To be honest, I was a little emotional when I was playing the game "Air Combat" recently. As an old player who has been playing all the way since the Symbian era, I have seen too many game types rise and fall. From the time when you used the arrow keys to "masturbate" to today's touch screen sliding, the technology has improved, but some things always feel like they have changed. But this game does bring me back a little bit of the feeling I had back then.
Let's talk about the game itself first. To be honest, "Air Combat Storm" does a good job of restoring the thrill of arcade shooting on the mobile phone. The sliding operation is indeed simple, and you can get started in one second, but the barrage design and level difficulty clearly leave room for veteran players - the excitement of "almost dodging" reminds me of the afternoons when I spent money in arcades to renew my life. Moreover, it retains the classic modes of plot adventure and endless challenges, while also adding PVP battles and BOSS challenges, which is a combination of old and new. What surprised me the most was the graphics. Although it was a science fiction theme, the details were not cheaply handled, and the fighter upgrade system was deep enough that I would not be able to figure it out in a month.
However, I would like to talk about the mobile game trends reflected behind this. In recent years, the mobile game market has clearly been "returning". In the past few years, all the games were dominated by card-drawing, MMO, and automatic battles, which made players want to be treated as idle gang members. But if you look at the fact that a hard-core shooting game like "Air Combat" can be relaunched and even add PVP, it shows that players' aesthetics are getting tired - everyone is beginning to miss the pure gameplay of "relying on hand speed and reaction". In particular, it is a free model with zero threshold to enter, which is very smart. To be honest, today's players are actually very willing to pay, but they hate being tricked. As long as the game is good enough, even if the in-app purchase unlocks fighter skins or barrage special effects, everyone is willing to pay for it.
In addition, the improvement of mobile phone performance has also given space for this type of games. In the past, the "thunder and lightning" on Symbian could only be counted as pixel blocks, but now the barrage effect of "Air Combat" can be as delicate as particle level, and the accuracy of the touch screen is far from what it was back then. In addition, small and medium-sized manufacturers such as developer Beijing Fastbox have also begun to try classic themes, which shows that the industry no longer only focuses on social games with large DAU, but is willing to leave room for medium and heavy players.
Of course, I am also worried about whether this trend can last. After all, PVP battles require real-time matching, and servers and balance are critical. I hope the development team can keep up in the future. However, as an old player, it is very gratifying to see that there are still people on the market who insist on making games that are "not tiring to play, but challenging".
Finally, I would like to say something to young players: If you are tired of those "pseudo-competitions" that automatically run after a few clicks on the screen, you might as well try "Air Combat Storm". Even if it's just for fun, it's worth it. After all, the moment when your finger slides across the screen is the most authentic joy of mobile gaming. 🕹️