Review for Microsoft Flight Simulator. Game for PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X, the video game was released on 18/08/2020
Flight simulators have always been a genre belonging to a well-established niche in the market. The simulation product, after all, is halfway between the playful experience and the realistic one, in fact simulation, but there is one type that more than the others generates curiosity and passion: the flight simulation.
Since 2006, with Microsoft Flight Simulator X, the highly anticipated returns in 2020 Microsoft Flight Simulator. Will it have what it takes to be the ultimate aerial simulation experience? Find out in this review.
The ultimate flight simulator?
For the uninitiated, this Microsoft Flight Simulator it's not exactly the last title released after the famous one Flight Simulator X: in 2012, in fact, an experimental chapter was published by Microsoft, with the name of Microsoft Flight which, however, differed considerably from traditional flight simulators, opting for an approach that was too arcade and full of microtransactions that provoked a reaction from the public so violent as to cease the project after a few months.
Having forgotten that sad chapter, flight simulation enthusiasts are left to fly in the skies of Flight Simulator X until E3 2019 where Microsoft announced the return of the saga with a simple how effective: Microsoft Flight Simulator. The writer of this review earned a diploma from an aeronautical technical institute and spent thousands of hours in the various Flight Simulators, carefully keeping all the instruction manuals (even of Flight Simulator 2000), so it must be emphasized right away that Microsoft Flight Simulator it has all the factors that can make it the ultimate flight simulator.
Any element, communication, interaction that concerns the world of civil aviation it has been reproduced so faithfully that it will be difficult to distinguish between reality and video game. The additions compared to the previous chapters are many while the other existing features are now easier to use, such as the introduction of the possibility of loading / unloading baggage or catering service before embark passengers via jetway from the gate of the airport from which we want to take off, or communications with ATC now made it faster and easier to use, but widening the depth of the dialogues making them the same as those used in reality.
One of the aspects that certainly caused the greatest stir was the technical side, which is the flagship of Microsoft's stock portfolio at the moment and which in many respects cannot be exempt from thinking that Microsoft Flight Simulator may be this year's first next-gen game. The world is 1: 1 scale and the work done by Asobo Studio (formerly known for A Plague Tale: Innocence) was flawless in making every single sea, river, city, desert, countryside ... we could sit here for hours and hours listing every single element of planet Earth because it is actually what: a faithful reproduction of the whole surface terrestrial.
To be able to carry out this astounding feat Asobo Studios and Microsoft have leaned to the powerful Azure cloud service, using different algorithms with satellite photos, they managed to make all the scenarios of the world real, thus allowing indirectly the possibility of carrying out visual flights (VFR), respecting the rules of these types of flight.
However, it is necessary to mention a particularity in the reproduction of the game world, linked in turn to the division into multiple editions of Microsoft Flight Simulator. The game is sold in three different editions and each of them will allow you to access more or less aircraft as well as more or less airports handcrafted by the development team (consequently even more detailed). In fact, it starts from the Standard edition which contains 20 aircraft and 30 airports, the Deluxe edition which contains 25 planes and 35 airports and finally the Premium Deluxe edition which contains 30 planes and 40 airports.
We would like to point out immediately: no, you won't have fewer airports. Simply some airports instead of seeing them made with more detailed models, you will see them made by the Azure algorithm and related photogrammetry, but all this does not ruin the experience in any way.
The contents
Microsoft Flight Simulator offers different activities to do, some more playful than others. First of all, there is the possibility to plan our personalized flight by accessing the world map. Since the title is synchronized in real time with Azure cloud servers it is possible to fly with current weather conditions ed clockwise for an even more detailed flight simulation fidelity (as well as essential if you want to play online with other users).
If we don't want to choose a flight plan it is always possible to view all the flights that are taking place in real time (yes, the real ones) through the collaboration with the Flight Radar 24 service, allowing us to copy their flight plan and carry it out with an aircraft of similar performance. To make the simulation even faster, it is possible to start directly from one of the different phases of the flight, you can then choose to carry out only the take-off and landing or only the cruise and approach phase, everything will depend on you and your preferences. .
While on the one hand there is total freedom in planning a flight, on the other hand there are more controlled experiences and certainly more tending towards the playful side, while keeping the simulation aspect in the foreground. With the exception of training (which we will return to later), it is possible to face a biweekly activity to try to climb a ranking based on the score of our landing. At the time of our test there was the landing challenge in Courchevel in France, a challenge that required us to keep our nerve in order to land in the best possible way and score a good score.
