Review – Microsoft Flight Simulator

Courtesy of the folks at Microsoft, for the last few days I’ve been looking over the all new heavy-hitting Microsoft Flight Simulator. There’s a lot to be found in the latest entry, for this franchise which has been running since subLOGIC first teamed with Microsoft nearly 40 years ago in 1982.

The Basics

It’s likely that most of you will have a decent understanding of the Flight Sim titles, even if you’ve never played it before. The latest entry in the series contains 37,000 airports (yes, that’s not a typo), over a billion individual buildings and visuals which put nearly every other title to shame.

You can fly with weather updated in real time, with accurate wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity and precipitation. Using Bing maps, it provides an accurate digital representation of the real world, even if there are some anomalies just as the great Australian obelisk.

The drawbacks with the title are minimal. The installation time required and system specs are relatively high, and for casual gaming setups you’ll likely have issues with frame rate even when running on the lowest settings. That said, it’s definitely an equipment issue rather than with the title itself, simply due to the level of detail included.

While it has released on the PC version of Xbox Game Pass now, it will also be coming to the Xbox Series X, likely later this year. As my current setup isn’t nearly strong enough to get the full experience here on PC, I’m genuinely looking forward to console release, even though I’ve still been enjoying the title in the meantime.

Parent’s Eye View

Microsoft Flight Simulator is rated by PEGI at 3 and above, and by the ESRB at E for Everybody. As you can probably imagine, there’s nothing here in terms of worrying content with this authentic flight experience. While there are no issues with content, and I’d have no issues in playing the title with the Micro-Bandits, I would hold off on purchasing it solely for younger members of the family, simply due to the sim nature of the title. While there are a number of assists and modes, it is likely to provide a relatively frustrating experience for the younger generations.

The Run Down

Visuals – Great: Honestly, while it’s the highest available rating, Great doesn’t seem to do the title justice. You’ll need a powerful rig to take full advantage of the visuals in Microsoft Flight Simulator, but if you have the power you’ll find photorealistic flight at your fingertips.

Audio – Great: There’s not a great deal in terms of voice acting, however the background music and effects in the title are at the level you would expect from this long-standing series.

Narrative – Fair: There’s no real narrative to speak of within Microsoft Flight Simulator, but those who’ve played sim titles before will likely be expecting this. While it does lack a story, I’ve marked this as fair today simply as it should be everything you expect from the title.

Replay – Good: It’s hard to pull collectables into flight sim titles such as this, but with the wide range of aircraft, and a multitude of beautiful landscapes to visit, there’s a lot to get done in the title. There’s not really much to do in the title, but it still keeps pulling me back in just to see what I can find.

The Verdict

Overall the Pixel Bandits I Picked The Wrong Day To Stop Sniffing Glue Level for Microsoft Flight Simulator is Grab It. It’s vital that you check system specifications, as it is one which will require a relatively decent setup even on the lowest levels. If you can manage that, however, you’ll find a flight sim experience which is as true to life as it gets.

With a substantial number of aircraft, and a huge number of places to see, flight sim enthusiasts will find a lot to be looking at through the title. If you have a high-powered machine you’ll not see better visuals even if there are a small number of anomalies.