When I was a kid I was an airplane nut. It was hard not to be considering my dad was in the Air Force and he was a civilian flight instructor and small aircraft mechanic on the side. I can’t even begin to count the hours I spent at small local airports and at air bases in various states. Needless to say my dad’s fascination with aircraft tied in perfectly with his love of technology. We literally bought a Commodore 64 for the original Flight Simulator. Over the years I tried out the various iterations that Microsoft released and have enjoy the series immensely, but it’s been a while since I’ve dusted off my joystick. Thankfully, I’ve had the chance to take to the skies again recently in Microsoft Flight Simulator X and I’m here to let you take a peek at my logbook.

The basic premise of Flight Simulator hasn’t changed that much. You choose a civilian aircraft, plot out a flight plan, and fly from point A to point B to point C, then do it all over again. Along the way you’ll justify your new graphics card by pointing out to anyone in earshot how much better the latest versions graphics are compared to the last one. Flight Simulator X follows in the footsteps of its predecessors when it comes to core gameplay but it also adds a slew of new options that make it the most complete Flight Simulator to date.

Flight Simulator X’s hangar is one of the largest yet. You’ll take the stick or yoke of more than 20 aircraft ranging from the classic Cessna C172 and Piper J-3 Cub to passenger aircraft ranging from a Learjet 45 to a Boeing 747-400. There are also aerobatic planes, sailplanes, ultralights, and helicopters to test fly as well. Each of these has a few variants that are usually just cosmetic color changes, but a few of the variants sport the Garmin G1000 glass cockpit. When you choose one of these variants, the typical array of flight instrumentation is replaced by a set of multifunction digital displays that perform all the same basic functions as the old round dials and a whole lot more. It’s great to see Flight Simulator keeping up with the changes in the aviation scene, and if I ever actually get around to getting my Private Pilots license I want to log my training time in an aircraft equipped with this new technology.

Once you settle on an aircraft, you’ll be able to plot a flight plan. Out of nostalgia, I tend to start with runs that my dad used to take me on. The planning tool in Flight Simulator X is a breeze to use. For example, I attempted to search for my local metro airport by its airport code. I was surprised when it didn’t come up. Finding it was simple though, because I then tried a search by city and state. The airport came up and I found that its code had changed since my last time playing Flight Simulator. I then was able to quickly plot the rest of my course and hit the tarmac for take off.

A few hours later I started my engine and headed down the runway. I’m exaggerating of course, but it does take a good while to actually load the simulator. This will all depend on your PC of course, but the rig I reviewed it on only misses the Microsoft “Best” requirements by a little bit of RAM. So there’s a good bet, it will load slow on most average PCs. Once you do get to finally fly, the graphics are jaw dropping at the highest settings. The landscapes you’ll be admiring from above look closer to the real thing than any previous attempt, but unlike the older versions, Flight Simulator X’s landscapes are not devoid of activity. The airports have baggage cars and fuel trucks going about their business. You will see traffic on major interstates and other roads. There are even wild creatures and farm animals roaming around. Unfortunately, all this puts a serious hit on the framerate unless you’re running the latest and greatest graphics card. Luckily, there are oodles of sliders and checkboxes in the graphics setup that will let you tweak the display to your heart's content. A little work and you’ll be able to achieve a good balance between the “optimal FPS factor” and the “holy cow, that’s gorgeous factor.”

Now the team at Microsoft could have just rested on their laurels and given us yet another annual update without any new features and version X would still be the best version of Flight Simulator so far. Instead they’ve added some extra components that bring it closer to being a game instead of just a sim.

The best new feature is the 50+ missions. While I like being able to do whatever I want in free flight, it’s nice to have some structure. There are a wide variety of missions that range from absurdly easy to white-knuckle hard. You can start with a decent amount of tutorial missions that teach you the basics of flying then move on to ferrying passengers or hauling medical supplies into remote locations. There are also oddball events like drag racing a jet powered truck and racing Red Bull sponsored events. In a nod to the Xbox 360, each of these will net you some sort of “achievement”-like medal or trophies that are added to your log-book records.

Also for the first time you’ll be able to fly the airways with friends online. It’s a little weird just tooling around various parts of the world with other people. I guess I’m so used to the other planes being opponents to be shot down that I have a hard time relating to the laid-back nature of Flight Simulator X’s multiplayer play. It’s not all lazy soaring through the air though. For those so inclined you can take a seat at the air traffic control desk and bark out routing commands to the various planes in your online airspace. Again, I just don’t find simulating the most stressful job in the world entertaining. While it’s not really my cup of tea, I’m sure that aviation aficionados will be ecstatic about the prospect of getting in some flight time online.

Gameplay: 8.5

This is, bar none, the best consumer available flight simulation to date. Notice the word “simulation.” Flight Simulator has game-like elements, missions, online play, etc., but at the end of the day it’s a hardcore simulator that the average “gamer” probably won’t enjoy.

Graphics: 9.0

You can drop a grand on hardware upgrades to have silky smooth performance and graphics that match the screenshots or you can spend some time tweaking the slew of settings to avoid the wallet hit. Either way it’s a gorgeous game.

Sound: 7.5

The air traffic control sounds like the real thing and so do the aircraft. It’s about what you would expect from a flight simulator title.

Difficulty: Medium to Why not just fly for real?

Just like flying for real, Microsoft Flight Simulator has an intense learning curve. Unlike flying for real, there are various settings that can be adjusted to make the title more accessible to armchair aviators or very realistic for pilots in training.

Concept: 8.5

For more than 25 years Flight Simulator has been the best way to learn about aviation without actually going to flight school and taking lessons. It’s simulated flying on a PC at its best.

Multiplayer: 7.0

This is one of those “Why didn’t they do this sooner?” kind of things. Multiplayer should delight fans, but if it’s the only reason you’re interested, you might want to try it before you buy.

Overall: 8.4

It’s hard to score a title like Flight Simulator for a gaming site because it’s not really a game. Luckily Microsoft made things a little easier for me by adding great new features like missions and multiplayer that give the simulator a more game like feel. If you’re part of Flight Simulator’s target audience (private pilots, aviation enthusiasts, etc.) than this a no-brainer just like every other version was. For everyone else, try out the demo. If you get bored about 10 minutes after take off then it’s not for you.