Challenges like these are present in the Activities section, from which you can choose between landing challenges and naturalistic excursions. The former are in turn divided into Famous, epic e with strong wind while the latter represent gods itinerant trips along some routes dedicated to enjoying the naturalistic landscape. Given the long duration of these trips, it is possible to make the entire excursion with small stages lasting twenty minutes each that we will be able to carry out as we please through rescue. The landing challenges, on the other hand, proved to be fun and challenging to tackle, thanks to the high replayability rate due to continuous improvement, they also represent a fun expedient to discover some of the most dangerous airports in which to land given their peculiar geographical positions or because they are perpetually subject to strong wind waves.
After completing the landing, a score will allow you to determine your skill according to the following parameters: how long it will take you to stop the aircraft after touching the ground, the smoothness of the landing and finally the accuracy on the centerline of the runway. The only shortcoming from the predecessor Flight Simulator X is the missions. At the moment there are no challenges that represent the apotheosis of the playful side of Flight Simulator X but we are confident in a future addition of these contents, also seen the expandable nature of this chapter.
The problem for newbies
Microsoft Flight Simulator represents the most precious jewel for any lover of aerial simulation, but for those who are beginners? The situation is diametrically opposite and it is appropriate to highlight how further the eight tutorial missions (otherwise only with the Cessna 152) a person who wants to approach the world of area simulation for the first time has few tools to learn to use the rest of the aircraft available in the title.
As well as for the absence of the missions mentioned above, we expect that in the future tutorials will also be introduced for larger aircraft such as the A320 Neo and the Boeing 747 since, although Microsoft Flight Simulator is designed for that niche of users it already owns the necessary knowledge should be remembered as this chapter will be included immediately in the Xbox Game Pass and in the future on Xbox Series X, consequently landing on a more casual audience that could show curiosity and become passionate about the genre but without a proper "welcome structure", we fear that all this could then result in an unwelcome departure from the title.
The future of Microsoft Flight Simulator
The will of Asobo Studio and Microsoft is that of making this last iteration of Flight Simulator as curated and lasting as possible, the contents present at the launch are not in fact the same ones that will be present in the coming months. The developers in fact have in mind to release a big update every month, an update of the game world, an update of the simulation components and of the Themed DLC.
In addition to this, support for virtual reality is expected in the fall, the damage visible at the time of the crash and then continue with other features expected by the community such as support for third-party content (now included directly in the game store), the seasons and the possibility to play online sharing the cockpit, thus covering the role of pilot and co-pilot with your friend.
Technical aspect
The technical aspect of Microsoft Flight Simulator exceeds any limits in the simulation securities industry. The graphics are stunning, both in general glance and in the smallest details of the aircraft. The lights that are perfectly reflected along the wings and fuselage during turns, the sunlight that enters the cockpit perfectly, the light pollution of large cities is faithfully reproduced as well as the reflections of water and waves on the coasts are more realistic than ever and above all, atmospheric agents are simulated to perfection.
Such a perfect simulation that it is possible to perceive even the smallest variations in attitude due to turbulence as it would happen in reality that in the game forums many pilots have stated how the flight experience in Flight Simulator is extremely close to reality. Asobo Studio has created a title that will test your configurations, although there is a way to customize every single aspect of the graphics in detail in order to find the right balance according to your gaming machines. In our tests we used a PC with RTX 2070, i7-8700, 16GB RAM with the game installed on a 2.5 '' SSD and managed to get un frame-rate which was between 30-55 fps at Ultra settings.
The technical aspect of this chapter of Flight Simulator has been made with an unparalleled attention to detail, capable of raising the bar to a level never thought before with such meticulous details that certain photos you may not realize were taken inside a video game.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is what every aviation enthusiast wants. The simulation possibilities are now limitless thanks to the work done by Asobo Studio and Microsoft that raise the bar of area simulation titles to a level perhaps impossible to surpass. The technical side is what at first glance amazes the most, but the simulation depth of everything concerning area navigation is equally astonishing, from the taxiing phases, to the fuel loading to the simple boarding of passengers who become an integral part of the apotheosis of the flight simulation. Net of a meager amount of tutorials for newbies and the promise from developers to continue supporting the title in the coming years, Microsoft Flight Simulator represents the true next-gen title of 2020 and the flagship of flight simulators. for years to come.
► Microsoft Flight Simulator is a Simulation game developed by Asobo Studio and published by Microsoft Studios for PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X, the video game was released on 18/08/2020
