Microsoft Flight Simulator X

 PC
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 140 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 89 out of 140
  2. Mixed: 26 out of 140
  3. Negative: 25 out of 140
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  1. Pielstick
    May 26, 2015
    7
    The final entry in the long running Flight Simulator series that started so many years ago with Bruce Artwick's Flight Simulator. In many ways it's both the best and the worst entry in the series. The best because it's a huge sandbox that can be crammed full of third party content to satisfy even the most demanding flight sim geek. The worst because it's built on a creaky old engine thatThe final entry in the long running Flight Simulator series that started so many years ago with Bruce Artwick's Flight Simulator. In many ways it's both the best and the worst entry in the series. The best because it's a huge sandbox that can be crammed full of third party content to satisfy even the most demanding flight sim geek. The worst because it's built on a creaky old engine that just doesn't cut the mustard any more.

    Straight out of the box it's a pretty bland experience. If you are prepared to spend the time and money, you can transform it into a much more compelling simulation with astonishingly detailed aircraft, scenery and weather. The downside of this is the cost involved, and that creaky old engine that will eventually collapse under the weight of everything thrown at it.

    There are newer flight sim platforms out there (P3D, X-Plane) but to be honest right now FSX is still the best for most users.    … Expand
  2. diesel
    Sep 22, 2011
    9
    This is a high fidelity flight simulator capable of so many countless features. While FSX does require higher-end hardware to run smoothly, it renders a very realistic flight simulation experience. Difficulty settings can define weather it is a game or a simulation, as the realistic settings options requires sound knowledge of real world working aircraft and their systems, as well as veryThis is a high fidelity flight simulator capable of so many countless features. While FSX does require higher-end hardware to run smoothly, it renders a very realistic flight simulation experience. Difficulty settings can define weather it is a game or a simulation, as the realistic settings options requires sound knowledge of real world working aircraft and their systems, as well as very realistic flight dynamics and handling. Even on the easiest difficulty settings however, basic light knowledge is needed to successfully take-off, climb, cruise, descend and land. Knowing how to configure the simulated aircraft for all flight stages is definitley needed if you dont always want to end flight with a crash; in that aspect, it is not a "game" flight system. The software itself can be tweaked quite a bit to adjust many different aspect of the simulator, including professional-grade addon aircraft, highly detailed scenery, upto 19m LOD terrain, real-world dynamic complex weather systems; the possibilities are nearly endless with addons and tweaks. Package software provides many Missions to complete for progress-based gamers, as well as a Free Flight option, allowing you to fly and log flights of your choice, at anytime, in any aircraft provided, anywhere in the world. This software does not benefit from SLI or Crossfire configurations to any notable advantage. It does however, require a significant amount of system resources and video memory to run smoothly at Maxed graphics settings. At least 4GB RAM, Minimum 512MB video and Intel i7 and above are my recommended hardware requirements. Systems less can run this, but with stuttered FPS on medium settings, or all settings low for lower end machines.… Expand
  3. Makorov
    Jul 30, 2012
    10
    Its An amazing game so realistic and generally fun to play, unlike most simulators! The planes graphics are more than satisfactory, even on a low end computer. The game has a wide range of places to go 24,000 airports in total. Great fun, no manual but I worked out the buttons. The game is really realistic and is actually used by pilots. I have had it for about a year now and I reckon IIts An amazing game so realistic and generally fun to play, unlike most simulators! The planes graphics are more than satisfactory, even on a low end computer. The game has a wide range of places to go 24,000 airports in total. Great fun, no manual but I worked out the buttons. The game is really realistic and is actually used by pilots. I have had it for about a year now and I reckon I could fly a plane now I know where all the buttons are… Expand
