Time to take off with Air Traffic Chaos for the DS!
Other Platforms: None
Release Date: September 9th 2008
Genre: Strategy
Number of Players: 1
ERSB Rating: Everyone
I like to think when you dive into a game that it is suppose to relax you and give you a break from real life stress. Most games are ok for doing this and than there is others that decide to try to throw a wrench into life and make it more difficult. Air Traffic Chaos seems to do the second of these options, and the thing is you can't put it down. Some friends of mine at the CCU were the folks to get me to try this game and was pleasantly surprised to find it on the shelf of my local game store. ATC brings a different kind of game to the table and i applaud who ever had the idea.
For a game like ATC, a story can be a difficult thing to grasp. Basically you have the power to bring in planes as well as send them out. With not much of a story besides that lets roll into the meat of the game that will attract you because it won't be the epic love story or princess kidnapping that grabs your attention.
There can be a lot to say about such a simple game and I will touch on most of it, however some needs to be found out for yourself. The game gives you 5 airports to play, each of which has 3 levels of difficulty that you need to complete the first, to get the second unlocked. As you play through you will find out that some airports, all that are based loosely on Japanese ports, may have civilian and military gates and runways. This can throw you off if your not expecting it.
When a plane heads on your screen to land, you can decide its speed, tell it what runway to land, clear it for landing, once its landed you can choose a gate to send it to. Planes departing you must confirm the route, clear to taxi, clear for take-off and again confirm departure. With all these options you must not have planes collide in the air or ground or you restart the level. This can be difficult thing to get timing down as you don't want your planes sitting on the runway or to long in the air. The longer this happens, the higher your stress bar goes and you can fail the level.
Other factors such as the wind or certain planes needing to go to certain gates can add to the difficulty. Timing is everything and for the most part, once you figure that out, and with a little memory you can master the stages fairly easily.
A major gripe about the game and this can be said for the type of game ATC plays out as, is the long moments of text scrolling across the screen for each plane. This made me a little bored and sometimes careless on what was going on. The shortness of the game is a real killer. 15 stages to master and the first 2 in each airport are for the most part pretty simple. The last stage can be a challenge and frustrating as well. The graphics are simple yet they do the job very nicely. Gates and runways are easy to read and make the game run smoothly. As does the sound which grabs your attention with the screeching of wheels landing and the roar of the power from the engines taking off. Think of the music as a Sim-city or other strategy/sim type of game. One overlooked item that is utilized in ATC is the rumble pack add-on for the DS. Pop it in and feel the vibration as things happen around the airports. In my mind, not enough DS games use this little tool. High five for that.
I really enjoy ATC even if it was a little short for my liking. It brought a fun challenge to the table that was a good bargain for the price. A few downers make this game a good but not great addition to my DS collection but will be a game I replay later on after a few months. With its cute graphics, snappy sound, and overall "Oh my goodness, my planes collided" type of feel. It will keep you wanting more until you complete the game. Overall a 8.0 is in order for Air Traffic Chaos.