NerdMentality | REVIEW: Air Traffic Chaos

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REVIEW: Air Traffic Chaos

Posted February 16th 2009 by Yshua Machado.

Let me begin by telling you that I'm not like most people. I have a strange obsession with airports and subways or any form of transportation that carries a large mass of people. I'm sure there are a few people out there that feel the same way; whether they enjoy seeing how people from different locations interact or the excitement of taking off in an airplane for the first time. Air Traffic Chaos does not capture many of these emotions for people like myself, nor does it try to. It does prove to be a realistic air traffic control simulation as viewed from a larger standpoint.

In this game you play as a handsome young man and if you couldn't tell from the large print on the boxart, you are an air traffic controller! That's right, no FAA-approved training programs or prior experience is needed in this game, though an optional tutorial is available. Besides your character who doesn't even look like he's out of high school yet, there are three other non-playable characters that guide you through menus or yell at you when you mess up. And like our air traffic controller they are also noseless chibi characters who don't look a day over thirteen.

ATC is set around five real airports from Japan including Fukuoka, the unique Kansai Intl, Chubu Intl, Tokyo Intl, and New Chitose airport. I'd like to note that your instructor in the game is also called New Chitose (Atarashi Chitose) and just as the airport was built in 1991, it wouldn't surprise me if she was as well. The game is based off a popular series in Japan, which explains the selections of airports available. If a North American version were to release in the future I would personally like to see airports such as Phoenix, Pittsburgh and Denver Intl on its map. Not only for their cool design structure, but it would feel less foreign to most gamers.

But enough about airports, on to the game's presentation. Everything is laid out very nicely. There is detail everywhere you look in this game even when it's not needed. Every stage tells a specific detail such as the number of runways or the weather you might encounter in the later difficulties. The tutorials also give almost everything a player must know to complete a stage. Under the back button it even says "Goes back 1 screen." The actual airports with their city skylines look good enough. Not quite on par with most DS games, but similar to a game like Final Fantasy Tactics Advance in terms of graphics and layout of the airports. The snow and rain effects look average at best. You'll only notice these as you advance to a novice or expert ranking of a stage.

As you start off in your selected city you'll see the airport and planes on the top screen with columns for giving commands with the stylus on the bottom. The left half can hold up to four arrivals, and the right is for departures. The means of getting your planes to their destination or scheduling their landing is pretty straightforward. It's all a matter of choosing wisely out of the options given to you. For example, you can either choose an action like selecting a runway, or if things get too hectic there is always a hold option to delay actions. This sounds pretty easy at first, but gets difficult as you're nearing the end of your shift.

Almost every stage begins with a plane traveling down a blue line from a higher altitude not shown on the screen where it then levels off in a green rectangle awaiting a command. From here you can either choose to speed up or slow down, depending on the proximity of other planes. After that you determine a clear runway where your plane descends upon one of the two red lines from the green rectangular path, and then you make sure there is a clear runway again before landing. You then proceed to determine which gate, out of two to four usually, to dock in and then confirm any gate that is not full. This gets you a lot of points which doesn't particularly matter unless you like to beat high scores. Departures are slightly easier, requiring you to confirm the route, taxi onto a runway, choose runway, clear for takeoff, and earn more points for contacting the departure when the option is given just before flying away.

Now this sounds pretty simple when you have one or two planes, and it usually is in the beginning. But I'm not joking when I say this is a multitasker's heaven/nightmare later in your shift, especially in the expert levels. This game is full of minor distractions. For example, when a flight arrives, it shows where it's coming from (say Seoul at 10:15) which has no relation to actual gameplay. There's also the mutterings of the pilots talking back and forth after you give commands that scrolls by pretty quickly with jargon like, "Japanlines decrease speed 200 knots, over." "Roger." This part does add to gameplay in that you can not give commands while people are speaking. At Chubu International you'll see the scrolling text which tells whether to park in one of the domestic or international gates. Then there's just little things that happen like a plane colliding on takeoff when another is landing. Believe it or not planes will also taxi right into each other if you tell them to go to a gate that's already full. It also takes an excessive amount of time for people to board a plane before takeoff which clogs up the traffic for incoming flights. There's no need to argue over who gets the window seat, just hurry the hell up already!

The music in ATC is just fine. For a game that requires concentration at particular times, there isn't a need for over-the-top lyrics or sound effects. I'd best describe it as light bubbly techno background music perfect for flying. And while it's difficult to tell the menu music apart from the airport stages, you'll find nuances in some tracks. Chubu International has such a smooth bass line and jumpy beat it's hard not to like it. Alternatively, the music used for Tokyo International is slightly nerve-wracking with one of the darker tones in the game.

The five stages should last the average person five to ten hours depending on how many tries it takes to complete a level. However, I doubt many people would have the patience to make it through some expert stages without a plane collision. Besides the main game, there's not a whole lot of extras, being marketed as a budget game and all. There's only an ATC library with twelve useful terms as well as your current status as an air traffic controller with some stats. It also includes an option to share high scores locally with a friend.

Closing comments:

Air Traffic Chaos is a nice little game while it lasts. Certain people may not want to put up with some repetitive issues, or the difficulty later on. But come on, $20, no experience necessary, and perhaps thousands of nonexistent people in your control trying to get by without a potentially unsurvivable mid-air collision. Doesn't that sound fun?

Tags: Nintendo-DS, Air Traffic Chaos