AMC Games has just launched its title Airplane Mode which is an economy class passenger simulation that lets you be the passenger in a plane for either 2 hours or just about 6 hours, in real-time. Now before you start wondering if this is a joke or not, I had the same thoughts when I first saw the trailer of the game. Then again, I thought there might be more to it that the trailer wasn’t showing. But boy was I wrong, and the trailer was not lying. This is my review of Airplane Mode which just got released a few days ago, where I gave it a shot on PC.
The game begins with a very minimalistic looking main menu which the two options of flight choices to choose from and the game settings for you to tweak with at the top. The two flight options are divided by the duration of the flight themselves, where mind you, the time duration is in real-time. This means that if you choose the 2-hour flight option, the game will run for exactly 2 hours in real-time. The same goes for the 5 hours 45-minute flight, which is even longer. Nonetheless, whichever flight option you choose, you will find yourself in the economy seat of the airplane for the set amount of time for the duration of the flight.
There is nothing really to talk about for Airplane Mode. The game has to be a joke that the developers of the creator Hosni Auji might have thought of and wanted to see it materialize. As a passenger in a plane, stuck in the seat for a pretty long time, you have just a handful of things you can do. But don’t get too excited when I say “activities,” as these range from reading a book, watch the in-flight entertainment, peer out the window, or look over to the passenger in your row, write a book, etc. Nothing to get worked up about but be stuck in the plane, maybe call up the flight attendant for a drink or visit the lavatory. That is about it!
Apart from buckling yourself in the seat, looking out the window as your plane taxis towards the runway for take-off, you can find everything that goes on in a real-world flight. The flight attendant comes over to remind you about buckling yourself if, the PA announcements over the radio briefing you about the flight, destination, or whatever the pilot seems appropriate informing his passengers. You, on the other hand, can check out the in-flight entertainment on the TV ahead of you. The attention to detail in the minor things is something that I would commend, but again, it still isn’t something to get excited about.
The in-flight entertainment TV allows you to watch movies, play games, track the flight, or use the in-flight messaging system. The movies I thought were pretty entertaining as they are real movies integrated into the game, allowing you to watch the classics. However, I chose the Merry Melodies –The Wabbit who Came to Supper cartoon featuring Bugs Bunny. The movies are full length, which is not real trouble considering that the time of the flight gives you an ample amount of time to go through them pretty easily. There is also a fully functional remote, that you might be familiar with, that allows you to control the TV, raise the volume, turn it over to type messages. It is a fully functional remote control iconic to the real-world planes.
The other activity related item in your bag, which contains the headsets that you can connect to the TV or your mobile device, a book that you can read, a notebook that you can write stuff in, a pen to write in the notebook. A charging cable for your mobile, and medicine pills. Each of the items can be used, even the charging cable that you can connect to the USB port on the TV. The pen and notebook allow you to write stuff in the empty notebook if you want. Read a full book that you carry around in the bag as well, while the medicine pills had really no effect on me after consuming 4 pills at the same time.
The last item you can use is your mobile phone, which comes with songs, podcasts, pictures of your cats, and an app that you can use with the plane’s WIFI. You also have the plane information card, a vomit bag, and a magazine that you can read. If you are wondering if there is anything you can do besides just being in one seat, well you kind of can. The only option you have is to use the lavatory or toilet when it is empty. The lavatory has the toilet seat with the iconic flushing sound of an airplane toilet, the sink that you can turn on, and the toilet paper that you can use.
Now to talk about any gameplay issues, I never really ran into anything major, and the game ran pretty much as smoothly it is intended to run. At times, a hand or two would glitch from the front row and through the seats, but other than that, the gameplay performance was pretty much OK. The ambient sound of the plane was kind of accurately portrayed with the engine sounds, the passengers coughing occasionally, the deep humming engine sound when cruising high in the air.
Final Verdict
Airplane Mode is something that left me scratching my head, trying to make sense of what I played, what I was expecting in the first place, and whoever thought that it was a good idea. The game is pretty much an airplane passenger simulator that has you stuck in a seat of a plane pretty much like in real life, for a really long time. You quickly get used to all the activities you can do, like watching movies, or reading a book, before getting annoyed and quitting the game altogether. I guess the type of game that Airplane Mode is, someone somewhere would always be wanting a game like this that simulates a long flight with nothing to do but wait for it to end. I would have liked to see some more activities other than the mundane tasks. Like maybe walk around the plane, visit the bar, or even fly as a first-class passenger with the full services. But maybe that would be asking too much from a game that seems to be a joke in the first place and is far from being serious.
Final Score: 4.0/10
