Da Vinci Flight Review

Costas Stephanides ’s Review

A fun flying sim that takes much from the Red Bull challenge.

Well, I say flying sim, we are talking flying machines from 500 years ago drafted by Leonardo Da Vinci.

Along with painting works of religious art with or without hidden meanings, Leonardo Da Vinci was also a bit of an inventor and had designed early forms of flying machines (at least on the sketch page).

Thanks to some expert 3D modelling and finite element analysis, Breakpoint have brought Da Vinci's plans to life on your mobile. Ok, so I might have stretched the truth about the 3D modelling and the FEA but they have created a game where you control a big bearded man who likes to run off the edge of a pier with a choice of flying contraptions strapped to his back.

Rather than just being a simple casual game where you just have to control your altitude (Flying Toaster, Elf in Forest, etc), Breakpoint have tried to add a little extra where you have to control the run up as well. The run-up is there for you to get some power from your jump and charge up your power bar. When you start the level, a pair of Newton's balls will knock together at the top of the screen and you have to rhythmically tap the button to keep the balls bouncing and build up your power bar. When you get to the end of the pier just double tap 2/up and you will leap off into oblivion. Press 2 again to get some lift and aim for the bottles which replenish your energy and stay clear of the seagulls. Within a minute or so you will find yourself getting wet in the Tiber and it's game over.

That's where most games would stop and you would be left with a rather monotonous game. Da Vinci Flight has a few tricks up its sleeve. Firstly you can upload your furthest flight and see how you compare. Frankly without an online high score table, these games are pretty pointless. To make things a little bit more interesting you even have several flying machines to choose from (although one doesn't have any real benefit over the others - I think).

The graphics in the game are pretty cool and the ships themselves look authentically based on Da Vinci's sketches. The controls are easy but a little slow to react. The level and the position of the power ups are the same each time you play so it is just a case of learning their locations and trying to get into the rhythm of it all. It is one of those frustrating games where you just want to play once more and beat your score. The games are quick to play and the more you play, the better you get.