Microsoft Flight Simulator X Deluxe Edition

Reviewed by Ismael Samayoa
December 17, 2006

Developer: Microsoft Studios Publisher: Microsoft Website: Click Here Platform(s): PC Number of Players: 1 ESRB Rating: Everyone Review Rating: 3 out of 10

Screenshot from Microsoft Flight Simulator X Deluxe Edition. Click image to enlarge.

Everyone has dreamt of flying at one point or another. From Mecha flying in space, to jet fighters zipping through the sky, the thrill of learning to fly is a timeless passion that has touched us all at one point or another and Microsoft gives us a chance to live that wish out by playing their newest flight simulator game.

Now even though Microsoft had given us only a demo version to try out, I had high hopes for the game and could not wait to try this simulator out. As I started to play the game I found that my dream of flying quickly turned into a tailspin nightmare. I went through the boring introduction sequence and was given the bitter treat of flying a single engine plane. As I controlled the plane using my direction arrow keys I found myself flying like a cross eyed chicken. As the plane tilted to the right and left and I found myself crashing to the floor and bouncing off the ground and back into the sky, at this point the sense of realism that was promised at the intro was quickly left at the roadside. Now readers, I took longer to write this review because I went out and bought a joy stick for better control of the three vehicles they had given me in the demo to try, but it was wasted money due to the high difficulty of the simulator. This game has tons of control keys to master and little to no instruction in the demo version on how to use them, but if you look at the menu that has the information, it makes a first person shooter game's controls seem as easy as a two button classic arcade game, but Microsoft Flight Simulator X Deluxe Edition offers none of the thrills.

Sad to say the Evolution Factor of this game is as low as I have ever seen on any game. But that's just the problem: this is a simulator and not a game in the real sense of the word. I found no joy in using this sim and found my skill in flying improve to the level of a dyslectic terrorist. And do not get me started on the frustration in trying to land a plane. It would cover eight pages of colorful commentary. But to make matters worse the 3D environment that was used in this demo is sadly substandard of any game out today. I know that by the time this game sees the light of day the environment will be something wonderful to see (as seen in one of the pictures given for this review), but at the time of this review Microsoft Flight Simulator X Deluxe demo leaves me disappointed with its graphics. The Microsoft Flight Simulator X Deluxe Edition is recommended only for the serious flying enthusiast and not recommended for the gamer that wants to try out a flying game for kicks.