There are errors here and there if you look hard enough. Microsoft has been collecting satellite images for its Bing mapping service for years now and has also got access to a great deal of 3D topological data that it combines using its “smart” AI-driven Azure data centres to generate and “stream” scenery to your PC. It has minor details here and there that are not quite right – rooflines, for example, are far from accurate in places – but compared to any other simulator, even with the finest after-market scenery, nothing even comes close. Want to be able to fly around your local town and see your road, your house and local landmarks? You betcha. Want to fly around the whole world with the same detail as the very best 3rd party ORBX scenery you enjoyed in FSX or Prepar3D? You got it.
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One thing that will not disappoint even the pickiest of simulator fans is the quality of the scenery. It is also sad to see a lack of gliders out of the box, and a vintage fighter along the lines of the lovely Mustang that shipped with FSX Gold all those years ago would be the icing on the cake. Sometimes you only have 20 or 30 spare minutes, and nothing beats turning on the afterburners to get from A to B at speeds of up to Mach 2.
However, glaring omissions are the lack of any modern combat aircraft where the pilot can enjoy a high-performance time-to-height. Textron Aviation Cessna Citation LongitudeĪll in all, it is a nice combination of aircraft at launch. Textron Aviation Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX Textron Aviation Cessna 172 Skyhawk (G1000) Textron Aviation Beechcraft King Air 350i List of Aircraft Available (Premium Deluxe Edition) Microsoft clearly recognises that even the most ardent of commercial jet pilots like to fly low-and-slow at times to take in the majesty of the Swiss Alps as you leave Geneva. Propeller Aircraft are the most abundantly provided aircraft types. All are detailed, beautiful models that will allow you to get some speed up and enjoy the stunning terrain engine from their wrap-around glass cockpits. Prefer flying your very own private jet? You have the Cessna Citation CJ4 and the Citation Longitude on offer. Turboprops are well catered for with the Beechcraft King Air 350i, the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, and the Daher TBM 930. These are not delivered with the same wealth of features as say, FlightSimLabs A320, but Microsoft has promised to make the simulator accessible to add-on developers, so vastly more detailed “digital clones” of the real aircraft will start to trickle out as the developers get to grips with the SDK (Software Development Kit). Tubeliner wise, there are three options – the ubiquitous A320neo, the 787 Dreamliner and the 747-8 Intercontinental. Out of the Box – The FS2020 Aircraft on OfferĪs it ships, Microsoft Flight Simulator comes with a reasonable (though far from exhaustive) 30 playable aircraft. We really do have a simulator here that can be tuned to be exactly what you want it to be. If you want to just put the jets on 100% and pull back on the yoke, with the realism sliders correctly set, you can do that as well.
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If you want to enjoy a full 30-minute pre-flight sequence and go through an exhaustive checklist in your A320, you can do just that. For the most part, Microsoft has succeeded with great aplomb. With this new release, Microsoft has once again tried its best to tread the fine line between being easy to pick up and play, whilst retaining enough depth and realism to appeal to the legions of hardcore simmers out there who shudder at the thought of playing anything that could be described as a “game”.Ī game as well as a sim it needs to be, however, as it will launch as a title for the new generation Xbox console, albeit in a far more limited fashion. Thankfully, after spending some time with this new addition to the franchise, it is clear that many an improvement has been made. The problem with Flight was, in its quest to be more accessible to beginners, it totally turned its back on the hardcore enthusiasts that had loyally supported the previous versions of the simulator.
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As arguably the most important PC gaming release from Microsoft for over a decade, FS2020, or “Microsoft Flight Simulator” as it is officially called, could not afford to make the same mistakes as the last release in the franchise the disastrous “Microsoft Flight” – which took off with about as much success as the Howard Hughes Spruce Goose (that’s the first and last flight-related pun, we promise).