Microsoft Flight Simulator X

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a game by Microsoft
Platform: PC
Editor Rating: 8.5/10, based on 2 reviews
User Rating: 9.3/10 - 3 votes
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See also: Flying Games
Microsoft Flight Simulator X
Microsoft Flight Simulator X
Microsoft Flight Simulator X
Microsoft Flight Simulator X

As the name implies, Microsoft Flight Simulator X is the tenth game in this long-running series. I actually owe this series a beer as in the 90s it was this series that made my dad decide that we needed a PC. Anyway, I get this series is not for everyone, but when it comes to flight sims this series really has no rival. Even though as I write this the game is over a decade old, it is still a great deal of fun to play.

Taking To The Skies!

The sheer scope of this game is just amazing. You have tons of aircraft that you can take control of ranging from little gliders to massive jumbo jets that are taking a ton of folks from the UK to Florida for their vacation. It is just staggering the amount of aircraft that Microsoft Flight Simulator X allows you to take control of. Even more amazing than that is the fact there are over 20 thousand airports! If there is an airport somewhere in the world then I would say it is more than likely going to be in this game!

Take It Easy

I will say that this is a game that demands a lot of your time and attention to get good at it. I actually played the game with the keyboard and mouse, but I have heard that a flight stick is even more immersive. Each plane has its own “feel” and it feels like you have a million things to keep an eye on in order to keep flying nice and steady. You can even have “problems” occur and have to fix them or have some kind of issue with air traffic control.

The gameplay is just fantastic and a huge reason why Microsoft Flight Simulator X is regarded as one of the best in the series. While there is not a “story” you do have many missions to complete. These range from getting cargo from point a to point b, rescuing some dude, and even taking part in a flying show! There is more variety to the missions than I thought and getting the top rank on them all is harder than you would think.

Could This Be Real?

One of the things that Microsoft Flight Simulator X was praised for when it first released was the visuals. No matter if you are flying over Mount Rushmore or some little village over in the UK, the game's visuals are amazing. The actual aircraft also look great and if you are a fan of checking out aircraft, I am sure you will really be in your element here.

Some games from the early to mid-00s have a kind of “PS2” quality about them (the PS2 is awesome by the way, but you know what I mean) that is not the case here. This game manages to still look good to this day.

9

I know that a flight sim is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. I though feel that Microsoft Flight Simulator X is one of the best that has ever been made. I think this manages to be a sim game, but it is also not bogged down with over the top realism that some of the later flight sim games would try and do.

Pros:

  • Tons of different types of aircraft to pilot
  • 24 thousand different airports all over the globe!
  • The flight controls feel great
  • The visuals are fantastic
  • I liked how the missions had a lot of variety to them

Cons:

  • It does have a bit of a learning curve
  • I think a flight stick is required to make it the experience the devs really intended

Download Microsoft Flight Simulator X

PC

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP

Game Reviews

Microsoft's Flight Simulator X is the 10th and latest version of the venerable entertainment title, one that played such a significant part in the history of the microcomputers and PCs. Some credit the 1982 MS-DOS version of the civilian flying sim with being a secondary "killer application," after spreadsheets, that made an IBM PC worth owning.

In this latest installment, with another graphics quality upgrade (Microsoft claims a 16X improvement in terrain graphics) you can fly of over 50 missions -- from a simple fly-in at a wide-open Midwestern US airpark to landing a passenger-laden 747 in Singapore during a monsoon. Or, for the less structured flyer, in Free Flight mode, take off from one of over 24,000 airports around the world and fly to any other (Really old flight simmers will miss the first departure point from the initial PC version. Old Meigs field in Chicago is no longer with us.) Or forget about flight plans and use the map to place your plane at most on any spot around the globe (except, apparently Machu Picchu,) at any altitude and heading.

There are 24 different aircraft models included in this version, with over a hundred variations of them, ranging from an ultralight to the Boeing 747, with a variety of prop-driven craft, jets and even a sailplane (glider) and helicopters in between.

Highly detailed and interactive air traffic controllers are an improvement. You'll hear localized voices with accents giving instructions in an airspace full of other air traffic, the amount of which can be set higher or lower in the Options.

There are 10 preset weather themes ranging from Clear Skies to Winter Wonderland, or you can fly in conditions dictated by another addition to this version -- dynamic weather will update your computer's entire virtual world from an online weather source, if connected, updating every 15 minutes.

The missions include 10 helpful tutorials, and you can start your self-training at three different points, one for a newcomer to flight sims, one for someone who has used other versions, and there's one starting point if you are a real life pilot. The extensive Learning Center covers every important topic in a quick, accessible web-style format.

The MS Flight Simulator X is resource-intensive, so even though there are low settings for all graphics and activity options, to get the most out of this latest version of the state-of-the-art civilian flying software you'll want to run it on the fastest hardware you can get your hands on.

Other than that, for folks familiar with the most recent of any of the nine previous versions, it will be an incremental improvement with a few interesting new features. If you haven't stepped up from some earlier version in a while, this would be the time. Flight sim newbies will want to start here.

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