"Plane Mechanic Simulator is a game that simulates the role of an RAF ground crew technician during the Battle of Britain. Players will be tasked with various maintenance tasks for iconic British aircraft such as the Spitfire and Hurricane, with over 800 parts to tinker with and 81 missions to complete. The game also features a unique campaign where your actions can affect the outcome of a mission for your assigned pilot and squadron."
The game features detailed and realistic aircraft models, providing an immersive experience for aviation enthusiasts.
The gameplay allows players to engage in various tasks such as repairing engines, refueling, and rearming, which can be educational and enjoyable.
The developers have shown responsiveness to community feedback and have made updates to improve the game.
The game suffers from a clunky user interface and controls, making it frustrating to navigate and complete tasks.
Many players find the gameplay repetitive, particularly with tasks like refueling and rearming, leading to a lack of engagement over time.
There are numerous bugs and glitches that hinder gameplay, and the game has been criticized for feeling abandoned by the developers.
gameplay
790 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
73%
4%
The gameplay of Plane Mechanic Simulator has received mixed reviews, with many players noting its similarity to other mechanic simulators like Car Mechanic Simulator, but with less polish and depth. While some appreciate the attention to detail and the immersive experience of working on WWII aircraft, others criticize the repetitive tasks, clunky controls, and lack of guidance, leading to frustration. Overall, the game shows potential but is hindered by bugs and a limited scope, making it less enjoyable compared to its more established counterparts.
“Implementing a timer on the repairs and adding a minor form of 'story' where you are responsible for the condition of the plane as its wartime mechanic was an amazing idea!”
“The basic mechanics of the game are fun, I really enjoyed spending the time as a mechanic and relaxing, doing the work on the planes.”
“Plane mechanic simulator is an interesting game about fixing WWII era planes which can provide you with hours of fun if you’re into the genre.”
“Unlike other restoration games, this one features very annoying gameplay.”
“The gameplay is like a super clunky, slow, and dated version of CMS 2021, and I seriously just failed to understand the nonsense behind the 'mechanics' of the game.”
“Even bugs and being abandoned by its devs aside, this game is lackluster at best, some of the most repetitive gameplay ever, it's pretty much repair or rebuilding the planes over and over.”
story
428 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
6%
84%
10%
The game's story revolves around the player's role as a military aircraft mechanic, tasked with maintaining various WWII planes through a series of missions that are interconnected, creating a semblance of narrative progression. However, players frequently criticize the repetitive nature of the missions, which often involve tedious tasks like refueling and rearming, leading to a lack of depth in the storyline. While there are some engaging elements, such as pilot reports that add context to the missions, the overall experience is marred by bugs and a limited variety of aircraft, leaving many feeling that the game lacks a compelling narrative.
“The missions are pre-defined and are connected like some sort of a story.”
“During the assignment on the Spitfire, you can, even as a mechanic, feel the intensity of the Battle of Britain, as the missions at the beginning were just patrols with random encounters, requiring just refuel and oil check, and suddenly they intensify with time limits, bullet holes, rearming of machine guns, and then they again return more to normal, as the Battle of Britain is over.”
“The 'story mode' is neat in that it gives you the story of each aircraft you work on.”
“In addition to countless bugs and oddities, the redundancy of many of the missions is frustrating as well.”
“But the game is struggling with heavy repetitiveness - both due to the limited variety of airplanes/engines, and also due to the story-like assignment to one airplane for dozens of missions in a row.”
“The missions themselves are quite boring honestly.”
graphics
170 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
41%
12%
The graphics of Plane Mechanic Simulator receive mixed reviews, with many players noting that they feel outdated and reminiscent of earlier gaming eras. While some appreciate the detailed aircraft models and overall visual quality, others criticize the game's environmental graphics and UI, describing them as clunky and unfinished. Overall, the game shows potential but is hindered by its inconsistent graphical performance and the need for updates.
“The original first chapter is amazing, the aircraft are detailed both in graphics and what needs taking apart, and care was taken not just in the detailing of the engine, but the rest of the aircraft as well!”
“I'm an ex-military aircraft engineer who's worked on some of these engines and it's like stepping back in time, the graphics are the best I've ever seen and the gameplay is easy to move tools around and get work done.”
“Plane mechanic simulator has stunning graphics, extremely great animations and detail of plane components/parts.”
“However, my enthusiasm nose-dived upon experiencing the outdated graphics and subpar AI.”
“In an era where gaming graphics are constantly evolving, Plane Mechanic Simulator feels like a relic from a bygone era.”
“The skins and graphics of the aircraft are terrible; the background hurricane in the hangar looks even nicer than the one you are working on, and the aircraft look chunky.”
stability
104 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
6%
94%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with numerous reports of bugs, glitches, and incomplete features that hinder gameplay. Many users express frustration over the game's unfinished state, citing issues that prevent mission completion and poor control mechanics. While some acknowledge the game's potential and enjoy aspects of it, the overwhelming sentiment is that it remains a "buggy mess" that detracts significantly from the overall experience.
“The game looks beautiful and runs great.”
“Only played a bit just got it today and had to review. I will update when I get more into the game, but for now I just wanted to leave a positive comment because as of right now I am really liking how this game works. People interested in buying, keep in mind this is early access; there are bugs. This game looks amazing. I run at 4K high settings, plays smooth. I have a GTX 1080, i7 7700K, and 16 GB RAM, and this game runs great.”
“Running the game ridiculously below minimum specs and so far it runs great.”
“Sadly after over 2 years of development, this game is an extremely buggy and frustrating mess.”
“I just want to let other potential buyers to be warned not to waste your money and your time on this buggy mess of a game.”
