An anticipated title has released in 2020; that alone may be more than worth noting in a year punctuated with an endless barrage of delay announcements affecting everything from Halo Infinite to Cyberpunk 2077 as studios cope with remote working and rely on the internet to funnel everything between each other.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is a long-storied title that has its roots back in November of 1982, thirty-seven years ago. It’s a stark contrast between that version and the one that has released today, with beautiful atmosphere and weather effects along with the anticipated feature of streaming terrain data to the title; you can fly anywhere in the world and see precisely what you’d see if you were in flight.
From the cloisters of inner-city Chicago to the sprawling retirement communities in Florida surrounding golf courses, Microsoft Flight Simulator not only offers an unrivaled experience of realistic flight, but has managed to do so in a way that welcomes newbies and veterans alike into the series that puts you in the cockpit of everything between an airbus to a single-prop, and offers you an unbridled opportunity to explore our fantastic world at your leisure.
For some that have purchased the title on the Steam platform, however, it has been a bit more of a frustrating experience.
[embed]https://twitter.com/MSFSofficial/status/1295571393065578497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw[/embed]Microsoft Flight Simulator comes with a 500MB download; you start that and it begins the colossal 91GB download.
It’s like Inception, but with downloads and executables made to download other executables.
Due to this, many are forced to launch the title and wait hours for the entirety of the download to complete (depending on their internet) which could push many outside of the two-hour refund window on Steam.
Couple this with a couple of strange hiccups where screens fail to show properly, settings not properly registering, and some fans are frustrated at what they have called ‘underhanded tactics’.
It’s worth noting that once you properly get into the title, it’s mind-blowing to explore familiar terrain with a new perspective and it can push high-end rigs to their limit as reflections dance off of the plane while you crash during yet another botched landing.
With patience and persistence, however, you can be zooming around the skies with relatively reckless abandon as you master the abilities of the newest planes to complete objectives and routes that mirror real-time weather conditions. Add modding into the mix which Microsoft has announced a wide range of support for, and Microsoft Flight Simulator is a fantastic title that has captured the attention of fans and critics alike.