  4. Wellineva
    Nov 6, 2015
    1
    Microsoft made this game back in 2006 -quite a long time ago now and the game is not worth buying due to its software technical problems. Let's face it, Microsoft no longer make this and my suspicions state why.
    The game can freeze, aircraft appear to be partially invisible and flashing of the screen. Even those who are helpful enough in the forums online fail to come to a solution. At    Microsoft made this game back in 2006 -quite a long time ago now and the game is not worth buying due to its software technical problems. Let's face it, Microsoft no longer make this and my suspicions state why.
    The game can freeze, aircraft appear to be partially invisible and flashing of the screen. Even those who are helpful enough in the forums online fail to come to a solution. At least another company has got hold of the rights to sell the Steam version. Who knows, maybe better improvements? Every Flight sim game made under the name of Microsoft is basic rubbish and I know it!    … Expand
  5. eldumloido
    May 13, 2016
    1
    Full of microtransactions and base game has only handful of planes. I have a 1000€ computer and with all dlc this game costs almost twice that. With better pricing would give it 8 or 9 but as a it has 1 826,01€ worth of dlc this game is worst thing ever made. Would give negative score if could.
  6. Ztride
    Dec 21, 2011
    4
    A very authentic experience, but also a very boring one. The controls with joystick is very precise, and there is alot of detail, but the game is very boring, and also quite ugly.
  7. NatieR.
    Aug 6, 2007
    2
    This may be an amazing program but the minimum system requirements are a joke...i am running a 2 mghz processor, 1.5 gb Ram and a 256 mb video card and can't even really use this with all graphics set to worst quality...terrible marketing..at least they should be somewhat honest about the supercomputer required to run this....i threw it away and went back to flight sim 2004...you This may be an amazing program but the minimum system requirements are a joke...i am running a 2 mghz processor, 1.5 gb Ram and a 256 mb video card and can't even really use this with all graphics set to worst quality...terrible marketing..at least they should be somewhat honest about the supercomputer required to run this....i threw it away and went back to flight sim 2004...you suck microsoft!… Expand
  8. ChrisA.
    Oct 21, 2006
    1
    Very poorly made, fsx has alot of bugs blue graphix. Crashes, lags, Fs inn does not work with it. I would not recommend anyone to purchase this.
  9. SamFriedman
    Oct 14, 2006
    3
    This newest Flight sim by microsoft Is a slideshow unless you have the following: Penium 4 3.4 ghtz Duo 2 Core with 2 Gigs ram, and the best video card money can buy.
    Its a system hog ...my friend has a 7800 VIDEO Card running ON A PENTIUM 4 3.4 GHZ Sysytem and he's defaulting to med settings.
  10. MarkE.
    Oct 26, 2006
    4
    After owning every Flt Sims made to date, this one requires state of the art, high dollar hardware. Your system better be hot in order to push this program. It does have some new, good stuff to go along with some bugs. 1- VOR control operates in reverse. 2 - The gps code input for WPs is too sensitive and double up key strokes. Good Luck!
  11. Whiskey721
    Jul 3, 2011
    9
    Alright short and sweet if you want to play this buy a great computer if you want truely striking visual effects. Theres so many 3rd party add-ons for this Simulator notice how I didn't say game? I mean I spend 80% of my time in Rotorcraft, the remaining in fixed wing, and theres so many good addon it unreal. Now for scenery there great add ons too, but be wise of what you choose, IAlright short and sweet if you want to play this buy a great computer if you want truely striking visual effects. Theres so many 3rd party add-ons for this Simulator notice how I didn't say game? I mean I spend 80% of my time in Rotorcraft, the remaining in fixed wing, and theres so many good addon it unreal. Now for scenery there great add ons too, but be wise of what you choose, I recommend ORBX/FTX they have unbelievable add ons. The flight physics are pretty accurate, and atc is decent. Online is fun if you are a serious or casual player. It suits all, I run a very nice desktop recently purchased and the game performs awesome. These specs help me run at great performance and visuals. Here is my set up.

