Altitude

Shooters are definitely more fun in multiplayer, especially when they involve a bit of skill and practice in order to come out on top. However, although incredible graphics and realistic physics engines do help a lot with the atmosphere and the overall fun factor, they are not always required in order to have a good time, as it was repeatedly proven by a variety of games throughout the years.

Altitude is the type of game that may appear to be just some sort of flash spinoff designed for children and extremely casual players, but it is actually a very well-thought out experiment that can get you hooked from the first few minutes of gameplay. Moreover, it is both simple and intricate at the same time, since you can play it casually and not worry about a thing, or you can practice a lot and get really good at it, in order to stand out in multiplayer.

Speaking of which, the multiplayer component is basically the centerpiece around which the entire game was created, although you are not by any means forced to play with other people if you do not want to. There are bots you can practice with in offline modes, which, although may not rise to the same skill level as human opponents, can still keep you entertained for as long as you wish.

To avoid getting boring, Altitude comes with a lot of different game modes, such as free-for-all deathmatch, an interesting version of football and a base destruction mode, in which you have to use rockets in order to blow up the enemy base. All of these modes require practice in order to get good at, but they can also be fun the first time around, since the concepts are quite simple and the plane controls are pretty easy to grasp.

On a related note, the gameplay is about as arcade as it can get, although inertia does have a bit of an impact on the overall experience. Hence, the planes can stall if you are not careful and they quickly crumble if you run into walls, although you can pick up health kits in order to restore your hitpoints. Visually, the game is very artsy and colorful, but the engine is 2D and you definitely should not expect too much from it.

In the end, Altitude really is a game that can catch you in its spell, thanks to the intuitive and fun gameplay, the multitude of game modes and the simple mechanics that just feel right. Moreover, there are plenty of players keeping the servers alive and a lot of potential friends just waiting for you.