Microsoft Flight Simulator X

Pros

• Uses real-world aviation physics
• Faithfully rendered aircraft and scenery
• Fly existing flight paths on commercial aircraft
• Alternatively, engage in challenges and entertaining missions
• Recruits between 18 and 24 aircraft, including helicopters
• Superior terrain graphics
• Available from Steam
• Beautifully rendered
• Features thousands of real airports

Cons

• By todays standards, the game is old
• May not run smoothly on a modern Windows computer
• It's a hardcore simulator. Not for casual gamers

Fly realistically rendered virtual skies with the help of Microsoft Flight Simulator X, and do so without ever applying for a pilot's license. Granted, the popular aviation imitating program is classed as a game, yet its simulated cockpit can transport a keen aircraft captain to any one of 24,000 accurately modeled airports, all while the gamer is wrapped in the aluminum frame of a jumbo jet or a Cessna C172SP Skyhawk. And that's just two of the available 24 aircraft, which all handle as real-world flying machines.

Just to be clear, this is a hardcore simulation, not a console game. As such, real-world physics are used to control the exactingly modeled aircraft. Each and every one of the flying machines in this prizewinning flight simulator, from heavy Boeing 747-400 to swift Bell 206B JetRanger, a helicopter, will handle like the real thing. So don't expect to complete nigh-on impossible acrobatic maneuvers on a larger aircraft, not without tearing it apart or sending the flight into an unrecoverable stall-spin. Taking their cue from the realistically modeled aircraft and the real-world aviation physics, every airport and land feature is also exquisitely rendered, so expect to fly past real landmarks and scenery, although they're not always rendered in great detail.

Every would-be pilot can lose real hours and days to this virtual environment. There are missions to complete. Chart a flight between New York and London, get clearance from flight control, and fly that route, just as a real pilot would, before coming in to land at Heathrow airport as the sun drops below the horizon. The flight path is, of course, startlingly authentic, just like every other route, all around the globe. And, should a simulated commercial flight not be enough, Microsoft Flight Simulator X has a number of exciting challenges to stimulate bored pilots. They include voiced tutorials, the execution of difficult flight stunts, and goal-oriented missions. Even if one mission proves easy to complete in a light aircraft, try it again, this time with a commercial liner, such as an Airbus A321.

Microsoft Flight Simulator X isn't designed as an instant gratification program, so it may not entertain a casual gamer. However, that being said, this flight simulator is loaded with fun missions and challenges, which fly the virtual skies of a precisely rendered planet Earth. Over a decade old now, the game/simulator is still supported by a dedicated community of digital pilots.

Pros

• Uses real-world aviation physics
• Faithfully rendered aircraft and scenery
• Fly existing flight paths on commercial aircraft
• Alternatively, engage in challenges and entertaining missions
• Recruits between 18 and 24 aircraft, including helicopters
• Superior terrain graphics
• Available from Steam
• Beautifully rendered
• Features thousands of real airports

Cons

• By todays standards, the game is old
• May not run smoothly on a modern Windows computer
• It's a hardcore simulator. Not for casual gamers