    Pyre AMD Phenom II x6 DDR3 Configurator

    1

    $2,001.00

    $2,001.00

    Case: Thermaltake V5 Gaming Case - Orange
    Processor: [= Six Core =] AMD Phenomâ    … Expand
  12. lbolen
    Nov 13, 2011
    9
    I have had every Microsoft Flight Simulator, dating back all the way to the Radio Shack TRS80 version! To the folks previously **** about needing a fast computer to run this software...wah! There of course is going to be trade-offs between function vs. flare. MSFS has always been about pushing the limits of the hardware to create as realistic as current computer-possible simulations, andI have had every Microsoft Flight Simulator, dating back all the way to the Radio Shack TRS80 version! To the folks previously **** about needing a fast computer to run this software...wah! There of course is going to be trade-offs between function vs. flare. MSFS has always been about pushing the limits of the hardware to create as realistic as current computer-possible simulations, and if you're still running Windows 98 or using an 8-bit video card...then what do you expect? Personally, I find this version the best so far with very realistic graphics sound and detail. And am looking forward to the next version, hoping it will be even more impressive.… Expand
  13. FFStudios
    Nov 5, 2011
    8
    As a student pilot, I can honestly say that no matter how good the software is, no computer game can match up to the real thing. Flight Sim X certainly improves on 2004 with its graphics and gameplay mechanics (such as the wobbling camra in response to G-forces). Also added to X is a set of mini-missions ranging from basic controls to rescue missions. These mini-missions add a fine amountAs a student pilot, I can honestly say that no matter how good the software is, no computer game can match up to the real thing. Flight Sim X certainly improves on 2004 with its graphics and gameplay mechanics (such as the wobbling camra in response to G-forces). Also added to X is a set of mini-missions ranging from basic controls to rescue missions. These mini-missions add a fine amount of depth to the experience and can really test your skills. The detail is absolutely stunning,if you can run it; this is the main flaw with the game, it demands a lot of beefy system requirements. Another problem is that Flight Sim X still doesn't quite make it as a training simulator unless you have a proper control column. Nevertheless, flight sim X makes some snazzy additions to the francise and is a must have for any student pilto or even just the passionate would-be-pilots.… Expand
  14. Frosti
    Sep 30, 2012
    8
    The best training program for pilots, even though it's not like the real aviation at all. With payware add-ons you can go through Standard Operational Procedures that are very realistic, but they are very expensive. I bought this game when it was released and back then I didn't know a single bean about aviation even though I am very interested, but through the years this has developed myThe best training program for pilots, even though it's not like the real aviation at all. With payware add-ons you can go through Standard Operational Procedures that are very realistic, but they are very expensive. I bought this game when it was released and back then I didn't know a single bean about aviation even though I am very interested, but through the years this has developed my knowledge. What i don't like about the game is for an example the requirements, 15GB of space and grows to 40GB when you get a few addons. And the RAM it takes makes no sense, while FS9 runs very smoothly and takes only 3-5GB and uses less than 500MB's of RAM, I am very much making videos with FSX, and i'm very unhappy about that i have to play in 20% when recording so it will be smooth when i'll speed it up. FS9 is still the best simulator in my opinion, and the addons for that game are much better. But I like FSX much and the 10 pounds were well worth it, but fs9 is better.… Expand
  15. Freetochoos
    Feb 11, 2013
    9
    It is a brilliant game since its not a game, it's a simulator. That is what makes it good. It is actually so realistic you can train on it; at least practice on it.
  16. gjmoss1
    Jan 14, 2014
    10
    A really good flight simulator still several years on from release. Better than it's competitors as I find the interface easy-er to use and most of the bugs have been ironed out by now . Would still recommend in 2014. The graphics are also still not bad even now. Until there is something better out ill continue to use this simulator.
  17. Smellmonster
    Feb 10, 2014
    9
    This is a game that stands the test of time. In fact this is a rare game that has actually gotten better and better over time. I just happened to find it while cleaning around the house so I figured I'd dust it off and give it a try. I hadn't even touched it for like six years. I now realize that the reason I had it packed away was because I simply didn't have enough computer to handle itThis is a game that stands the test of time. In fact this is a rare game that has actually gotten better and better over time. I just happened to find it while cleaning around the house so I figured I'd dust it off and give it a try. I hadn't even touched it for like six years. I now realize that the reason I had it packed away was because I simply didn't have enough computer to handle it back then. Today's computers really makes FSX shine. Plus the online community has really embraced the ability to customize the world and aircraft, offering lots of great add ons whether free or payware. I look forward to learning to customize my FSX world. The only reason I knock one point off the score is because I would like it to be easier to download new high resolution satellite imagery. If I could have Google Earth's world combined with FSX flight simulation (and virtual reality thrown in) I would have the perfect flight sim game.… Expand
