Customer Reviews for Microsoft Flight Simulator X Standard DVD

Microsoft Flight Simulator X Standard DVD
by Microsoft

	List Price: ~~$19.99~~ Our Price: $18.82 You Save: $1.17 (6%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $9.68 (click here) Category: Video Games See more product details

Video Game Reviews of Microsoft Flight Simulator X Standard DVD

Customer Review: From a "Not-Hardcore-Gamer" View
Summary: 4 Stars

Let me get something of my chest first. I have noticed a lot of bad feedback on reviewers who give higher ratings to products that are developed by Microsoft. So just to make it clear - I am not reviewing Microsoft, I'm reviewing the simulator.

So.. how fun is this game? Well it's your system that can actually answer this question. This game is amazing from my point of view. I have used everything, from FS98 to latest X-Plane.. and nothing is as good as this.

The Good:

- Stunning graphics. This is the most beautiful game I have ever played. From the water effects to shadows from the plane.. every effect and particle is breathtaking.

- Gameplay. It is an amazing gameplay, indeed. You can now fly in any seat you like, control literally any view of the airplane, most of the cockpit controls work and function the way they are supposed to. The weather system is amazing.

- Multiplayer. This one speaks for itself: FUN FUN FUN. It is very entertaining since you get to see people from all over the world. However, there are few cons.. like the Bad ATC guys who often mislead you and cause you to crash etc. It was foggy, so I depended on A/P. I was told to turn 074R, which I did. I heard the ILS Frequency so I put it on APP but ultimately, I was put into wrong direction and as much as APP fought to align me to the right direction (while keeping up with sped and altitude) i still landed in the ocean.. and of course crashed (since you're not able to actually land on water in this game). Of course, there are plenty of pefect ATC's out there but even with few that are not as good it's still VERY fun to play. Try it and see for yourself.

The Bad:

- ATC. ATC has not changed much from FS2004 other than a new "window" that it displays in. Still no ability to declare an emergency which is sort of a disappoint since you ARE able to set engines to fail or to run out of fuel (or both). So.. if your engines die out on you don't you think you deserve a right to report the situation to ATC? LOL

- Crash dynamics. If you're hoping to be able to crash your plane into a mountain and see a giant explosion and earthquakes then I have to disappoint you. While I almost never crash in Flight Sims I still wish there were better crashing dynamics to make it more realistic. For example, if I land heavily on my nose I'd love to see my plane's nose gear to fail and act like it would in physics.

Also, why can't we have the ability to land on water? Boeing 737 CAN do that (if propely executed). Here, no matter what amazing pilot you are.. as soon as you touch the water - you crash. Oh well. It's a very small thing but I wish it was improved a bit.

The Ugly:

- System requirements. I agree with what many reviewers said - this game depends more on CPU than it does on video card. This game will most likely NOT work at the Max settings if you have a brand-name PC (eMachines, HP, Dell).

When I first installed the game I had AMD Sempron 3300 (2.01GHz); 2GB DDR, Radeon X1650 Pro with 512MB. I ran the CanYouRunIT tool from System Requirements Lab.. the report said that I exceed RECOMMENDED requirements and should have a great experience with the game. I didn't really believe that since I have a 3rd class CPU but I played FS2004 and HL2 on the HIGHEST settings with absolutely NO lags so I thought it would work fine.

I was.. wrong. The game was not playable unless I set all of the aircraft, transport and texture settings to Minnimum Low. It lagged horribly on my native resolution of 1680x1050 32 which I had to put into 1440x900 16bit.

I purchased a new video card which is Geforce GTX 8800 with 740mb of RAM and can now play without any lags on my native resolution with settings set to Medium High but still not maxed out. Why? Because this game needs CPU. In this case, the CPU is the heart not the video card. If you buy it make sure to get the SP1 for this ASAP.. there are few performance updates which could be crucial if your video card or CPU isn't the best.

So to wrap up - I highly recommend this simulator to any Aerolover as myself. But make sure you have a GOOD CPU and card. If you have them you'll find yourself spending hours and hours flying above gorgeous landscapes, commmunicating with people all over the world, surviving a dead engine and/or faulty mechanics and generally having fun. This amazing software is both entertaining and educational.

Customer Review: Gotta have Vista
Summary: 3 Stars

I have a pretty nice rig the only thing its really lacking is Vista. Though this FSX has a DX9.X version; it looks horrible. A Vista/DX10 enabled system is almost required. I recommend this for the flight sim freak, it's as good as MSFS has ever been but for the player who wants shiny graphics as well as gameplay, make sure you are using Vista the graphics without it are just not up to snuff.

Customer Review: Get the Deluxe version instead.
Summary: 5 Stars

It costs more, but you get so much more in the way of backgrounds, planes, animations, the lot.

As for user complaints of the product key, I hope Microsoft fixes them. I've had no problem with mine, but have read reports of people with legitimate copies having activation problems. :(

Customer Review: Excellent Flight Sim, works exceptionally well
Summary: 5 Stars

Microsoft's Flight Simulator X may be the best Flight Simulator currently on the market. With it's awesome graphics and unique structure, it is taking the gaming industry by storm. The only drawback would be the Two-Disk DVD set. Many computer users, expecially those who use notebooks, do not have a DVD-Drive avaliable. Apart from this, it is a great game. I have two computers, an Hewlett-Packard Desktop with an AMD Turion 64 Processor and 1024MB of memory, and a 100GB hard drive. It is running on Windows XP Media Center SP2. It works well, but works even better on my notebook. The notebook is a Gateway with an AMD Turion 64 Processor and 1024MB of memory, and an 80GB hard drive. It is also running on Windows XP Media Center SP2.

The gameplay is great. Many different views to enhance your flying experience. Solo play and Online play are both excellent, but, as a warning, do not try Online play with Dial Up. Broadband is recommended, as it gathers many packets online, and Dial Up cannot recieve them fast enough, so you will experience a high rate of Latency, or Lag.

All in all, if you are looking for an exceptionally fun and enjoyable flying game, this is the one to grab. Five stars easy.