I’m not about to let a little thing like gravity get me down. I couldn’t care less if this flock of geese-shaped aircraft barrels into the hills down below, for Iknowfor a fact that, although the stubbornness is more than likely overshadowing the bitter reality of the situation, what I have in my hands isn’t just a shoddy yoke, but a structurally sound cockpit born from a magnificent home-brewed blueprint. Perhaps I’m in over my head, or maybe I’m relying on the optimist within to guide this tube of mismatched components to its runway. Inmymind, if I can pilot a Boeing 747 from Manchester to Los Angeles inMicrosoft Flight Simulator 2024,then there’s nothing to say that I can’t transport some cargo from one pocket of a seemingly idyllic land to another without bending the laws of aviation. Either way, I’m about to find out.
I’m glad, in ways, that this isn’t quite as perplexing asMicrosoft Flight Simulator.Don’t get me wrong, ithasits own rules for you to adhere to—how you juggle cargo, weight distribution, fuel efficiency, and travel limits, for instance. But these rules, although put in place to add a little extra complexity to the game’s overall gameplay experience, aren’t necessarily insurmountable, much less a stone’s throw from being borderline impossible. No, what youhavehere, really, is something of a beginner-friendly flight sim that, while not as authentic as itsMicrosoftoffspring, makes a genuine attempt to alternate between two professions: piloting, and mechanical engineering.
If you’d like to know more aboutAviassemblyand it’s recent release on PC,then be sure to buckle in and soar with us a while longer. We’re taking this one to the moon.
Fly Me to the Moon
As the saying goes, it isn’t so much about the destination as it is thejourney.And as cheesy as that may sound, it is a fitting choice forAviassembly.Unlike your average flight simulation game, here you have the opportunity to not only manuallypilotyour aircraft across a series of campaign missions, but also tweak your flight plans, as well as install new parts to elevate weight requirements and other intricate specifications to ensure the best possible outcome of each mission. This sounds all rather straightforward on paper — and it is, provided that you make the appropriate adjustments to cater to the task at hand, that is.
The bulk of the campaign is spread across a series of delivery jobs, with the vast majority of them requiring you to transport medicine, batteries, and other precious cargo from one location to the next. Before each job, you have the option tobuildyour aircraft—a process that, while not always structurally plausible, allows you to add and customize key components, such as the wings, propellers, and cargo hold. And this is where the most notable challenge comes into play: how tobuildyour plane to fit the needs of the client. For example, if you have the task of transporting heavier cargo over a longer distance, then naturally, you would need to ensure that you have enough fuel, and that you travel along a flight path that avoids any unnecessary air traffic or aerial curveballs.
Breaking the Laws of Aviation
There isn’t a huge amount to grasp here, other than the fact that the world has this tendency to bend and twist to make certain flightsfeelmore rickety and uncontrollable. Of course, a lot of these issues tend to occur when you fail to craft a vessel that doesn’t meet the criteria—yet another problem that has its own unique set of rules. Similar to how you construct your aircraft, you also have to maintain the balance, speed, and weight during each phase of the mission. Again, none of these things are particularlydifficult,more so given that the game does make a genuine effort to course you in the right direction and give you the tools to make your journey less cumbersome. Thereisa learning curve, I’ll admit, but lest we forget that this isn’t on the same wavelength asMicrosoft Flight Simulator.
Temperamental flight controls cast aside, the breadth of the experience is a real delight to soar through. And it helps, too, arhat it often refrains from forcing you to tackle death-defying feats or riveting storms. It has a clean, cartoon-like art style too that, while not visually breathtaking from the naked eye, is in receipt of a lot of wholesome set pieces and intricate details. Sure, it lacks sky-high panoramas and a spherical haven for you to gawp at during your travels — but it does make a commendable effort to substitute its minimal visual effects with a light gameplay experience that’s both coherent and enjoyable. And that goes a long way, all things considered.
Verdict
Aviassemblymight not be enough to give the likes ofMicrosoft Flight Simulator 2024a run for its money, but that isn’t to say that it lacks the necessary qualities to be a standout flight simulation game in its league. There’s a solid amount of potential for this aviation-centric world to sprout more wings and tackle even grander clouds, too, and I only hope that, with the right amount of support beneath its wing, it will continue to tap into that potential in future updates, if not with more expansions and crafting blueprints, then a well-oiled rollout of quality-of-life updates for the editor among other patchwork improvements.
If you’re a sucker for any vessel of entertainment that fosters wings and harbors a well-rounded transport-centric career path, then you’re probably going to love a good amount of the weighty cargo that fuels this cozy cockpit. Granted, it won’t be the most authentic flight simulation experience that you’ll ever subject yourself to, but if you enjoy customizable features, light strategic gameplay, and physics-based flying, then I imagine you’ll get a kick out of soaring across the vast open skies in this entry-level love letter to the clouds.
