First Look: Get airborne with Aera for iPhone

Aera is a new flight game [iTunes store] from iChromo with beautifully rendered graphics and some challenging game-play. I wouldn't exactly call it a flight simulator, as your control of the aircraft is limited. You can't bank left or right, but you do control your up and down pitch. The game is priced at US$2.99 for the iPhone and iPod touch.

Think of Aera as a 2D shooter with exceptionally good graphics and addictive missions that can draw you deeply into the game.

There are several different mission types. In some, you collect points by flying the plane into floating objects, and in others you need to avoid those floating objects. There are also missions where you have to do both, as well as dogfights and aerobatic flights.

Because the controls do not work in the way other flight games work, it's helpful to go through the quick in-game tutorial so you know how the game works. If you try to exit the tutorial and just start playing, you'll be brought back to the tutorial until you have finished it. It really is necessary, because you'll never be able to fly successfully without going through it.

The game also features multiplayer options for other owners of the sim who are on the same wireless network. Aera also features video replay, allowing you to watch yourself crash and burn.
Aera is not a game you will play twice and discard. It takes skill and some time to learn the fine points of how things work. I haven't seen more impressive 3D graphics in any other iPhone game; Aera is that good.

One feature I'd like to see added to Aera is more views of the plane, especially an in-cockpit view. Currently, you are always outside the plane, as if viewing from an aircraft behind and off to the side of your plane.

I had one crash (program, not airplane) where the game froze up and the sound continued to play even when I exited the sim. In order to get things back under control, I had to restart my iPhone. I only saw that bad behavior once; the rest of the time, through many runs, the game behaved well.

In summary, Aera is not really a flight sim, but the graphics and game-play are first rate. You can see a video of Aera in action here.

Visit the gallery below to view some actual screenshots of Aera in action.


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