“This game has very little content, is buggy, and the controls are terrible.”
grinding
80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
1%
4%
95%
The grinding aspect of the game is frequently described as tedious and repetitive, particularly with tasks like refueling and repairing engines, which can detract from the overall enjoyment. While some players appreciate the meticulous nature of the simulation, many find the lack of variety and the slow pace of certain tasks to be frustrating, leading to a sense of monotony. Despite these criticisms, some players still find the experience rewarding, especially if they are fans of WWII aircraft and don't mind the grind.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“I love the concept, but this game gets tedious pretty quickly, and the controls can be clunky and frustrating at times.”
“The absence of educational or explanatory elements makes it a struggle to identify and understand the various components, turning what should be an engaging experience into a tedious ordeal.”
“Tasks get very repetitive and grindy, especially refueling the aircraft, which takes several agonizing steps to accomplish.”
optimization
38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
26%
42%
The game's optimization has received significant criticism, with many users reporting poor performance and low framerates that hinder gameplay. While some aspects, such as graphics and overall stability, are praised, the consensus is that optimization issues need urgent attention to enhance the gaming experience. Players express hope that ongoing development will address these performance problems in future updates.
“This game is awesome; it just needs a bit of optimization.”
“Overall, the game looks great and runs smoothly.”
“The game needs some adjustments related to camera movement and FPS optimization, but it has really nice graphics, has a lot of potential, and will be a great game as it is already good.”
“Awful optimization.”
“This game is a nice twist on the normal repair genre, with the small issue of the horrid optimization that makes it near unplayable along with buggy physics that can and will get you stuck, forcing you to restart, and a repair system that makes repairs nearly impossible to do.”
“Performance in the missions is pretty bad; don't expect to see 60fps all the time.”
monetization
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy of the game has drawn significant criticism, with many users labeling it a "cash grab" that prioritizes advertising for other titles over improving the game itself. Players feel that the developers have shifted focus from addressing bugs and player feedback to promoting their upcoming releases, leading to a perception of abandonment and dissatisfaction with the game's current state.
“The game has too many bugs and it's also not polished to run; it seems like a cash grab using early access.”
“Buyers beware: after over 2 years of development, this game is still this buggy, while the developers are moving on to advertising more games they intend to release soon!”
“Imagine asking your customers 'what would you like to see in this simulator', getting a lot of new, awesome ideas in the comments, and then the only thing you do is post ads about mediocre 'new' simulators (not related to this one in any way) in customers' feeds every 3 days.”
atmosphere
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
36%
21%
The game's atmosphere is generally praised for its immersive qualities, particularly through pilot reports and sound effects that enhance the experience. However, some players find the environment can become dull and repetitive, suggesting that the addition of dynamic events, like air raids, could further enrich the atmosphere. Overall, while the atmosphere is strong, improvements in audio quality and variety in gameplay elements are recommended to maintain engagement.
“The invisible pilot's reports: your pilot writes up 1-2 sentence reports from his missions and this sets up the atmosphere so well.”
“I'm not sure if this is feature incomplete (late alpha) or not, but it's a great game already -- plenty of atmosphere, the tutorial non-random campaign is well designed so far; and there's a randomized career mode once the tutorial has been completed.”
“Parts can be repetitive... refueling and rearming involves just doing the same thing every time but there's kind of a cool rhythm to knocking through it and the sound effects create so much atmosphere that I don't mind immersing myself in it.”
“The atmosphere/environment can become a bit dull and repetitive. I couldn't help but notice what looks to be an inaccessible air raid shelter directly behind the work area on the airstrip. It would be cool if air raids occurred every now and then with the use of the British air raid sirens, and triggered an RAF response that you could witness firsthand!”
“I'm not sure what the quality of the original recordings is, but if possible, I highly recommend the devs increase the bitrate on the audio to improve the atmosphere of the game.”
“Parts can be repetitive... refueling and rearming involves just doing the same thing every time, but there's kind of a cool rhythm to knocking through it, and the sound effects create so much atmosphere that I don't mind immersing myself in it.”
music
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
37%
38%
Players appreciate the menu screen music but express disappointment that it is not present during gameplay, leading to a lack of musical engagement. Additionally, the ambient sound effects, particularly weather noises, are often criticized for being excessively loud, detracting from the overall experience.
“I liked the music on the menu screen and was disappointed that it was only on the menu screen.”
“The rest of the gameplay didn't have any music, and sometimes the ambient sound effects (i.e. storm) were way too loud.”
“The only action received was the program crash mix music upon exit.”
“No loud music or excessive weather noise.”
humor
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The humor in the game is noted for its realism, which some players find amusing given its simulator genre, but there are calls for more comedic elements, especially in tips and interactions. Additionally, players mention encountering "funny bugs" that contribute to the overall humor, though some feel the game has lost its charm due to recent changes.
“Could add a little flavor when sharing tips or some humor.”
“Well worth more than $10; I've played $25 games that made me laugh in disappointment.”
“Funny bugs.”
“The game has some funny bugs that can be amusing at times.”
“There are moments where the bugs in the game are unintentionally humorous.”
emotional
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express deep disappointment and emotional frustration with the game, feeling let down by its clunky mechanics and poor sound effects, which detract from their excitement for a title they anticipated. The sense of abandonment by the developers adds to the heartbreak, as users lament the potential of the game that ultimately feels unfulfilled.
“It's heartbreaking to see a game that I was looking forward to being completed just gets dumped by devs that don't care.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
50%
25%
Players generally find the game visually appealing and believe it offers significant replayability, although some express a desire for additional features like achievements to enhance this aspect. As it is currently in early access, there is hope for improvements that could further increase replay value in the future.
“Well, from first impressions, the game looks good and seems to have a lot of replayability. It would be nice to see achievements and similar features, but since it's an early access game, I can forgive them for this oversight.”
“Just so there is some more replayability in the future.”