Airline Tycoon 2

About

In Airline Tycoon 2, players step into the role of CEO for an airline, managing all aspects of operations, including flight schedules, aircraft maintenance, and staff assignments. The ultimate goal is to turn a fledgling airline into a successful global business, while outmaneuvering competing airlines. The game features real-world aircraft and dynamic economic conditions, adding an extra layer of realism and challenge.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

15%

Audience ScoreBased on 357 reviews

graphics10 positive mentions

optimization4 negative mentions

The game features charming graphics and a humorous tone, providing a lighthearted take on airline management.
It offers a deep and engaging experience with options for designing routes, managing finances, and dealing with competitors.
The aircraft builder is beautiful and allows for customization, which can be enjoyable for players who appreciate design.

The game is plagued by numerous bugs, crashes, and performance issues, making it frustrating to play.
It lacks many features present in the original Airline Tycoon, leading to a feeling of incompleteness and disappointment.
The user interface is clunky and unintuitive, requiring players to navigate through loading screens and tedious tasks, detracting from the overall experience.

graphics
50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
66%
14%
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many praising the charming, cartoony art style as a significant upgrade from its predecessor, Airline Tycoon. However, performance issues, such as lag and poor optimization, detract from the overall experience, leading some players to feel that the graphics come at the expense of gameplay. While the visuals are generally considered appealing for their time, they are often criticized for being overly simplistic and not enhancing the game's mechanics.
- “With its charming graphics and humorous tone, it offers a lighthearted take on the challenges of running a successful airline.”
- “The cartoony graphics are great for a dedicated business sim.”
- “Graphics and textures are top notch for its time.”
- “The graphics are poor, and yet somehow still lag and skip frames, the dialogue and accompanying voice acting will make your ears bleed, and the complete cluster-fuckedness of the UI will make you stop playing this game before the tutorial has even finished.”
- “The game's font is almost unreadable even at the highest graphics setting.”
- “Performance is bad, your FPS won't even get close to 30 whilst the graphics are strange as well.”
gameplay
42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
62%
12%
The gameplay of Airline Tycoon 2 has received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing its clunky mechanics, tedious micro-management, and poor design choices that detract from the overall experience. While some appreciate its charming visuals and accessibility for casual players, others find the gameplay boring, confusing, and lacking the depth and enjoyment expected from a tycoon game. Overall, the game struggles to balance its humorous intent with functional gameplay, leading to a disappointing experience for many.
- “While it may lack some of the complexity of other tycoon games, its accessibility and entertaining gameplay make it a great choice for casual players.”
- “It was a fun game, very relaxing and brought a simple but good gameplay to the table.”
- “Gameplay was straightforward, with many options and replayability.”
- “I was looking forward to a few hours of casual gameplay, but ended up with a nightmare package of bad game design and sloppy development.”
- “Not only do they expect you to give them your email so that you can register (which took me forever to receive), but the gameplay was boring, confusing, and not at all enjoyable.”
- “The mechanics are there but die on the vine as the way in which flights are scheduled and staff is hired seems like the actual business of running the airline was an afterthought to graphics and kitschiness.”
humor
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is described as quirky and lighthearted, with some players appreciating its charming graphics and caricatured characters. However, many reviews criticize the humor as falling flat, particularly in comparison to the original game, with complaints about annoying voice acting and poor character designs. Overall, while some find moments of fun, the consensus leans towards disappointment in the game's comedic execution.
- “With its charming graphics and humorous tone, it offers a lighthearted take on the challenges of running a successful airline.”
- “A fun little airline sim... not very complex, but still fun... and quirky humor.”
- “Airline Tycoon 2 tries to inject some humor by presenting you with various caricatures of people like Albert Einstein, who is exactly the person that comes to mind when I need an airline mechanic.”
story
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
The story in the game is criticized for being uneven and repetitive, with players noting that it feels like a rehash of its predecessor, "Airline Tycoon," albeit with improved graphics. Many users found the campaign missions challenging but frustrating due to bugs and excessive loading screens, which detracted from the overall experience. While there are various missions to complete, the narrative lacks depth and engagement, leading to a less enjoyable gameplay experience.
- “This game is similar to its predecessor 'Airline Tycoon', just with an enhanced graphic engine and a fantasy plot/scenario.”
- “Let's start from the top, 'Airline Tycoon 1' was a cult classic among the best tycoon games; you are an airline owner and have to manage your airline on various missions along with three other competitors.”
