 Well-refined leader of the genre |
| Review Date: March 20, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Jon L. Albee, Houston, TX |
Flight simulation for your PC just doesn't get any better than this. Microsoft has been at this for a long time, and they make it better with every release.
A few things seasoned flight simmers will know that new users will certainly WANT to know are:
The system requirements to really make this software work well are dauntingly advanced. You'll need something approaching a top-level gaming machine, with a huge video card, to get the full benefit of the entire visual, audible, advanced controls experience. Got a laptop you think is pretty smokin'? Forget it.
Microsoft follows every release of this product with massive service packs you must download and install, and each one takes a huge chunk out of your hard drive. Be prepared with LOTS of disk space. This particular release (meaning, the "Gold Edition") includes service packs one and two, so you won't need to download them.
An internet connection is required to register the product.
A note to real pilots (I am also a pilot): Keep in mind that this is a $30 product for a home computer, not a Flight Safety training machine. The flight model is basic and stable, and is not intended to simulate extreme attitudes and emergency procedures. If you're looking for a realistic spin trainer, or a procedural instrument trainer there are expensive add-ons that will get you CLOSE, but you should generally be looking elsewhere.
Bottom line is that this is, hands down, the best of the lot, but you really DO need vast hardware resources to run it. If you own those resources, be prepared for a real-time, audio-visual feast. |
First time for Flight Simulator [Played Three Days Straight]
|
| Review Date: January 3, 2009 |
| Reviewer: David C. Richey, Anderson, SC USA |
| Fun once you've downloaded the three disks. There are over 5,000 Airports, 30 planes plus three if you buy The Gold Version, and Loads of Missions to fly. My Favorite Feature is Free Play. You can take off from your Hometown Airport or any other and vist landmarks like The Egyption Pyramids, The Leaning Tower of Pisa, and Niagra Falls. You can download any plane you want online like UFO's, Futureristic Fliying Cars, and my favorite, a Thunder Bird version F-16. I love this game. Make sure you buy a controler like A Saitek X52 joystick and throttle. This game is unplay able witout one. |
Training aid for pilots!
|
| Review Date: March 13, 2009 |
| Reviewer: J. Cardenas, |
| If you are a student pilot you are going to love this game! It helped me on my VFR pilot training. Now that I'm thinking about getting my instrument rating, I know this software is going to help me a lot as well! You have to have a very good graphics card on your system to fully enjoy it. |
Awesome
|
| Review Date: May 20, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Javier Abalo, |
Great simulator. I didn't expect so much realism in pilotage, navigation and the overall flying experience. You have the controls.
Only drawback for me: The view around doesn't work with DirectX 10 in Vista, so I execute the game with DirectX 9 |
Good for a desktop/game environment.
|
| Review Date: June 23, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Marco A. Quezada, Silver Spring, MD |
| Great for performing basic procedures checks and flying around your local airport so you can get acquainted with the view out of the cockpit for navigation purposes. Flight dynamics are acceptable (I use the c-172) but without accurate control feedback there is little to be gained on how to truly fly the airplane. However, it has been a time saver for me as I learn to fly the real C-172. |
|
No video reviews found for this product.
