Ever wanted to fly a drone but couldn’t afford one? Well, Dueking Studio have the solution with ACRODRIFT FPV Drone Simulator (or ACRODRIFT for short, to save my typing). Now you can fly in exotic places from the comfort of your own gaming chair. No hefty repair bills for wrapping it around a telegraph pole, no being swept out to sea by the wind, and no being attacked by rampant seagulls; it’s a win-win situation.
ACRODRIFT – Shooting to success or drifting into the mire
So as I do not own a drone, and have only limited experience of flying one, my comparisons to real life are going to be limited. I have decided to take the approach that I will see this purely as a game and not a step towards taking drone flying to the physical level. Will I be entertained? That is the key question. Right, better get on with my missions.
Gameplay
When playing ACRODRIFT, you have a choice: you can play on a keyboard, or you can play with a controller. There is a third option of playing with an actual remote control controller as well, for the serious droner. There are only two ways to play: free play or missions. Free play just gives you time to get used to the controls, and the missions are either races or collections. The races involve flying through checkpoints, and the collections involve bursting a number of balloons.
Plan A: plug in my controller. Sorted! Here is where the issues began. I simply can not fly a drone. Whilst I appreciate the simulator should improve my flying, this seemed not to be the case. The good news is that everything is customisable: the controls, the sensitivity, the view, the drone itself. I tried them all, and I full-time suck at them all. What makes it so hard? (or am I just rubbish?) Well, as you may be aware, drones fly like helicopters; spinny things keep it all moving. Want to go up or down, increase the throttle. If you want to tilt forwards, push the stick forwards. Want to bank left or right, then move the stick left or right. If you want to spin left or right, then move the other stick left or right.
Sounds relatively easy when I explain it like that, making myself out to be basically incompetent, so read on. Want to turn around a corner, you have to get the speed and tilt both on point to stay at the same height. You also have to get the spin and the banking right, so all four aspects have to be spot on, or you’re off into the sky, or down into the ground. I must confess that I don’t think there is a single piece of scenery that I haven’t hit (at pace).
Call in the troops
After one particular disaster and turning the air a deeper shade of blue with some choice expletives, I heard a voice come from behind me. My fifteen-year-old son had overheard my overwhelming burst of self-deprecation. So after explaining what some new words that he hadn’t heard before meant, I passed on the challenge. So will he be better than me after being forced to “go on then, you do better”? And he did. He was by no means good, but then the bar I set was not even off the ground. After a short discussion, we concluded that he was less bad than me, a mighty accolade in my house.
Damn, this is a hard game, or should I say simulation. Whilst I appreciate that it is in early access, there wasn’t really a lot to do, and there is a whole lot more that can be added to encourage improvements. There’s no reward system, no purchasing better parts, no leaderboards, no leagues- so much scope and all of it missing. It’s essentially like playing golf without your friends.
What’s good?
The different drones handle differently, so try and match the drone to your playing style. There’s not a drone that is built like a full-on tank yet; that’s the one I need. Top speed of just moving and turns like an ice skater.
The menus are easy to navigate, and it’s all very self-explanatory; the only hard part is flying.
The weather at time of day is a very nice touch and looks really good. You can even add fog if you want more of a challenge. I did not add fog; I did not need more of a challenge.
What’s not so good?
I have covered most of this, but it would be good to have replays as an option to see where it all went wrong. The FPV aspect makes it hard to see where mistakes are made. Flying along and then clipping some scenery that you haven’t seen. The violent response to a collision seems over the top, often leaving you with no idea where you are or where you are facing in a literal instant. You can get your drone stuck after a collision, and I have been stuck to walls several times. I do hit them more than most though.
I can see what the plan of ACRODRIFT is, but there needs to be a gentle introduction, proper lessons in how to manoeuvre a drone. The wang your stick here and see what happens approach is not for everyone. The tutorial is just about using your throttle to maintain altitude. I nailed that.
Graphics & Audio
ACRODRIFT does one thing very well, other than build up my rage, and that is the graphics. The areas that you can fly around are beautifully presented, and the attention to detail on the objects is excellent. I personally looked in great detail as I bounced off each and every one. The drones also look fantastic, although the relatively janky movement does nothing for the authenticity of the view. My absolute favourite is Rome Streets; it looks so good, and I do bounce off a Vespa well.
When it comes to the sounds in ACRODRIFT, it is pretty standard, though in fairness, there’s not really a lot of scope. When you use the throttle, it sounds like a dentist’s drill, and other than that it’s just some calm music for the menu and more excitable music for flying around. I would have liked to have had some crashing sound effects as well, just as a constant reminder of my failings.
Longevity
ACRODRIFT has two categories of players. Drone flyer and not a drone flyer. As a non-drone flyer, there is a chance that I might revisit after I think to myself, ‘Was I really that bad?’ It’s unlikely but not impossible. For drone flyers, this might be a good way to hone their skills and therefore a great purchase that doesn’t risk breaking thousands of pounds worth of equipment. Dueking Studio do have the scope to add a whole lot more functionality, and I really hope that they do. ACRODRIFT has a lot of potential, especially with some good tutorials. The final vision that was set out has been realised in the gameplay; it is just crazy hard and has a really steep learning curve. Break that down, and it is a great game. If not for the constant struggle for control, I could see myself trying to improve my time a lot; however, it’s hard to improve on something that doesn’t exist.
Final Thoughts
Whilst ACRODRIFT has potential, it needs to accommodate the average drone flyer and the beginner drone flyer. At the moment it is too niche; I was really hoping to like playing ACRODRIFT, but in the end it was just mass frustration and multiple rage quits. One time I even questioned my sanity as I tried one more time. As much as bouncing off things with apparently random physics is fun, it shouldn’t be all I can achieve. ACRODRIFT flies into the Thumb Culture Silver Award!
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
Disclaimer 2: No Vespas were hurt whilst writing this review.
YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Discord | Podcast
About Author
