Not long ago I recognized that I had become hooked on a classic like Candy Crush. However, there is a game that has completely won my heart (and time). Is about Airline Commandera video game available on both mobile phones and tablets, whether they are Apple or Android.
I already advance that it is not the best game in terms of graphics. But he doesn’t need to do it, since have certain elements that make it more attractive than others that I have tried. Mainly its mechanics, which makes it accumulate almost four years hooked.
Being free is an important value
Airline Commander is completely free to download. It does not matter if it is from Android than from iOS, being in both cases available in official stores of both systems.
Of course, I have to say that Within the game there are micropayments, but they are not necessary. These are intended for the purchase of what are known as credits and that allow, among other things, to advance the waiting time until a new flight or to take the exam at a new level.
Honestly, In all my years playing I have never had to resort to these micropayments. I precisely believe that the magic of this game is that you don’t get everything quickly and despite not paying, it gives me a few games every day.
Download on Android (Google Play) | Download on iOS (App Store)
His promotion mechanics are the key to everything
It is convenient to start by explaining what exactly Airline Commander consists of and in short puts us in the shoes of an inexperienced commercial flight pilot. For this we must start with the most basic, which are the takeoff and landing mechanics, handling the basic controls.
we must go passing level exams which are the ones that will allow us not only to fly bigger and better planes, but also to access new controls. In the same way, the game habitually puts us in emergency situations like suddenly running out of an engine, the plane’s flaps not working or our GPS indicator breaking.
It should be said that the game has Realistic control knobs that make us immerse more in the game. Of course, as we already said, not all of them are available first, since you will have to continue advancing in the game to unlock the rest. In fact, it’s logical, because it makes little sense that they put all the controls on us from the start without knowing what use they are and without being necessary during the first levels.
Removing the level exams, the main mechanic of the game is to fly trading machines from one place to another, for which we will obtain different rewards. These will allow us to progress both in our racing career and in improving our fleet of machines.
Within these flights, we find different modalities: single takeoff, full takeoff, single landing, full landing, and full flight. In the “simple” tasks we are only allowed to work on the takeoff/landing runway, while in the “complete” tasks we have the entire process until arriving/leaving the terminal car park.
and watch out It is not as easy as it looks. That “land as you can” does not apply here. And if not, let the flight attendant speak to us through pop-ups telling us how the landing was. If she tells us that we almost died, she exaggerates, but we still won’t get full marks. That everything goes perfectly is the best to obtain the maximum points.
Something to know is that there are not always tasks available; generally there are 3 that are renewed every 30 minutes. And this is where the magic of the game that I have referred to in previous lines comes in: not being able to get everything at the moment hooks.
Challenges and special events to liven up the wait
Although what is detailed above is what advances the game, the truth is that there are other different mechanics in the game. The first of these are the daily challenges, that allow us to face players from all over the world to top the ranking in different special missions. From a time trial to land as fast as possible, to landings as close to a point as possible. And of course, with rewards if we finish among the first.
The special events are the latest of the game and with which we have been working for years, since in the main menu we were always intrigued by a “Coming Soon” message. This is an online mode in which we can also face other players, but being able to choose the tasks and the progress so that they allow us to climb in a global ranking.
Similarly, add daily, weekly and monthly missions that have to be fulfilled to obtain rewards. They range from signing a certain number of contracts with airlines on a monthly basis, to simpler and quicker challenges to meet, such as filming daily or spending a small number of minutes inside the cabin.
While these are also limited by time and/or credits, they are a good pastime. for those long moments in which we do not have any main mission. In fact, personally I must admit to having ‘stung’ a lot with these modalities. My record, however, is to have finished fourth in the world ranking (something is something).
As always, not everything is perfect
I consider not exaggerating when I say that Airline Commander has me in love as a mobile game. However, I would be very sorry not to stand out the bad points of the game. That he has them. Wow if you have them.
The first of them is the most obvious: surface graphics are not his forte. In fact, you will see that you can fly over cities, seas and forests that are nothing more than images from Google Maps (or another similar one) that look very pixelated. In my opinion, I think the rest of the game’s attractions make up for it, but this is by far its weakest point. Nor are the airport structures entirely realistic.
Another point against the game is that It doesn’t have many bugs, but when they appear they are very tedious. I have experienced a common case in long flights, which are already longer tasks than usual, but sometimes they take forever when due to some strange bug they become flights that last hours. They don’t quite reach the flight hours they would have in real life, but they don’t fall far behind. And no, I’m not exaggerating.
Another common bug I have noticed especially on Android (on iOS it was only a couple of times). The calibration of the mobile is key and it is assumed that while the home screen loads the game already calibrates the sensors so that the turns and other actions are consistent during the games. It even has a button in the pause menu that allows you to calibrate it. However, on more than one occasion I had to close and reopen the game because it was not well calibrated and notice how I lost control of the flight. Luckily, in recent times it seems to be more polished.
As I have said before, my conclusion is that the negative part wins over the positive. Airline Commander won’t make the most lovers of flight simulation games fall in love, but the casual ones will. In fact, I think it’s a good gateway for those who want to start playing more demanding video games in this field.
For me, the slow forward mechanic is worth everything. Having to examine ourselves to progress and that this implies having accumulated many hours of flight time on our backs gives the context of the game greater realism. If we add to this that work continues to improve and bring new challenges to the video game, I think the four years that I have been hooked will fall short. Here’s to many more!