  18. jparker111
    Jul 12, 2015
    9
    FSX Is A Good Game. When I First Got It I Went From KLAX And KORD. I Got Up In The Air And The Graphics Were Absolutely Excellent. The Payware Add-Ons Are A Bit Pricey If You Are An Extreme FS Enthusiast Like Me And Expect A Ton Of Quality. I Bought A £60 PMDG 777-200LR/F And That Was Really Good. This Game Is Technical Though. You Have To Monitor EICAS Displays And Be Prepared To BeFSX Is A Good Game. When I First Got It I Went From KLAX And KORD. I Got Up In The Air And The Graphics Were Absolutely Excellent. The Payware Add-Ons Are A Bit Pricey If You Are An Extreme FS Enthusiast Like Me And Expect A Ton Of Quality. I Bought A £60 PMDG 777-200LR/F And That Was Really Good. This Game Is Technical Though. You Have To Monitor EICAS Displays And Be Prepared To Be Rewarded With An Engine Failure. If You Are New To Gaming And Do Not Know A Lot About Computers This Game Is Not For You. My Laptop Is A 2GHZ, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, INTEL 5000 GRAPHICS.… Expand
  19. CristianSala
    Oct 21, 2015
    8
    Gioco realistico con molti aeroporti disponibili e molti adds-on aggiungibili al gioco, sia gratis che a pagamento a parte qualche piccolo bug il gioco si present bene
  20. fifato
    Aug 17, 2015
    10
    The most realistic thing you can ever have. And an infinite amount of community made addons can transform a 2006 simulator into a beautiful world. Fly a super realistic version of a Boeing 737 or just a small private plane. Its yours!
  21. Cristian2606
    Nov 1, 2016
    8
    A parte qualche piccolo bug il gioco è perfetto, soprattutto se si aggiungono parecchi Adds-On anche gratuiti. Un'altra cosa positiva è il prezzo che è decisamente inferiore rispetto agli altri simulatori che magari sono anche peggiori rispetto a questo.
  22. KarlL
    Aug 4, 2009
    5
    The system requirements for this game are though the roof. Its also a bit unstable. Most of the game is hideously ugly aswell. The majority of the scenery is just flat ground with meaningless roads scribbled all over it.
    When buying this game, keep in mind that your going to have to spend hundreds of dollers on 3rd party scenery packs.
    However, if flying planes is all your after and you    The system requirements for this game are though the roof. Its also a bit unstable. Most of the game is hideously ugly aswell. The majority of the scenery is just flat ground with meaningless roads scribbled all over it.
    When buying this game, keep in mind that your going to have to spend hundreds of dollers on 3rd party scenery packs.
    However, if flying planes is all your after and you dont care about enjoying yourself much. Then this game will be great for you.    … Expand
  23. HughN.
    Nov 18, 2006
    8
    Quite ambitious, lots of options and insentives to keep you going, but VERY steep requirements to play properly, even on minimal settings. Make sure your powerhouse PC is good enough for it. I have a GeForce 9750 GX2-1GB video card and 1GB DDR2 Ram working with an Intel D 3.2 MgHz CPU and encounter slowdown in some areas and graphics options are not all the way up
  24. JasonN.
    Oct 18, 2006
    9
    COOL! This game is great compared to my FS2004.
  25. StephenG.
    Oct 24, 2006
    8
    This games' graphics is awesome, it's capabilities are well beyond FS2004 but beware a very high spec computer is required for best graphics (eg. 4.2ghez cpu or 2ghez dual,1gb of video ram and 2gb of drr ram
  26. WillamM.
    Mar 17, 2007
    9
    This game is great for people interested in aircraft and huge airliners. It may require huge specs but the simulation is the main point of it. You can get some great add-ons that are even more realistic than the aircraft in the game. I highly recommend this game to anyone who likes aviation.
  27. TerryS.
    Nov 23, 2006
    6
    A very good simulator in general and a good improvement on previous versions. Found the resource intensiveness a hinderance to the simulation. You need a very high spec graphics and CPU to run this game effectively. Microsoft could do with placing a recommended specification on their website for people interested in the game - won't stop me playing though - just going to upgrade my machine.
  28. RyanH.
    Oct 17, 2006
    9
    Personally, this is quite possibly one of the best games to date. It builds upon the great in FS9, and improves upon the bad. The only complaint I have is that I have a very good computer set up, yet I only get around 15 f/s, rarly dipping as low as 10. I heard that it runs better on Windows Vista, which makes sense considering that it has DirectX 10, while we are all operating off DirectX9.
  29. TomasS.
    Apr 13, 2007
    9
    Excellent flight simulator.
  30. DontBeNasty
    Sep 12, 2019
    7
    As a flight simulator fan i came to love FSX, but this did not blinded me towards its flaws.

