We look at the return of the Microsoft Flight Simulator brand. Asobo Studio has done an outstanding job – quite a statement of intent.
The quintessential flight simulator is back. Microsoft Flight Simulator reappears after too long a parenthesis. Since 2006 we have not received a new delivery from the oldest brand of the Redmond company. His appearance in 2020 responds to the motivation of the team: it is the right time to do it.
The technology settled in the middle of 2020 has been necessary to receive a simulator with all the letters. A title that is heading towards the top of the genre. Because Asobo Studio’s ambition is beyond the skies. As a player you will have at your disposal nothing more and nothing less than the entire planet Earth at your fingertips.
Beginners, don’t be afraid to fly
When we talk about Microsoft Flight Simulator we always emphasize the reasons why this release is special. Far from the virtual tour, the graphic finish or the catalog of winged frames itself, the studio shines for the way in which they have transmitted the passion and the sensations that one has when we fly in real life.
From the perspective of a newcomer to the world, the tutorial serves to strengthen the main notions that we must have at the controls of a plane. Although the instruments have little to do with the complexity of a Boing 747, going through the eight lessons lay the foundations of flight in your head. That mental scheme really serves to transfer it to other devices, and the thing is that the cabin, with its more or less noticeable differences, have similarities that connect what you met during those classes.
Hovering the mouse cursor over the panels lets you know exactly what the function of each small device is. Even the smallest detail has its own interaction. In this way the first steps do not feel like a succession of button chains without rhyme or reason.
During startup we are advised of what kind of experience we want to have in Microsoft Flight Simulator. Between the total assistance and the fidelity to reality there is a gray scale that you can customize in detail. Do you want to take off by yourself and have the landing done by the AI? Can. Any combination of actions can be measured so that you can find your sweet spot.
That emphasis on deciding how you want to face the game is transferred in the same way to the peripherals. Whether you have a pair of rudder and pedals, an Xbox One controller or just the keyboard and mouse, you can freely select what each action will perform. The ideal in this case is to have the first; it would be the total way to squeeze the simulator. But there is also room for those with the tightest pocket.
What is it like to play Microsoft Flight Simulator with a controller?
Yes, Asobo Studio has allowed the Xbox One controller (in this case) to have full support, including menu navigation. As you can see in the image below this paragraph, certain combinations are established by default that allow us to delve into the possibilities of a limited controller with respect to a keyboard.
The solution to break the limitation is to make a button have two actions. On the one hand, you can perform a command by pressing it only once, while if we accompany it with another button it can lead to a new action. Think of the parking brake, which doubles as a handbrake when you’re on the ground. We can activate or deactivate it by combining Y + B, while the Y alone activates the brakes in mid-flight. So with everything.
In easy difficulty, controlling an airplane is practically like driving a car in Forza Motorsport, only we have to bear in mind that turning does not work in the same way. If we want to change direction, we tilt the plane to the left or right and maintain that state until we find the desired heading. The triggers are relegated to driving the tail gear, essential for navigating during landing and takeoff.
To the answer to the question: it is comfortable to play with a controller … with nuances. No matter how much you configure it, you will never have full control of the plane. In our case, when we have used the controller, we used to accompany it with the mouse in order to find a balance between playing it unpretentious and being able to make decisions at key moments (for example, increasing the pitch of the plane when a headwind enters).
It is appreciated that the movement of the stick reflects a smooth movement, with hardly any dead zones that make it difficult to turn. In this sense, it denotes care for making less enthusiastic users find their place in the simulator. In addition, the remote is really practical when we go into drone mode. If you want to visit cities, you can order the plane to be carried by your copilot to use this function without having to worry about the controller. This mode offers a street-level tour of the entire geography of the planet, just like a free camera would. It even comes with a series of tools that boost the photography functionalities.
Feel free for heaven
Creating a flight route is as simple as accessing the planet and selecting at the click of a button which destination you want to take and from where. Microsoft Flight Simulator has a series of functions through the Internet that allow you to enjoy the most faithful experience possible. The data offered by Meteoblue introduces players to the possibility of being able to fly in the real conditions that exist at that moment in the world with millimeter precision.
