Air Traffic Chaos

Air Traffic Chaos is the newest in a line of popular "tycoon" job related simulations -- this time placing the player in an airport watchtower, guiding incoming and outgoing flights to their final destinations.

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Air Traffic Chaos puts you in charge of 14 different airlines, each with unique strengths and weaknesses. While managing each airline, you must take into account factors such as weather, traffic and pilot errors. With three levels of difficulty across five airports, the game boasts a total of 15 unique stages. Each stage is set up as a work shift, and it's your job as an air traffic controller to to make it through each shift without causing an accident.

Pros

  • Easy to understand what's going on, nice sound effects and music, includes rumble pack support

Cons

  • Repetitive game play, multi-tasking frustrating

Bottom Line

While the core idea is original enough it never quite takes flight as Air Traffic Chaos proves just about as much fun as lounging around an actual airport watchtower.

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    TBA (AUD)

The novice levels have only four planes to deal with at a time, but as you progress to the harder difficulties in the later levels, the actual "chaos" begins. Each stage has a stress level which represents how happy the airline is with your level of performance. Stress increases according to various factors specific to each flight (the time it takes to taxi, restlessness of the passengers, etc.) If the stress level of all the flights hits a specific level, you fail that stage and have to start from scratch. If you do an outstanding job, however, you can earn up to 16 different merit badges.

Each stage requires the same type of assignments: takeoff, taxi, and landing — all of which can become quite monotonous after a very short time. Once you've cleared the first level you've pretty much seen everything there is to see in Air Traffic Chaos with each following stage simply changing airports, planes, etc. I have to admit, the crashes aren't very satisfying either. Don't get me wrong — I don't want to see it happen in real life, but even ATC's cartoonish digital explosions will leave you yawning. Sorry to burst the bubble for all you crash fans, but the only thing that happens when two planes touch is that the game freezes, kicking you back out to the level recap menu. Um... boom?

Overall, Air Traffic Chaos's controls are simple enough, but that doesn't mean that they're not a pain to navigate. The graphics aren't anything special, and the sound effects are just enough to get the job done. The game's concept is innovative enough, but it can't save Air Traffic Chaos from rising above frustrating mediocrity. Still, if the idea of taking the helm of an air traffic controller interests you, I encourage you to check out the game and see if you can become an ATC Legend.

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