    MISSIONS-as you would expect, flight simulator X doesn't have a story with missions being an exception, which have a self contained plot each, which most of the time are nothing special. For the type of game FSX is, this is not really a flaw. GAMEPLAY-The sim itself now is fairly easy to learn.    As a flight simulator fan i came to love FSX, but this did not blinded me towards its flaws.

    MISSIONS-as you would expect, flight simulator X doesn't have a story with missions being an exception, which have a self contained plot each, which most of the time are nothing special. For the type of game FSX is, this is not really a flaw. GAMEPLAY-The sim itself now is fairly easy to learn. tutorial missions do a fairly good job on teaching you the basics and some more advanced flight techniques. Missions will gradually get very challenging, and the more advanced missions will require large amounts of effort and lots of trial and error to pull off. fortunately, the save feature allows as many saves as you want and whenever you want, sparing you the frustration. Clickable cockpits are a convinience as memorizing each and every keyboard combination might be time consuming and annoying. However many aircraft are legacy, ported from the previous entry FS2004 and often not all buttons are clickable.

    INTERFACE- the interface in the menus is good and it does it's job. The in-game interface on the other hand, is a bit of a chore without a head tracking device, even if you are using a HOTAS joystick. the reason for this is that one monitor cannot fit all the instruments inside it. you will constantly need to turn and zoom the camera to the instruments you need to see and use, forcing you to let the controls of the aircraft. a hat switch on the joystick is a convenient feature, but still you would have to let the controls and grab the mouse in order to use the clickable instruments. final verdict on the interface: you will need at least a decent HOTAS joystick and a second monitor in order, at least partially, alleviate frustration

    TECHNICAL- It mostly feels great to fly in the world of flight simulator X. there are lakes, coastlines, big cities and famous landmarks like Eiffel tower and the Parthenon. There are actual cars on the roads(to a point where the technology allows it) and there is also wild life, though sometimes it feels like it's only placed on specific places to enhance missions. unfortunately the technical is where the most drawbacks are. If you take a close look on the ground you will notice randomly placed low-fi textures . beyond that there are the human models which are exclusively used for missions and they are not very good. in missions where you are supposed to have people entering or exiting your aircraft(heli or otherwise) there is no animation of it and you can't see your passengers and crew. The biggest black mark on the game's technical faults is the performance. Constantly poor framerates and stuttering add an immense amount of frustration to the release version. High end computers had a problem running this smoothly many years after release. Even the first patch which improves the performance and fixes bugs was not enough. Εven if you got past the lag and stuttering, the game is very power hungry and it also does not take proper advantage of multicore CPUs, relying on raw CPU power instead. FSX is not that demanding, but poorly optimized. Lowering graphical settings might not only improve performance, but in fact make it worse. Many guides and fan fixes came out for tweaking the game to run proper. FSX Steam edition did some improvements, but not that much. So in addition to the flying gear and extra monitor you would need a very beefed up PC making it more expensive than the price of the individual game. I tried this on 4 CPU. GPUs are out of the equation because FSX does not rely on them much. Initially on an athlon64 at 2.5ghz FSX was playable, but it looked like something out of the 90s. Next up came the E8500. FSX seemed to like the raw power and the 3.4ghz, but it was still problematic. Next came the i5 750 clocked at 2.66ghz. FSX still hates me for that. All these with a standard HDD, that FSX does not enjoy one bit treating you with stutter. Now I changed to a Ryzen 2600x and a Crutial MB500 SSD and FSX loves it, but its technical issues are more apparent now. Though it is an actually smooth experience, the framerate is erratic, jumping up and down. Fortunately this is not obtrusive.

