Flight can be fascinating stuff in video games. Some games get bogged down in complicated simulation mechanics, others opt for aerial combat, while many limit your time in the air to quick transport. These are all valid uses of flight, yet there's something wonderfully adventurous about simply exploring virtual worlds from the skies, and perhaps mixing in some challenges to keep life interesting. Pilotwings 64 was my earliest experience of flight before I jumped towards Ultrawings in more recent years. Looking at The Wings of Sycamore, I believe it holds similar potential.
Shown at the WASD event this September, the game's booth had old-school aeronautical styling that quickly caught my eye. Featuring an anthropomorphic cast in a Victoriana inspired world, The Wings of Sycamore immediately appealed to that lovely sense of aerial adventure. Based on the early days of aviation, you play as the protege of a legendary pilot, the reclusive Captain Maurice Sycamore. Across three demo missions, what I saw hints at a lively cartoon tale.
Each mission is suitably varied, and the first involved flying toward different landmarks to snap photos with a Wright Flyer-esque machine, leading into a quick-paced camera mini-game that involved overlapping two circles. The closer these circles matched, the better the quality of your picture. Securing top marks for fine photography was encouraging, and flying around town offered a nice introduction to the game's world. It was all given a boost by the game's distinctive papercraft visuals that feel like someone could have built all this in real life.