Airmen
- May 11, 2017
- Bronze Johnson
- 165h median play time
Get on Steam
Get on itch.io Store"Airmen" is a shooter game where players build and battle custom airships, either solo or with up to 2 players in co-op mode. The game features a variety of weapons and components to customize your airship, with the goal of exploring the Archipelago, gathering resources, and battling other players or AI forts. With a growing catalog of over 100 parts and the ability to co-op build with friends, "Airmen" offers a unique and engaging gameplay experience.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The ship building mechanics are deep and rewarding, allowing for a high level of creativity.
- The game offers a variety of play modes, including solo, co-op, and PvP, making it versatile and engaging.
- The developer is active and responsive, providing regular updates and maintaining a welcoming community.
- The game suffers from a very small player base, making multiplayer experiences rare and often lonely.
- The user interface and controls can be clunky and unintuitive, leading to a steep learning curve.
- Many players feel the game lacks polish and has repetitive gameplay, with some mechanics feeling unbalanced.
- gameplay80 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The gameplay is highlighted by exceptional ship-building mechanics and a unique blend of extraction shooter elements, allowing players to design and utilize their creations across various environments. While many enjoy the emergent gameplay and community aspects, some find the experience can become repetitive, with sluggish movement and a lack of engaging combat due to overly friendly multiplayer interactions. Overall, the game offers a solid foundation with room for improvement, particularly in solo play and combat dynamics.
“The game mechanics of extracting are amazing as well, letting you design and build a ship in a comprehensive builder and then use it on any server by just paying the material cost for it.”
“Amazing original idea, extraction shooter mixed with building your own giant vehicle with resources you gather from the islands, tech tree to unlock stuff, you have a lot of features and game mechanics to make gameplay feel better than most early access, and it's mostly bug-free which is a lot coming from an indie game.”
“The process of assembling a multi-storied vehicle with your friends is pretty fun, and the time we've spent goofing off while manning our mechanical creations has made for a lot of good stories that we'll remember forever.”
“The movement is sluggish, the sounds are stock and don't really stick out, and the gameplay is repetitive and boring at times.”
“Some really, insanely cool systems, in support of some mind-blowingly poor gameplay.”
“I pissed on building a ship and used the pre-made one only to find myself in the most disappointing attempt at gameplay I've ever had the displeasure of playing.”
- story54 mentions
- 6 % positive mentions
- 87 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The game features a variety of missions, including delivery, rescue, and combat tasks, but many players find these missions repetitive and grindy, lacking a compelling overarching story. While there are opportunities for resource gathering and exploration, the absence of a narrative framework leaves the gameplay feeling aimless and the world somewhat bland. Players express a desire for more engaging missions and a stronger emphasis on cooperative play to enhance the overall experience.
“Airmen is an addictive little gem of a game where you build airships (or boats, or submarines) and explore a little archipelago, gathering resources and completing quests while dodging NPC hostiles and other players.”
“Instead here you have a variety of missions and quests you can pursue, including delivery, harvest, and rescue missions, which often don’t require you to fire a single shot, even in the open world.”
“There is an entire tech tree to unlock and forts across the map where you can do missions and increase your reputation.”
“☑ no story”
“I wish it had more missions, more need for co-op (you can generally operate ships of any size fine as a single person), more reasons to co-operate with other players.”
“You'd think the combat and capturing parts make it unique, but it still begins and ends the same way as the rescue missions; it's the same thing with extra steps.”
- graphics28 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 75 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are described as barebones and simplistic, which allows it to run smoothly on low-end systems, but this minimalism may not appeal to everyone. While some players appreciate the stylized visuals and find beauty in the environments and airships, others note that the graphics could use improvement and can sometimes be unoptimized. Overall, the graphics are not the game's strong point, but they do not detract significantly from the enjoyable gameplay experience.
“It may not be graphically intense, but it is very stylized, and I like that.”
“For a game with extremely simple graphics like these, the environment and the airships look really beautiful sometimes.”
“I recommend this game to people who don't care so much about graphics (which are still great) or lack of excellent animations.”
“The graphics are, as you can see, barebones, but this does ensure anyone can run the game smoothly on practically any flavor of potato; chances are, if you can play the video on this page, you can run this game.”