    FINAL VERDICT-Despite its major technical flaws that can be overcome with lots effort and tweaking by the user, playing this game can be pure magic. the missions are varied without getting boring and i will add the huge number of third party DLC as an advantage as there is everything for every taste. the physics have only a few hiccups, but generally are excellent. This game is not for everyone. you need high budget gear, and the game itself although more accessible, can be unforgiving later, on more advanced missions. hopefully the new Microsoft Flight Simulator will be a major advancement in solving the performance and accesability issues that plagued this game. MS Flight certainly wasn't.    … Expand
  31. leche_paterna
    Aug 20, 2020
    8
    Un gran simulador de lo mejor en su género. Muy bueno aún habiendo pasado años
  32. 777787
    Feb 22, 2017
    6
    Great Flight Simulator In Free Flight, But When I try to land in a mission, it shows that I crashed! :(Great Flight Simulator In Free Flight, But When I try to land in a mission, it shows that I crashed! :(

    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________    … Expand
  33. HighTechGG
    Jan 3, 2021
    10
    O velho guerreiro, ainda jogo ele, há mais de 10 anos, tenho ele instalado deste 2010, ele sozinho num, Windows somente para ele, mais de 5 TB de dados de cenários, e nunca precisei reinstalar. Tenho mais de 1400 entradas de cenários incluídos nestes mais de 10 anos, não foi fácil deixar assim. Está perfeito amo ele.
  34. ENERGONX
    Aug 23, 2020
    8
    Muy buen Simulador . Esta muy barato en steam , para aprender un poco es muy bueno.
  35. DanyBoyZ
    Aug 20, 2020
    0
    Juego de Juego de Juego de mierda Juego de Juego de Juego de Juego de Juego de mierda
  36. Bweid
    Sep 7, 2020
    10
    Muy buen juego, buenos gráficos, buena estabilidad, a los que nos les sirve es porque tienen una tostadora o ni siquiera han jugado.
  37. SirWondra2001
    Aug 21, 2020
    0
    What a shi* game. Do not buy it. it is waste of money.
    I know it is just a game simulator but somhow i kinda miss gameplay. Even goat simulator on Steam looks much more creative and elaborate.
  38. TitanTechGames
    Aug 21, 2020
    0
    It is amazing and realistic. Graphics are superb, but you will need a powerful gpu, clearlly more on the simulator side than a game, and therefore not for everyone
  39. diospipa
    Aug 23, 2020
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. No lo he jugado y dudo que lo juegue, pero ahy esta mis dieses y que rabien los piperos. Por cierto, que tal el simulador de un repartidor de paquetes, va bien?… Expand
  40. prospectator
    Oct 5, 2020
    0
    again, i watch a lot of flight sim 2020 streamed on twitch. this game crashes constantly. for the $ spent couldn't the developers get updates going to fix it? seems easy man ........................................? thanks for reading. its potential is good, is current state is crap :(

Awards & Rankings

47
#47 Best PC Game of 2006
36
#36 Most Discussed PC Game of 2006
18
#18 Most Shared PC Game of 2006

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 28 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 28
  3. Negative: 1 out of 28
  1. Gaming Nexus
    92
    New levels of interactivity and performance feedback from the newly enhanced mission model will appeal to the offline flyer, and enhanced multiplayer capabilities will benefit the virtual airline crowd. This one is worth the upgrade price.
    Read full review
  2. GameZone
    84
    This is, bar none, the best consumer available flight simulation to date. Notice the word “simulation.” Flight Simulator has game-like elements, missions, online play, etc., but at the end of the day it’s a hardcore simulator that the average “gamer” probably won’t enjoy.
    Read full review
  3. Boomtown
    90
    The real bonus for this version of the sim comes from pilot immersion. The focus on high quality 3D cockpits instead of 2D panels combined with some excellent new default aircraft with convincing flight dynamics makes for a wonderfully engaging experience. [Deluxe Edition]
See all critic reviews »