Play NYC: The Art Of Flight Review
by Frank Martin
There’s been a certain trend in gaming: taking a relatively simple concept used during the early days of the industry and exploding the idea into something completely intense and action-packed. It’s been done with racing games, platformers, and even something as simple as Pong or Tetris. One game demoed at Play NYC does this with Asteroids. The Art of Flight has the same basic notion as Asteroids — in that it’s a multi-directional shooter in space — but it has so many added features and mechanics that it’s hard not to get absorbed in its play style.
Like Asteroids, the goal of The Art of Flight is to shoot down objects that are coming after the player. It also involves dodging objects that can’t be destroyed while also unlocking power-ups, like a boost system so players can get out of the way quickly. Also, there’s a shield mechanic allowing players to absorb certain types of energy and shoot them back at antagonistic objects. This doesn’t even take into account the fact that the player can add multiple ships to be controlled in tandem, which makes for some very intense action as the objects to avoid start to pile up.
The game essentially features two different modes. One is a duet mode that allows for two players. And of course, there’s a single player variation in which the goal is to stay alive as long as possible. Like most small team indie games, there isn’t much of a story or narrative to get thrown into. But the game can get quite addictive. The art style is simple but intense, which draws the player in just enough to get lost in the action. And that’s the ultimate goal of a game like this. It’s not meant to be some grand experience. Instead, it’s simply a mesmerizing time for the player to get locked in a zone of fun intensity.
