Microsoft Flight Simulator (PC) Review

In 2006, Microsoft released Flight Simulator X, the last full iteration of the venerable Flight Simulator series. In the intervening fourteen years, third party developers have been busy crafting a variety of additional terrain, airports, and aircraft for a loyal audience of players to use for training, simulated airlines, fun flights, and everything in between. Finally, in 2020, we have a new installment in the franchise.

Partnering with independent French developer Asobo Studio, the new MS Flight Sim (officially called Microsoft Flight Simulator, with no year or numeric versioning) marks a massive leap in capability from FSX. Airports, scenery, flight models, nothing has been left untouched in this new sim.

Flight Simulator has always attracted a diverse group of players. Some gamers simply want to fly around, look at the scenery, challenge their friends, and maybe see if they can one-up Tex Johnson and barrel-roll a Boeing 747. Other players are pilots who see Flight Simulator as an inexpensive practice tool to work on procedures, check out new airports, or explore the dark corners of their favorite aircraft’s flight envelope. Then there are the virtual airline and air traffic control folks running simulated air routes and ATC at busy airports (and likely busier than some actual towered airports thanks to the lingering travel effects of the Corona Virus). In short, the new Flight Simulator has a lot to live up to, and a wide variety of people to which it needs to appeal. That this new version manages to not only do that, but potentially make the flight more accessible for a new generation of console gamers is a testament to the skill, hard work, and commitment of everyone involved in its development.

With Flight Simulator slated to eventually come to the Xbox Console (and if purchased from the Microsoft Store it includes Xbox Play Anywhere functionality), a whole new generation is being introduced to flight. Flight Simulator includes a robust series of flight lessons in the classic Cessna 152 which are more than sufficient to teach basic aircraft theory in a hands-on manner. Turn on most of the pilot aids, and an Xbox One controller is even pretty sufficient for the task.

Long time real and simulator pilots may scoff at such assists, but the thrill of taking off from your home airport for the first time, and seeing a landscape which looks very close to what you’re familiar with should not be underestimated. Once away from the airport, the Flight Simulator world isn’t precisely like looking down on a Bing Maps view, but it’s entirely possible to take off from one city, follow a familiar highway (for those times when IFR means I Follow Roads) to another city, and overfly plenty of familiar geography.

For those with better-equipped PCs, the game supports nearly any USB control device available. The more common and recent controllers have native control maps, but even my old CH Products sticks, which were new when Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 was current, proved perfectly functional after some additional control mapping.

For the more game-focused players, Flight Simulator includes a variety of landing and cross-country bush flying challenges. In addition, there are rotating online challenges, beginning with another landing challenge. Each challenge features a specific aircraft and goal.

The basic version of Microsoft Flight Simulator comes with twenty accurately detailed aircraft ranging from Light Sport classics, to the truly heavy iron of the Boeing 747, and everything in between. The Deluxe Upgrade and Premium Deluxe Upgrade each add an additional five aircraft and more heavily detailed iconic airports.

Each aircraft has its instruments accurately simulated and clickable. For airliners, this can be almost incomprehensible without a specific manual explaining what the myriad of MFDs all do, but it also presents a great training opportunity for pilots and students to practice on hardware that’s very close to what they face in a real cockpit. Far better to spend a half-hour puzzling out the intricacies of loading a flight plan into the Garmin G1000 of a Cessna 172 in virtual space, than to be sitting on the actual tarmac burning three gallons of 100LL (at $6 a gallon) trying to sort that out.

All of this accurate map data and realistic aircraft modeling does come at a cost, however. Microsoft recommends at least 8gb of RAM, and recommends 16gb. If your PC is near to the minimum spec, expect some very long load times, and to turn down the graphics pretty severely. However, for those with the hardware to run this at high detail levels, it may be time to consider building your own personal cockpit. May we suggest the kind folks at Roger Dodger Aviation?

Another fantastic inclusion is support for live ATC and out of the box multiplayer. Many pilots learn to fly at untowered airports, in areas where talking to a tower is a rare event. Having the ability to practice formal procedures in a safe environment is absolutely invaluable.

Aside from performance on low spec machines, if Flight Simulator has any other flaw, it’s that, much like most other open-world games, fun is very much up to the user. Once the landing and bush flying challenges have been exhausted, there’s not much left beyond finding your own challenges or perhaps joining a virtual airline. The enthusiasts who’ve kept FSX alive for the past fourteen years will likely be undaunted at this prospect, but for the gamer picking this up on Xbox Game Pass, it may well prove time to move onto some other game at this point. Much like Minecraft or any other open world game, a large part of the fun is what the user puts into it.

Where Flight Simulator shines, is in its ability to be both an inexpensive training tool for actual pilots, an accessible introduction to aviation for new people, and also a place where the hardcore can live out their airline pilot dreams. With new third-party aircraft already in the pipeline (this reviewer is particularly looking forward the to the CRJ “Barbie Jet” for those regional short hauls), this new iteration looks poised to dominate the civilian flight simulator market for the next decade.

Microsoft/Xbox provided a copy of Microsoft Flight Simulator for this review.