Games and toys:

Take to the skies with Microsoft Flight Simulator.

HAVE YOU EVER wondered what it feels like to be a pilot? To take to the skies and soar above places you’ve never visited before? There’s nothing quite like Microsoft Flight Simulator, a technical masterpiece that has been around for nearly 40 years, and its latest iteration is nothing short of sensational.

Made by Asobo Studio for both PC and Xbox Game Pass (and you can expect an Xbox Series X/S edition this year), Flight Simulator is a game sim that lets you explore the world in amazing detail. There are more than 37 000 airports, two million cities, 1.5 billion buildings, real mountains, roads, trees, rivers, animals, traffic and so much more. You can fly during the day or at night, with real-time weather and accurate wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity, rain and lightening. There’s a variety of aircraft from light planes to commercial jets, each bringing a completely new and interactive experience to your virtual travel. And as you fly at 10 000 feet, you’ll see an almost photorealistic world below. It’s absolutely massive, so much so it’s said it will take around 14 years of non-stop play to see it all. To give players this crazy level of accuracy, the game simulates the entire planet using textures and two petabytes of data from Bing Maps, while 3D representations are generated by Microsoft Azure cloud technology.

While there’s a high learning curve, Flight Simulator’s gameplay

is perfect for both beginner pilots and the game’s enthusiasts, as you can tweak the settings to match how well you know aviation. There’s a built-in flight school that will help anyone new to all the terminology (there’s a lot) as well as AI controls, or autopilot, and glowing pathways. The option to tweak every tiny detail and import live weather conditions brings another engaging dimension to the game, which is in itself endlessly replayable.

As with real-life flying, each flight begins with thorough engine and instrument checks. There’s also the time it takes to taxi to the runway as well as take-off and landing.

Understanding the physics of flight, the instruments and communicating with air-traffic control all play a part in the game’s depth. In addition, there are flight challenges, missions, multiplayer and a global scoreboard to consider. You may begin behind the yoke of a Cessna 152, but with some hard work, you’ll master a Boeing 747-8. Learning the intricacies of each plane, every airport, and flying in different weather feels incredibly rewarding. Being able to travel to picturesque destinations is what makes Microsoft Flight Simulator so much more than just a remarkable open-world game; it’s the joy of flying simulated.