Flight Control HD: an iPad App Review

[caption id="attachment_2361" align="alignleft" width="203" caption="Flight Control HD, Image Credit: Firemint"][/caption]

With the release of the Apple iPad comes the release of the Firemint Flight Control HD for iPad. The already loved iPhone app that sold more than two million copies, making it one of the most popular iPhone apps ever.

The new iPad version is even better! In this app your job is the air traffic controller. You have to make sure that the planes that are coming in have a place to land and that they don't land on top of each other.

This version for the iPad comes with three new high definition airfields as well as all the classic maps from the iPhone version (Original, Beach, Carrier and Outback). It also has a new Snow airfield that has a variable wind direction.

The high-quality graphics of this version for the iPad make the app more lovable than ever before.

Flight Control HD also comes with two player multiplayer over Wi-Fi network or Bluetooth. This allows you to play with a friend (or stranger) who has an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. You can also do a battle on a split-screen in the competitive "versus" mode on one iPad. With this you can send your planes to capture aircraft from your opponent. However, you risk losing them if your mission fails.

In the version for the iPad, you can track your performance with detailed statistics and you can check how your skills rank with in-game leaderboards and ranks.

Flight Control HD automatically saves your game when you are interrupted so you can resume exactly where you left off when your restart the app. This is good for those with busy lives who manage to catch a minute of their day to take some time off and control some planes.

You can also enjoy songs from your iPod music library while you play.

In addition to doing a battle on the same iPad, two players can also select a co-operative multi-player mode where you can team up and share your landing duties with your friend.

The iPad version comes with beautiful high-qualitiy graphic throughout the game as well as an all-new menu. Flight Control HD also comes with updated graphics for the Classic maps.

There are a lot of good things about this app, however there are some things that need to be ironed out to make is a little better.

1. There should be some more airfields. There are only nine and you soon find yourself wishing for more.

2. Multiplayer mode doesn't work with the HD fields so that should be fixed.

3. The 3-D airfield makes it hard to recognize the planes and helicopters because the colors are not as bright with the 3D glasses on.

[caption id="attachment_2362" align="alignleft" width="478" caption="A Screen Shot of Flight Control HD, Image Credit: Firemint"][/caption]

An idea that would be excellent would be to allow users to make their own maps within the app and be able to share them with their friends or on a special store or something. This would make there be a lot more maps a lot faster and people would love to do it.

This version of Flight Control was designed for the iPad so it is only compatible with iPhone OS 3.2 or later.

This app costs $4.99 and despite its minor flaws, it's definitely worth buying. You can have a lot of fun with it and it is 10x more exciting that the iPhone version because there are so much more planes and helicopters on the screen at one time.

[rating: 4/5]
This is a great app and it is a lot of fun, however the above mentioned issues could use some work. Besides that, happy controlling!

You can purchase Flight Control HD Here.