Microsoft Flight Simulator

One of the lesser-discussed aspects of the new Microsoft Flight Simulator is that it’s the first game in its franchise to be shipped without a number. (Even the original, 1982 version was billed as Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0.) On one level, this is perfectly reasonable: Microsoft Flight Simulator is as much a platform as a game, and the inevitable updates to it–bug fixes, performance updates, a “fix” for Buckingham Palace, etc.–are more evolutionary in character than the wholesale upgrade implied by the transition from 1.0 to 2.0 and beyond. But the lack of any numerical identifier might also be read as a statement of ambition, or even permanence: what’s on offer, here, isn’t the final flight simulator so much as it is the forever one. From the Grasberg Mine to Redmond to your computer screen, it’s Microsoft’s world; we’re just playing in it.

Flight Simulator is a powerful platform for exploration, the perfect piece of software for a country trapped at home by a lingering global pandemic. It’s a gameplay experience that has so far rewarded my hours and hours of practice, and encouraged me to push toward mastery. Learning each new plane, each new airport, each new type of simulated weather is just as satisfying as learning a new weapon in Dark Souls. There’s also the added benefit that, while I’ll never face down a dragon in real life, someday I might find myself at the controls of an airplane. [Polygon Recommends]

There are lots of areas that aren't fully detailed and one would hope that Asobo Studios work on beefing up the introductory side of the game ahead of its release on the Xbox One. There are times where the novel-sized instruction manuals of the past really should still exist and this is one of them. Despite this the game is still welcoming and post training you'll have no trouble jumping into any of the game's aircraft and taking to the skies - knowing the basics is enough to have fun but the amount of depth means that there's always something new to discover. Our hope right now is that Asobo and Microsoft manage to improve performance for those of us on lesser rigs and that a patch is forthcoming to help boost the frame rate a little. I can appreciate the game at less than 20fps in low settings but I would love to be truly blown away by it.