Ongoing Review of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024

Much like its predecessor, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 offers the entire globe for you to explore, giving you a myriad of activities at your fingertips. Back in 2020, the first installment of Microsoft Flight Simulator was a groundbreaking experience—earning the coveted 10/10 in my review—and this year’s version continues to offer a vast array of options. Unfortunately, its launch was marred by a few persistent issues. Despite my eagerness to dive into this year’s offering, early access codes weren’t available and some unexpected launch problems made it unplayable for the first 24 hours. These hiccups have me still working on my virtual aviation career and trying to piece together this review. While Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 introduces some exceptional elements, they don’t quite match the thrill of the previous edition. Rather than being truly dazzled, I’m simply impressed.

The standout feature of Flight Simulator 2024 has to be the career mode. Here, you select a home airport, join an imaginary aviation company, and start building your pilot career. It’s reminiscent of a classic skill tree system in video games: complete beginner tasks to unlock new opportunities. For instance, after earning a commercial pilot’s license, you could secure a tail wheel endorsement, opening up more sophisticated planes and jobs, like search and rescue missions. Alternatively, you might earn a rotorcraft certification, leading to unique roles like operating a sky crane—a definite “hell yeah” moment for me. Each new credential unlocks diverse job options, ranging from simple sightseeing flights to complex helicopter operations.

Eventually, you gather enough resources to break free from your employer and launch your own aviation business. I haven’t reached this milestone yet, but I’m diligently working through my fixed-wing certifications at an admirable pace. My plans for entrepreneurship remain undecided, though I anticipate running my own company and reaping the rewards. The profits can be reinvested to expand your aircraft fleet, which I’m eagerly looking forward to.

Early career missions mainly involve basic flight training to get you accustomed to piloting aircraft. Disappointingly, the training is identical to the 2020 tutorials, using the same Sedona, Arizona airfield for all its tasks. The difference now is that the AI-driven instructions and on-screen guidance are clearer, enabling you to understand mission requirements more precisely. I appreciate the helpful tooltips of 2024, aiding with the countless cockpit controls, as opposed to always seeking help online for forgotten operations—like releasing the parking brake. Unlike 2020, I might not disable these hints given my forgetfulness.

The deeper you venture into career mode, the more mission varieties you unlock. Though it did throw me off when new missions weren’t near my chosen base, KMVM Machias Valley Airfield in Maine. Instead, I found myself in Europe for tasks like skydive missions. While this doesn’t greatly bother me, it somewhat disrupted the career illusion I had envisioned. Perhaps my imagination just wasn’t up to the task!

Reflecting on the 2020 version, Microsoft Flight Simulator was simply awe-inspiring. Having the freedom to fly anywhere on the planet and the 20 aircraft included made it perfect for any aviation enthusiast, especially with the adjustable assist settings catering to any skill level. Being able to visually explore the world with real-life mapping data was what set it apart as the most incredible simulation experience I’ve had, despite its tedious load times. Witnessing landmarks, landing at famous airports, or finding a solitary strip somewhere remote offered an unparalleled exploration of our world.

Overall, career mode delights me. In the 2020 edition, I’d create personal missions, such as air-delivering pizza from Knox County Regional Airport in Owl’s Head, Maine to Matinicus Island—a real occurrence. Having structured missions reinforces my familiarity with aircraft operations, stealthily honing my piloting skills as I dream of starting my own airline or helicopter business.

Another intriguing addition is the challenge league, offering a more gamified experience while retaining the realistic flight models and physics I love. With three challenges weekly and leaderboards, it taps into my competitive spirit. My favorite so far is the F/A-18 rally race through the Grand Canyon—a thrilling test of speed and precision. It took me numerous attempts to clock in at 1 minute 54 seconds, landing in the Bronze league. But overtaking an unknown rival on the leaderboard was immensely satisfying. I’m keen to tackle these challenges weekly. Previously, landing challenges with leaderboards in Flight Simulator were enjoyable, but they didn’t quite capture the excitement of piloting a fighter jet through such a natural marvel.

One of my favorite features from the previous iteration was virtual travel to places I’d rarely visit in real life. Flight Simulator 2024 introduces photo challenges, highlighting sightseeing. You visit iconic locations, snapping photos under specific conditions, like capturing the Great Sphinx with the sun perfectly positioned over its shoulder on the equinox—and yes, you must do this on foot.

This brings us to a noteworthy new feature: disembarking from your aircraft to explore on foot. Regrettably, this isn’t as smooth as I’d hoped. Walking occurs at a lifelike pace, which seems sluggish if you’re used to typical video game speeds. Plus, the detail varies wildly based on your equipment, internet connection, and cloud server performance, meaning results can differ greatly.

Despite some odd, outdated visuals akin to GoldenEye, the up-close terrain is incredibly detailed. The terrain, such as sand and rocks, appears convincingly realistic, and the ground itself looks more natural globally. Grass displays wheel tracks, and mud sticks to tires, supposedly altering aerodynamics—a phenomenon I can’t personally vouch for, having never flown with mud-covered tires.

More wildlife now appears authentically in their natural habitats. I truly felt like I was in Maine when a moose leisurely crossed the runway as I waited. Though I’ve yet to spot more animals, they’re evidently there, thanks to the database Microsoft Flight Simulator leverages—so here’s hoping I’ll soon witness lions in Africa.

Looking skyward, Flight Simulator 2024 can look significantly better, especially in renowned areas like the Grand Canyon. Running it on my powerful PC—equipped with an i9-13900K processor, Radeon RX 7900XT GPU, and 64GB DDR5 RAM—proves it can impress visually, barring some stumbles. However, its dependency on streamed cloud data causes issues. During a Venice flight mission, St. Mark’s Basilica was rendered as a texture-less geometric model amidst a perfectly detailed city. I miss the 2020 world map packs stored on my SSD, hoping they could alleviate this by streaming only the less exciting areas. As much emphasis has been placed on cloud streaming, I would be surprised to see a switch to a hybrid model.

Running at maximum settings on my high-end PC pushes the GPU to its limits, maintaining 100% usage. Even reducing the graphics settings only minimally alleviates this strain, indicating a need for optimization also.

Despite its rocky launch, I’m quite fond of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. I may not have been as stunned as I was in 2020, my first chance to fly anywhere on Earth, but the charm endures. The novelty may have waned somewhat, yet the improvements and new features enhance the overall experience. Now that the initial turbulence is smoothing out, I can enjoy what I love about the simulator, be it aimless flying or delving into career mode to better grasp commercial aviation. While I continue to assess all it offers before reaching a final verdict, despite early setbacks, Flight Simulator 2024 shapes up to be an exceptional experience, even if it doesn’t quite recapture the initial magic from five years ago.