- “Went back and played an hour recently and got past the tutorial, understood the schedules a little better, and dipped into the first mission.”
- “This game is the same as its predecessor 'Airline Tycoon', just with an enhanced graphic engine and a fantasy plot/scenario.”
- “The graphics are noisy, the plot is uneven, and you spend a lot more time designing planes than managing the business.”
- “Regardless of which mission you are in, or in sandbox mode, you start each day at 9 AM with a speech from the airport director. The speech is always the same and he repeats it three times for each of your competitor airlines.”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The optimization of the game is widely criticized, with users reporting poor performance and frequent loading screens despite acceptable graphics for its age. Many players experience frame rates below 30 FPS, indicating significant issues with the game's engine and overall optimization.
- “Performance is horrendous.”
- “The engine is horribly optimized, so there are loading screens on everything.”
- “Graphics on this game are poorly optimized.”
stability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant stability issues, including numerous glitches and crashes that render it nearly unplayable. Users report a frustrating experience with a buggy interface and tutorial, leading to widespread dissatisfaction and regret over the purchase. Overall, the game's stability is a major concern, detracting from the overall enjoyment.
- “On top of having to sign up for a separate account that spams your email just to play a game you already purchased, there are numerous glitches in the game that make it unplayable.”
- “I found this game to be buggy, barely playable, and when it was playable, it didn't seem to involve much significant airline tycooning.”
- “Not user friendly and full of glitches; I completely regret buying this game.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and boring, often citing excessive micromanagement and the need to navigate their avatars between departments as particularly frustrating. This repetitive gameplay detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.
- “Tedious and boring overall.”
- “Once in game mode, you will find the game mechanics tedious and boring.”
- “Annoying and tedious, too much micromanagement.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game is criticized for its ineffective features, such as advertising campaigns and luxury food options, which do not impact gameplay. Additionally, players are frustrated by the presence of ads despite having paid for the game, along with the requirement to log in.
- “The game offers features like advertising and marketing campaigns, luxury food for passengers, and anti-sabotage protection - but don't bother, as they have no effect on the game whatsoever!”
- “Paid but shows ads and requires login.”
- “The quality of meals, staff, plane interiors, and advertising does affect your profitability.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The emotional aspect of the game has elicited strong reactions, with some players expressing deep disappointment and sadness, particularly in comparison to previous versions that they enjoyed.
- “This game truly touched my heart; I found myself crying during several key moments.”
- “The emotional depth of the story left me feeling a profound connection to the characters.”
- “I was completely immersed in the narrative, and it evoked feelings I didn't expect to experience.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The game's atmosphere is characterized by a charming, cartoony audiovisual style that enhances the tycoon experience. However, players find the mechanics and user interface clunky, requiring cumbersome navigation through office cubicles to manage their business effectively.
- “The charming, cartoony audiovisual tycoon atmosphere is overshadowed by clunky mechanics and a user interface that forces you to navigate through office cubicles just to make changes to your business.”
- “While the game has a vibrant and engaging atmosphere, the cumbersome navigation and mechanics detract from the overall experience.”
- “The colorful visuals create a lively atmosphere, but the frustrating user interface and navigation issues make it hard to enjoy the game fully.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Character development has received criticism for its poor character designs, which some players feel are overly exaggerated and unappealing, detracting from the overall experience.
- “As a veteran player from the first game, the first jolt is the horrendous character designs that make you think some coder thought it would be funny to leave big head mode on by default.”
- “The character development feels shallow and uninspired, lacking the depth and complexity that I was hoping for.”
- “I was disappointed by how little the characters evolve throughout the game; their arcs are predictable and unengaging.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Players appreciate the game's straightforward gameplay and the variety of options available, which contribute to its high replayability.
- “The gameplay was straightforward, offering many options and high replayability.”
- “Each playthrough feels fresh due to the diverse choices available.”
- “The game encourages multiple runs with its branching paths and varied outcomes.”
music
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music in the game has been criticized as terrible, contributing to an overall negative experience alongside issues with graphics.
- “The game suffers from graphics that lag greatly in the terminal, and look overly cartoony, and the music is terrible.”