And it is that playing connected to the internet opens the door to really know the image that Asobo Studio had during development. You can even see air traffic around the globe in real time, which proportionally affects your experience. If a plane is currently landing at the arrival airport, you will experience air traffic. The obsession with realism is palpable at all times.
Going back to meteorology, you can create your own conditions through the customization tools. No, they are not simply about choosing if you want rain or snow, but the depth reaches levels such as being able to choose what density of clouds there is according to the altitude at which we are from the ground. If you’re not very convinced of your choice once you’ve got on the plane, don’t worry: you can change the weather in real time from within the game. The sensation of seeing the sun go down by changing it from a bar, or the clouds forming in a matter of tenths of a second on your screen… is a difficult moment to explain in words.
The launch aircraft offer is only 20 models in its standard edition, 25 in the deluxe and 30 in the premium. At no time are they missing more. They are so different from each other and are so well transferred that the way of piloting them changes radically. You can even find models suitable for landing in water. The same goes for airports, with 30, 35, and 40 hand-designed, respectively. The differences that you will find between them, in addition to the precision of the transfer, is in the coherence of the planes when using the runways. More than 37,000 runways have been hand-retouched to function properly, while the rest are handled by Azure AI. Yes, you can visit every airport on the planet, but not all will offer the same degree of detail.
The flight platform
Microsoft Flight Simulator stands beyond a commercial simulator. It is a flying platform, and its intentions are demonstrated from the first comments around the Marketplace. The in-game menu will allow you to access additional content created by both the studio and third-party developers. These creations will pass through the Microsoft filter, so it is understood that the content that arrives in the future will have all the guarantees of official support.
The launch feels like a foundation on which to build a project a decade away. There is no other civil aviation simulator that offers the functionalities seen in this title and incorporating them directly into it, without intermediaries. There are all the elements that veterans of the genre need to embark on the only thing they seek: to fly.
A flow of unprecedented experiences enters these plans through the scenarios, small set challenges accompanied by a score according to our performance. There are few to be released, but the studio promises more to come in the future. There have been few occasions in which they have spoken that the focus is mainly on those who enjoy simulation. However, something is missing that hooks the rest of the mass of players throughout the hours.
His vision of the future is preceded by an unparalleled visual section. We are not short in saying that it is the first real look at what the new generation will bring us. Aircraft cockpits are recreated from laser scanning. No matter how much you zoom, you will hardly see any imperfections. The changes in lighting are unmatched, their transition is natural, something like this has not yet been seen in the present generation. In a night journey you can be guided by the light radiation of the cities. They are moments of visual beauty that elevates the whole even more.
This roadmap includes the improvement of the representation of several of the most popular cities. From a bird’s eye view you can simply be guided by the memories you have from your day to day. Bing satellite maps do a good job overall, and making a city recognizable from the sky is not an easy task. What is certain is that the Azure AI, the one in charge of collecting this information and representing the buildings, requires a certain margin of improvement. Complexes such as stadiums or bridges are not represented with the same fidelity as other types of structure. It is a small detail that does not cloud the final result.
CONCLUSION
Microsoft Flight Simulator is the most complete and realistic civil aviation simulator to date. Never before has the level of ambition that Asobo Studio set for itself been exceeded. Being able to visit the entire planet with our plane and doing it with this degree of quality is a dream. The high degree of customization allows you to configure the experience that best suits your circumstances as a gamer, including what type of peripherals you have in your possession. Graphically it is a look at what the new generation will bring us. It is, without a doubt, the definitive flight platform for the next 10 years.
THE BEST
- Full customization of the experience.
- Graphically it looks like a new generation game.
- The entire planet Earth at your fingertips.
- Uppercase simulation.
- The change of weather in real time, a real spectacle.
- A flight platform: marketplace integrated within it.
WORST
- Maybe some chain of objectives is missing for the less enthusiastic.
- Small Azure AI glitches.
Excellent
A benchmark title of its kind, which stands out above its competitors and that you will enjoy from start to finish, probably several times. A game destined to become a classic over the years.
