Game Reviews

Pilot Perils review - A charming if repetitive flier

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iOS
| Pilot Perils
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Pilot Perils review - A charming if repetitive flier
|
iOS
| Pilot Perils

There are lots of games that have you tapping the screen to guide an avatar through twisty, hazard-strewn worlds. Too many to mention, in fact.

What matters in distinguishing them is the nature of those worlds and the precise mechanics of moving through them.

Or to put it another way, it ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.

Steampunk rocker

Pilot Perils does its familiar thing with a fair amount of distinctive style. You're guiding a cute little steampunk pilot through a fantasy world filled with rusty spikes and crashing boulders.

The control system takes a few moments to master. holding left or right on the screen propels you in that direction, but in order to gain height you'll need to hold both sides together.

As such, moving through the game's twisty levels is a delicate juggling act, as you constantly intersperse your lateral movements with the odd blip of vertical boost.

Pilot Perils's flight physics are readable and natural enough to make for an enjoyable system.

Grounded

Applying those tricky controls as the levels close in and the challenges grow more complex is what Pilot Perils is all about.

It's all about making a quick decision whether to fly through a spike-filled run to pick up that component collectible, and then executing it.

From the second world, you'll need to pick up boxes to activate doors or explode obstructions, which makes manoeuvring even trickier.

Despite these challenges, Pilot Perils does grow a little repetitive. The levels keep coming with only minimal variation. Change does come, but not quite quickly enough, and when you're failing and retrying so very often it can get particularly tiresome.

The menus and collectibles system also seems a little unclear and even buggy. I'm still not sure what you're actually supposed to be achieving by collecting all this stuff.

It's shame such a large proportion of the screen is given over to control space, too. It makes the actual playing field feel a little constrained, and the whole thing seems oddly dated as a result.

Pilot Perils provides a fun way to fly through twisty levels, with a tricky by rewarding flight system and a neat steampunk aesthetic. However, it needs to tighten up its framework and vary things up a little if it's to really hold our attention with the best.

Pilot Perils review - A charming if repetitive flier

Pilot Perils provides an entertainingly tricky flight system and a pleasant steampunk world to fly through, but it's a little too repetitive and clunkily framed for its own good
Score
Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.