole new element to the game. (There are more types of aircraft there, and everything is scrunched up to the point of incredibly hard navigation. Fun when you’re better, maybe, but incredibly frustrating when you’re not.)
You will soon begin to understand exactly at what angle you want to approach all the landings, how you want to move certain aircraft to avoid collision while still landing efficiently, and everything else you need to know. You’ll start getting comfortable.
And then it will get harder.
The aircraft will come at you from all angles. One after another, they’ll start piling in until it’s incredibly difficult to move one without putting it in instant chaos. (This is where that “RETRY” button comes in handy.) Not to mention, there is now a fast-forward button that will speed up the action for when it’s a bit dull in the beginning, but I’ve forgotten to turn it off several times, and it only makes things 20 times harder. And not in an “Ohh, this is challenging!” way, but in the way that makes you want to snap your iDevice over your knee.
After playing for a bit, you’ll find your eyes trained to fly around the screen, eyeing it for any oncoming aircraft so you can keep everything nice and orderly. It will become harder to maintain as the game goes on, but that’s the reason you keep playing.
All in all, Flight Control is a fantastic game. Probably one of the best in the App Store. It takes a simple click-and-drag formula and makes it impossible to let go of. Somehow, this game stays away from feeling too repetitive, even though, in all reality, it is. The only variation is the angles at which the aircraft enter the screen, but that’s expected. Other than that, and the obvious choice of maps, you’re pretty much getting the same thing over and over, but.. It’s amazingly addictive. This is the kind of game that, even if you put it down, you’ll be back.
Current Status: Highly Recommended
Reviewed at: v1.2
Reviewed on Firmware: 2.2.1
Download size: 7.9MB
Released on: 29th April 2009
Retails for: £0.59 / $0.99 (On sale; regular price is $2.99)
Compatible with: iPod touch Gen 1 & 2 / iPhone Classic / iPhone 3G
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