Quite a number of real-life games have entered cyberspace, giving gamers a taste of what life would be like if they pursued a certain career field.

Another such title has thrown its hat into the ring – Air Command 3.0 from Joe’s Games and Shrapnel Games. The title might imply that this game is an air combat sim, but nothing could be further from reality. This isn’t about combat at all, though in one sense you could say it is about claiming air space.

Nope, this program is about the life of an air traffic controller. Think you have what it takes to sit behind the radar screen, watching blips enter from the edges and try to juggle a multitude of aircraft successfully? This game will test that.

The screen is a single radar screen glimpse of one of 10 major international airports. Yes, there is an airport editor for you to create your own special place, or you can choose from Chicago’s O’Hare, L.A.X, Atlanta, Boston, New York City or San Francisco. Or perhaps your tastes run more toward the truly ‘international’ international airports, such as Amsterdam, London, Paris or Rome. There are five difficulty levels, from easy through to hard and custom.

From that point on, you launch the game and try to keep everyone flying and happy. You will have to tell planes to adjust altitude, or when to take off or land. The screen shows a main radar overlay of the area, and on the right there is the planes that are waiting to take off, or in your air space. You click on the planes, issue the instructions with the controller at the bottom of the right hand side (sorry, this isn’t voice recognition software so you can’t actually speak to the pilots), and hope they do what you have instructed them to do. More planes will enter your airspace, so you must keep an eye on each, or – in essence – perform a high-flying juggling act. Remember planes don’t have an infinite fuel source and by the time they are arriving at your airport, their supply is starting to get low.

The game sounds easy, and at the lowest difficulty level, it isn’t too hard to stay on top. However, once you have the basics down, switch over to the harder levels if you really want to begin to feel the waves of panic reaching for you.

Graphically, this program does not boast anything that will make your eyes drop from their sockets. The audio consists of the type of chatter one would expect in the controller tower. And just like in real life, this game has a cycle of activity – sometimes heavy, and sometimes light.

There is no tutorial for this game. The best (and only) way you will learn is to jump right in and do it. The manual will give you the basics of the program, but most of the experience is definitely hands-on.

Action-heavy gamers who crave tons of eye candy will pass on this program. Those who enjoy flight sims may find this an entirely new perspective on the flight genre. While Air Command 3.0 isn’t for everyone, there is little doubt that it seemingly captures the spirit and flavor of air traffic controller quite well.

It is appropriate for any age level.

Install: Easy
Make that quick and easy.

Gameplay: 7.
Each game is scored and plays out like a shift in the air control tower. Once you enter a ‘shift’ the action moves along realistically.

Graphics: 7
This is a tough category to score. The graphical elements are not fluff or eye candy, and yet they really do emulate what one would expect to see if sitting in front of the air controller radar screen.

Sound: 7
At times some pilots’ voices sounded a little too mechanical, rather than merely carrying the static-filled tin can effect. But aside from that, the audio track does a nice support job.

Difficulty: 7.5
It has been reported that being an air traffic controller is an extremely stressful vocation. It is easy to see why when the difficulty levels are cranked up.

Concept: 7
This is just one of the games that may be pointing the software entertainment industry in a new direction – ‘real-life’ job experiences without training, or an internship and without endangering anyone. A game like this may direct some into the profession.

Multiplayer: N/A

Overall: 7
A game has to be scored on what it represents and how it does that. In a game such as this, the idea was to re-create the environment of an air traffic controller. In that regard, this program did just that well. Will it appeal to a wide number of players? Probably not. But it is a game that flight sim fans should give a try, if for no other reason that to round out their experience within the genre.