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.

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

Putting Our Truck to the side, we taxi through Frederic Chopin International in our Boing 747 and request a bit of clearance from air traffic control. An American air traffic control man answers, and barks a swarthy ''clear for lift-off" at us. Oddly, there are no Polish air traffic controllers, or indeed controllers of any other nationality working at any airport on the planet.

Not only does Microsoft Flight Simulator Xfail to represent the hard-working multi-national air traffic controllers of the world, it ignores current airspace restrictions. We swoop in over the West Bank without a care in the world, and land at Damascus International Airport where we're accosted by a time wizard's untoward magical advances. We suddenly find ourselves tumbling through a tunnel of grandfather clocks to arrive in Crusader times!