Flight Simulator iPhone Game Reviews: Aera

We love bringing you the most comprehensive iPhone game reviews, especially for games that you must not overlook. Finally arriving in the App Store is Aera, the side-scrolling flight simulator. An enjoyable experience is delivered by the beautiful graphics and awesome controls – no matter if you’re enjoying the scenery or battling other aircraft.

Four planes and three locations are available in Aera. Aerobatic/Solo, Dog Fight, Race, or Free Flight are the missions which you can choose from. Race against the clock in Aerobatic/Solo to collect a set number of objects. Skill is required as you need to avoid the mines and fly through rings in this challenge. Fight against another plane in Dog Fight mode. If the other plane shoots you down first, you lose. But don’t worry, you have guns with a never-ending supply of ammunition and a few rockets. A number of bonuses are awarded for destroying an enemy. Points and rockets are the most common bonus types. In Race mode, simply make it through a course while dodging mines as fast as you can. If you’re feeling lazy and just want to explore, Free Flight mode is where you’ll want to be. Both Campaign mode and Quick Play give you the options to choose Easy, Medium, and Hard difficulty levels.

The 3D game graphics are very polished and help give depth to the 2D gameplay. Sounds are appropriate, with realistic propeller effects and accurate-sounding crashes/explosions. There is no background music, but the game doesn’t feel as though it’s lacking, given its goal of pseudo-simulation rather than full-on arcade. The controls are outstanding. Most of the plane controls are handled through the accelerometer, tilting the device to change the plane’s attitude. A sharp shake of the device will cause a 180-degree flip. On-screen buttons control throttle, boost (necessary when making steep ascents), firing guns/rockets, and changing camera angles. The placement of the buttons leaves the interface feeling uncluttered, though all possible needs are at your quick disposal. Aera includes detailed tutorial explanations, as well as a walkthrough requiring you to complete certain tasks in order to move on.

Aera sports some interesting features that make it standout. One is the “TimeBack” function, activated when you crash your rig into an object. This freezes time, rewinds several seconds, and allows you to continue from moments before the crash, correcting whatever misstep led to your plane’s demise. This is great, as you get to avoid returning to the start of the level and having to play through several minutes of gameplay to attempt a successful pass at the area in which you previously crashed. We found this extremely helpful. You can also check out a video replay of your mission upon completion, allowing you to evaluate you flight and find areas that need correcting for the next time. Local wi-fi multiplayer is the closest you’ll get to online play. You can either play Duel or Capture the Flag in this mode. The Config menu allows you to adjust sensitivities, as well as invert controls and turn on/off the Prediction line, a path of arrows that indicate your current trajectory based on your altitude and speed.

There may be other flight simulators, side scrollers, and arcade fliers available in the app store, but none that so nicely marries the three. Dog fighting is especially fun and the controls feel very intuitive. Solo can be a fun way to show off your skills while giving you a goal to achieve. It’s just a nice presentation all around. In fact, we can’t remember too many iPhone game reviews that we had so much fun writing. You can tell that a lot of work was put into making this game special. Replay value is high, as the fun, smooth gameplay alone will keep me coming back for more. There are also several Achievements to be earned during the course of gameplay. Unlocking crafts/locations and replaying previously unlocked areas will also increase the replay value. iChromo sends Aera flying into the app store with an attractive $0.99 price tag, a bargain for this terrific 4-star stunner.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 10th, 2009 at 4:04 am and is filed under iPhones. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.