Flight Control Rocket Review

By , on March 20, 2012


Flight Control Rocket
Download on the AppStore
4 out of 5

PROS

  • Golden-era sci-fi theme; fun, energetic and opens up new gameplay avenues.
  • 'Companion' robot system adds room for customization.
  • Endless and 'Odyssey' modes require significantly different skills; timing vs. long-term management.

CONS

  • IAPs slowly squeeze you in to a corner; an oddly aggressive move for a paid App.
  • Buggy audio / music; background music eventually stops and kicks in again seemingly at random.

VERDICT

Firemint take their Flight Control series in to a whole new world filled with sci-fi fantasy fun and pack it with fun and over-the-top ships designed with nothing more in mind but to throw you off your multi-tasking; it's just a shame the shadow of IAP looms in the background and mars the lighthearted mood.


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Despite its oddly phrased name, it's hard not to think of Firemint's classic line-drawing title when you hear about their latest game, Flight Control Rocket. This is clearly no mistake as the game is best described as Flight Control with rockets, but the change of venue and theme has opened up new possibilities for greater levels of challenge.

Initially, this variety is the game's greatest selling point. Players are initially introduced to a basic form of the line-drawing gameplay. Points are scored for safely directing colored vehicles to their corresponding runways by dragging a path for them. A multiplier racks up for each ship of the same color that's docked, though in the unlockable 'Odyssey' mode the bonus is locked to a maximum factor of 5 (albeit disregarding color for this combo).

This is all well and good, but the real fun doesn't start until the game dishes up its range of unique vehicles, including drone-spawning freighters that are a boon if you can clear a long and safe path for them and a conga-line 'snake' of ships that take up considerable space, but are equally important to scoring it big.

As always the game eventually reaches a frantic stage where your capacity for multi-tasking is overwhelmed, resulting in a crash, but thankfully the game features a forgiving three-strikes and you're out 'life' system. Should you fail completely you can cash in any coins earned to continue playing.

However, this is where the insidious side of the game rears its ugly head. Much like any App these days with virtual currency, there are IAP's to boost the coffers. This isn't so terrible in and of itself, but it's hard not to feel as though you're being squeezed ever so slowly in to a corner where money invariably needs to be exchanged.

Unlockable 'robots' range from reasonable, to exorbitant in their cost and while they can be earned with time, the ones you do have available need a separate virtual currency (batteries) to remain active, making them a cash-sink all on their own.

'Rocket' has great new ideas and the robot system adds further opportunities for customized play, but it's hard to escape the looming threat of running out of coins or needing to 'grind' to have a chance at besting your high-score, bringing down an otherwise excellent update to the Flight Control series.

Screenshots

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