“One of its weaknesses is the learning curve; the graphics are sometimes also not easy to look at.”
“One small negative I have is for how simple the graphics are; some parts of the game can be a little unoptimized.”
- grinding12 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 83 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is generally viewed as significant, with many players noting it can be time-consuming and repetitive, especially during missions. However, those who enjoy the sandbox environment and the game's premise often find the grind rewarding and fun, suggesting that it can enhance the overall experience if players are willing to invest the time.
“Classic case of awesome sandbox, nothing to do; missions are very grindy.”
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“So I spent a long time alone and with friends grinding.”
- optimization8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received criticism for poor engine performance and a subpar user interface, with players noting that performance remains largely unchanged across different graphics settings. Despite its fun gameplay, many users feel that certain graphical elements are unoptimized, impacting the overall experience.
“The poor engine optimizations and the subpar UI (user interface).”
“One small negative I have is that for how simple the graphics are, some parts of the game can be a little unoptimized.”
“The overall performance seemed identical regardless of graphics settings until entering fairly basic presets/custom setups.”
- humor8 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highly praised, with players highlighting the hilarious moments that arise during cooperative play, often leading to laughter among friends. The combination of absurd scenarios, such as creating a flying stick figure with a gun, contributes to a fun and entertaining experience, making it ideal for those seeking comedic gameplay.
“This game is amazing, the coop aspect of it is amazing, playing with friends brings some funny moments.”
“It's frustrating, of course, but it's also funny and sometimes humbling.”
“But if you want a game where two Russian guys and a stoner are dying laughing, all because you built a flying stick figure with a gun, then this game is absolutely perfect for you.”
- stability6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Overall, the game demonstrates impressive stability for an early access title, with users reporting minimal bugs and smooth performance even on low-end PCs. The combination of engaging gameplay mechanics and solid building features contributes to a positive experience, with no significant game-breaking issues noted.
“This game runs great on my low-end PC and it is incredibly fun to build ships.”
“Good building mechanics, decent combat, alright art style. I like the game; should also note it runs great and I have not noticed any game-breaking bugs.”
“Amazing original idea, extraction shooter mixed with building your own giant vehicle with resources you gather from the islands. The tech tree to unlock stuff and the variety of features and game mechanics make gameplay feel better than most early access titles, and it's mostly bug-free, which is impressive for an indie game.”
- music6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game's music has received mixed reviews, with some praising the engaging sea shanty tracks that enhance the gameplay experience, especially during intense moments. However, others criticize the soundtrack as lacking depth, comparing it unfavorably to the sounds of isolation. Additionally, there is a community interest in creating fan songs, indicating a desire for more musical content.
“The game's soundtrack is actually amazing; if you think the sounds of solitary confinement or the noiseless abyss of space were masterpieces, then you'll love what you'll hear in this game!”
“Seriously though, there are people who made fan songs for this game and would likely be willing to do more.”
“As an added bonus, especially when you feel as if your vessel is losing the battle, consider closing in and using your grapple hooks to board the enemy vessel in order to tear it apart, along with its crew, of course; bonus points if you scream corny one-liners over sea shanty music as you plummet towards the enemy airship with nothing but a grapple hook and a handaxe.”
“Seriously though, there are people who made fan songs for this game and would likely be willing to do more, and Bronze never did anything with that.”
“The music feels repetitive and lacks the variety needed to keep players engaged throughout the game.”
“While the sound effects are decent, the overall soundtrack fails to create an immersive atmosphere.”
- monetization4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game features a monetization model that allows players to unlock cosmetics for their ships and characters without any microtransactions, which is positively received. However, there is a noted need for better advertising to attract a larger player base.
“Unlock cosmetics (no microtransactions, yay!) for your ship and player.”
“Unlock cosmetics (no microtransactions, yay!) for your ship and player.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere is characterized by a relaxing ambiance complemented by numerous innovative ideas, creating an enjoyable and soothing experience for players.
“Many great ideas and a quite relaxing atmosphere.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Users consistently highlight the game's simplicity and ease of learning, which contribute to its significant replay value, making it enjoyable to revisit multiple times.
“Simple, easy to learn, tons of replay value.”
