Imagine the excitement a former Air Cadet got when finding out this instalment of Flight Simulator was getting released. I'll give this game it's due, the excitement didn't dissipate immediately after I started playing it. The training chapters are actually pretty good. However, spending more time and the cracks start to appear.

I'm impressed at the whole globe effectively being generated from GeoData, the number of airports and even recognising roads, other landmarks. A specific example, I work in real life making and taking fault or scheduling calls with hospitals all over the UK, and I'm seeing all the client sites with helipads in game. They actually all mean something to me when I spot them.

This is the first MSFS game that I've had for well over a decade. Whilst much younger, I had FS 2009 (The Century of Flight Edition) which just blew my mind. Fifteen years later, this 2024 version might have kept up with computer graphics but the rest doesn't seem enough for what should've been many years of progress. I never played the last 2020 version, so I can't comment how these compare.

If you're a serious sim flyer and haven't bought this yet, check out DCS first (also very pricey but extremely technical). If you're a casual aviation gamer, play War Thunder or any of the old Maddox Games such as IL-2 Sturmovik. If you really want this game, wait for them to sort it out a bit first and certainly don't make my mistake of spending extra on the Aviator edition. It's not worth it yet.

It seems to be the norm now that developers release massive games that are unfinished or unoptimised. Unfortunately, for this game it is both. It might have been alright but not for the £200 that I had spent on it. When we part with so much, we expect so much in return. Microsoft's Flight Simulator was the epitome of aviation computer simulation. How have they missed the mark by so much? I usually try to complete a game, or at least mostly, before leaving a review. But there's just too much wrong with this game. It's early days and so I hope the developer sees this and takes on the feedback:

Pros:

• Convincing and well executed global map.
  
• Night flight looks incredible.
  
• Free flight is in real time.
  
• Usually decent attention to detail (UK traffic drives on the left, for example).

Hmm:

• Somewhat lagging control input from an XBox Elite II controller (direct USB-C), especially when adjusting trim or extending landing gear.
  
• Long loading times on a relatively high-end PC.
  
• Haven't found an option yet to land and refuel for intercontinental flights.
  
• Inadequate Airport filter which makes selecting suitable runways very difficult.
  
• Some in game text or clearer infographics when selecting airports would be helpful so that I don't try landing an AN-225 on an unlit runway at night which also in fact turned out to be too short for what was one of the world's largest aircraft.
  
• Incorporating a vast wildlife library from Planet Zoo is a nice touch, but but it begs these questions:
  
  • How much of that was necessary?
    
  • How much is just bloat?
    
  • Where else have similar decisions been made to the game?

Cons:

• Not very well optimised.
  
• £200 for the Aviator edition which turned out to be massively overpriced for not enough aircraft or features.
  
• Marketplace isn't available, yet (when it is, they should give free passes to anyone that paid extra for little extra content. UPDATE: The developers will be releasing four free aircraft to compensate and I can confirm that these are not part of the Aviator pack already, so it looks like everyone will receive them.
  
• Variants are listed as individual aircraft when ideally you'd instead select this in game in a similar fashion to selecting the livery (they are making the collection seem larger than it actually is). UPDATE: Variant section found in the aircraft configuration settings in Free Flight. However, multiple variants of the same aircraft are still found in the main aircraft list.
  
• The game sometimes registers stalls as crashes and will reset the aircraft.
  
• Changing the destination in flight doesn't update the flight path.
  
• No full screen mode in the Photo Album.
  
• No option to hide the interface in Photography mode, so no decent screenshots. UPDATE: Artwork can be uploaded to Steam instead. Find your photos by going to: C:\Users\localusername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024\Screenshot. You may need to create a .jpeg version first as Steam restricts the upload size to 5MB. Click to see example artwork here.

Stability*:

• Loading the game initially, it goes straight to 6%, then takes about a minute to get to 68%, a short pause then it shoots up to 100%.
  
• Any mission or free flight takes just over half that time to load.
  
• Live feed constantly fails, I flew from Kyiv to Manchester and I saw only one other aircraft (Buzz Air) during a four hour flight.
  
• No game crashes (yet) but I can see how perhaps mid tier set ups could struggle significantly.
  
• Game took significantly longer to load on 4th January and froze the screen regularly while doing so. It did manage to load eventually without crashing.

https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3397283102
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3397273022
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3393045178

My Rig*:

• Ryzen 9 5950X (16C/32T up to 4.9GHz)
  
• 3090 Ti Founders Edition (GDDR6X 24GB)
  
• 64GB DDR4 RAM (3200 MHz)
  
• 4TB Samsung 990 Pro
  
• MSI 40" Ultrawide 1440p 155Hz

Real Flight Experience:

• Grob Vigilant (RAF Topcliffe - EGXZ, UK)
  
• Grob Tutor (RAF Linton-on-Ouse - EGXU, UK)
  
• Cessna 152 Aerobat (Ardmore Airport - NZAR, NZ)
  
• Cessna 172 (Ardmore Airport - NZAR, NZ)

I've always enjoyed Forza since Motorsport 3, and this installment of Horizon ticks all the boxes. Call me biased, maybe, but the British setting has probably made this the best open world racing game out there by far. It beats the Mexican map of FH5 despite being smaller due to the detailing and seasonal change. It feels authentic.

The players are great, and despite the looming delisting in a few hours, there will still be plenty of online activity for time to come. It even beat the successor game recently with the number of active players.

If you're looking to buy this game before it's delisted, buy the ultimate edition at the 80% discount to get all the content. You might as well, only £6 more than the standard edition. It's worth having the full game for your library. I previously had this on Xbox and prestiged many times. You'll be able to sign in to your Xbox account to play the game but you will have to start from scratch. This didn't bother me personally, and shouldn't discourage you from buying a classic before it's gone from the store.

Pros:
- Convincing British landscape.
- Seasonal weather & environmental conditions.
- Very complete with varied race types & exploration.
- Traffic drives on the correct side for once.
- Vast car library.

Hmm:
- Very generous reward system takes the challenge away slightly.

Cons:
- Festival Playlist achievements can no longer be obtained.
- Anyone coming from Xbox Live will have to start from scratch.
- FH4 is being delisted very, very soon (So get it while you can).
- Some car models available with right hand drive in real life are still offered only with left hand drive in game. An oversight on a British map when you consider their otherwise very good attention to detail.

https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3348965279
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3335967475
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3344473036