Starting in 1982 ‘Microsoft Flight Simulator’ has continued to innovate over the past 42 years. ‘Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024’ is a testament to the franchise’s legacy. Developer Asobo Studios is back for their second production of the franchise with publisher Xbox Game Studios beside them, and all involved should be proud of what we get to experience today.

I had never played a Microsoft Flight Simulator before and had no interest in doing so. Now that I have had the opportunity, I am happy to walk away from this experience knowing I never have to play it again. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is a fantastic game, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in avionics. For those like me, you will find this game incredibly boring.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 doesn’t have a plot per se as most of your interaction with the game will be primarily led by your desires. There are five modes you can choose where Career would be the closest to being plot-driven.

In Career mode, you begin as a novice pilot and slowly build up your experience by performing missions. This is the best starting point for any newcomer to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 as you will be taught what you need to know gradually to become a fully- fledged aviator. As you progress you will be able to unlock certifications allowing you to upgrade to other aircraft and missions.
World Photographer mode was my favourite, as you are set tasks of photographing landmarks, aircraft, and such.

Bonus objectives are available for some interesting sights and moments to be captured. As an example, I found a real sense of peace and accomplishment when landing my seaplane on a lake and photographing the setting sun, with nothing but the sound of gently lapping waves on the floats and the reflections of golden light, I was awe- inspired.

Activities mode is another area to source tutorials if you are in a hurry to learn how to fly a particular aircraft sooner. I used the opportunity to learn how to fly rotorcraft allowing me to enjoy World Photographer more. Activities mode also has as the name suggests activities. There is a large array of activities, from gate racing to low-altitude flying, you will find a lot here to challenge your skills and compare scores with others worldwide.

Challenge League is like Activities but is exclusively a competitive space. Timed events appear for you to try your skills at. Scoring well positions you on the leaderboards and rewards RP based on your standing at the end of the time. I am unsure what RP stands for or if it is a currency or experience point system. As my RP fluctuated when my standing on the leaderboard adjusted, I assumed it was currency. I could have had a better chance of confirming if the Marketplace was available.

The final mode is Free Flight and predictably you can choose locations, destinations, aircraft, and more. Free Flight is the ultimate sandbox for aviators to take to the skies any way they want. Personally, this was my least favourite mode as I found the experience dull. As mentioned earlier, I am not the intended audience, but those interested in avionics will be overjoyed with the attention to detail provided by this simulation.

Controlling aircraft is all covered in the tutorials and the information provided is very robust. However, as hard as I tried to fly by keyboard and mouse, I found the experience too difficult. Switching to a controller was much easier, allowing for finer inflight corrections.

The realistic graphics were truly sensational, and a highlight of the experience. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 has done a brilliant thing of utilising the Cloud to draw information ahead of where you are going allowing for faster load times, so as not to spend forever downloading the world.

Load times outside of gameplay were slower than what I deemed necessary, but maybe I’m old and impatient. Ultimately, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 when pulling out all the stops will deliver spectacular visual bliss.

The audio is perfect. Music is grand and spectacular and soothing and relaxing at all the right moments. Music is even absent when it needs to be, making the sound effects shine, and immersing you in the world at that moment. Voice acting is used throughout which is nice when you already have so much visual information to look at, not having to read dialogue boxes is a welcome reprieve.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is the truest simulation of aeronautical use I have ever experienced. Putting aside the long load times, graphical problems, and control difficulty, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is a must-buy for anyone interested in avionics. The realism captured in the simulation, graphics, and sound will provide a level of immersion only true flight could surpass. Although this is not a game for me, if you are interested in piloting, don’t let this one fly by.

Written by: Ashley Barnett-Cosgrove