Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Innovative"

I've been playing Flight Simulator since my Commodore 64 days. I've personally played, C64 Flight Simulator, Amiga FSII, IBM PC FS 4.0, 5.0, 5.1, 95, 2000, and 2002. I didn't really like the direction they were going in the later versions, so I has lost interest in the Flight Simulator. I was upset upon hearing that FS would be discontinued though. This is truly a long lived classic. Needless to say, I was very happy to hear that Microsoft was going to relaunch the Flight Sim by building a new version from the ground up: Microsoft Flight. It's a very ambitious project, and I believe it's been under development for several years.

I downloaded the huge 1.5GB download and installed it. I was playing in a few minutes as you get a tutorial flight missions with voiced instructions. Music playing in the background (what?). However, I was immersed that quick. My machine specs are listed below, and I've set all settings to medium and the frame rate and smoothness is phenomenal! I may pump it up to max settings, but it's already a sight to behold.

The game engine is absolutely fantastic if not quite realistic, but then again, I have my settings set to easy mode like stability, so it's not a fair comparison. Weather is extremely realistic and lots of options.

Plane choices are very limited. Granted the game is free out the gate, so I can't be too choosy, but I think 5-6 planes would have been a lot better. I also hope MS doesn't nickel and dime everyone for more planes.

The current setting only has the Hawaii area, and if you want premium content you will have to purchase it. I'm not interested in that area, so I'll wait until San Francisco and Chicago areas are available before I actually purchase any content. The available world is obviously very small at this point, so I'm assuming it may take years to get most of world available.

In its default mode, it definitely feels more game style than realistic flight sim, but that can be adjusted easily for hardcore Flight Sim fans. I'm sure MS will also tweak the game physics over time to make it even more accurate. Considering the time and effort that went into this, I'm very impressed so far. This is definitely the future of flight simulation.

For everyone on the fence about it, well it's free. Download it and judge for yourself. While the limited contect is definitely a major con at this point, I'm sure over time, that will be rectified. While it lacks the complexity of the Flight Simulator series at this point, I think it appeals to a wider audience, so it's a good compromise for now.

My specs for my computer:

Intel I7-2600K overclocked to 3.8 GHz
16GB RAM
Windows 7 Pro
Quadro 600 workstation card
HP 30" 2560x1600 monitor
CH Products Flightstick Pro USB