Aircar: Sci-Fi Flight Simulator

VR Review ★★★★★‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎
PCVR Quest Link Free Flight Science Fiction Moderate Comfort Stationary

a futuristic cityscape at night with tall buildings and bright lights. In the foreground, there’s a flying vehicle resembling a car with the word “aircar” prominently displayed above it

a futuristic cityscape at night with tall buildings and bright lights. In the foreground, there’s a flying vehicle resembling a car with the word “aircar” prominently displayed above it

Aircar might invoke memories of the spinner flying car in Blade Runner, but this experience is in a class of it's own. Not really a game, this is more of a relaxing glide around a spectacular futuristic neon cityscape while surrounded by ambient music and distant navigational radio chatter. In keeping with the noir Blade Runner-eque theme, rain streaks across your windshield as you swoop between buildings, flashing signs and moving traffic. Some might find that movement in this app induces some initial discomfort, but since you yourself are responsible for the attitude and speed of the craft this is easy to overcome, particularly as you begin to master the mildly-challenging controls.

Updated in 2019, Aircar is worth another look if you've played it before. The program now features higher graphical detail, new music and the addition of several landing pads dotted around the city. Navigating to these airpads and landing is relatively easy and lots of fun. I especially liked the effect of the rainwater displacement on the landing pads as you fire up your vertical take-off engines.

An essential experience for those with a curiosity towards either flight or science fiction. Note that we initially had issues getting the controls working in the Steam version of the app when using Virtual Desktop and a Meta Quest 2, but this was easily fixed by downloading custom Oculus controller bindings from the online library.

cockpit view from inside a futuristic aircraft or spacecraft, looking out onto a cityscape with tall buildings. There are other similar crafts flying in the sky, and it appears to be raining. The dashboard in front of the viewer has various digital screens displaying information and controls that are not clearly legible.