Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
61 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome flight simulator Highly Recommended..., December 6, 2003
I've owned every version of MS Flight Simulator, since years before Microsoft bought Sublogic's Flight Simulator and made it the basis for Microsoft Flight Simulator.I've spend many entertaining hours playing Microsoft Flight Simulator, and for the most part, they've added new and very, appealing and worth-while features in each new release. This is also the case in Flight Simulator 2004. I upgraded the day FS 2004 was released, and I've never looked back. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 is a highly entertaining, very realistic looking, and quite realistic acting flight simulator. Overall, I consider it the best Flight Simulator out there. Some people will argue that X-Plane has more realistic flight models and they're probably right. MS FS however, is a close second, and when it comes to the overall gaming experience and look and feel of everything - the MS FS is a clear winner! IF YOU'RE UPGRADING FROM FS 2002:
* Greatly improved dynamic weather system - You can now have the system automatically update itself in the background with real weather conditions as often as every 15 minutes. The clouds look a lot more realistic than in FS 2002.
* New weather themes - Gives you both static and dynamic weather themes such as a brewing thunderstorm etc.
* Enhanced ATC (Air Traffic Control) - Altitude changes in flight, ATC at all airports, request new flight plan en-route (especially useful if your current one gets cancelled).
* Better 3D virtual cockpits
* Some scenery enhancements, such as signs on taxiways. Most scenery changes are quite subtle.
* Old GPS system has finally been scrapped, and instead replaced by two real life looking Garmin GPS's (slightly stripped down versions, but quite impressive still - Color and all).
* The rain has been improved - Looks more realistic.
* New planes of course - all of them are historic aircraft such as Douglas DC-3, the "Kitty Hawk", the "Spirit of St. Louis", Piper Cub etc. IF YOU'RE NEW TO MICROSOFT FLIGHT SIMULATOR, OR YOU HAVEN'T UPGRADED IN A WHILE:
* Real-World weather - with dynamic updates and dynamic weather changes. Multiple cloud layers. Plain and simple, the clouds look fantastic!!! The rain and snow need some improvement, but is still very good.
* Worldwide scenery with accurate 3D terrain.
* Scenery Auto-Generation - Buildings are generated on the fly based on what type of area you're flying over.
* More than 24000 worldwide airports - a lot of them very realistic looking. * 2D and 3D cockpits.
* Various types of planes - Boeing 737, 747, 777, Learjet, Cessna 172 and 182, Extra 300, a couple of more propeller planes, a sailplane, a helicopter, and of course all the historic planes that are new to this version.
* Jeppeson NavData database - ILS, VORs, NDB data etc.
* Landmarks all over the world - Eiffel tower, Statue of Liberty, Alcatraz, Empire State Building, USS Nimitz, the Red Square/Kremlin in Moscow etc.
* Multiplayer capability - Can play over network or internet (MSN Zone). I still miss the World Trade Center Towers, and the Concorde, but realistically enough, they're both gone from this version. *sniff* Conclusion: I highly recommend this game, both as an upgrade or if you're buying MS FS for the first time... FIVE STARS!!!
|
|
|
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Big Improvement from FS2002. Excellent., May 1, 2004
I am in love with avaiation, and therefore FS has become a part of my computing experience. I purchased FS 1998, and though it was a tolerable product, I in no way felt that it was a great simulation of flight. It just didn't have the look and feel of flight. However, I was blown away by the progress made in FS 2002. Though the clouds were not always realistic (modeling gave them a two-dimension look that was disconcerting to say the least), I thought that the overall experience was pretty good.I saw FS 2004, and I thought it was probably mot much of an improvement based on reviews I had read. Let me just say that the first reviews I read were wrong. FS 2004 is a major improvement over FS 2002, and it stands as a all-time gret product for aviation buffs like me. Improvements: 1. Weather: for the first time, flying on FS2004 simulates almost perfectly the experience of actually flying. Clouds have the mist look when you fly through them. The weather systems seem to generate randomly, just as in the non-virtual world. Also, I like the weather themes that can generate snow conditions, thunderstorms, and fair weather with high altitude stratocumulus clouds. In short, the weather is a fantastic approximation of reality. FS 2004 truly represents a quantum leap in simulations. (although IL-2 still has the best clouds). 2. ATC: FS2002 had the feel of real ATC but with some stupid problems. For example, if you fly using IFR (insturment flight rules), and you failed to reach your assigned altitude, the ATC would terminate their services (what the heck is that about?). If you wanted to fly at a different altitude you couldn't. Also, you couldn't change you IFR route, or change from VFR (visual) to IFR in flight. FS2004 makes those changes. For the first time you can change your altitude, you can change your route, and you can switch between IFR and VFR. Yea!.
Another big improvement is the ATC feel itself. For the first time, I actually feel as though I am flying in a populated world. Lots of traffic at big airports, just like in reality. Fly into San Francisco International, and you may just see airplanes lined up to land. This is a big improvement. 3. GPS: In FS2002, the GPS was very basic and frustratingly difficult to use. It was based on a second generation handheld, and consequently, there were few features. The GPS in FS2004 ahs lots of features, is far easier to use because of a new interface window that you can access in flight (see above), and you can switch to terrain features and in-flight messages. It is a more realistic approximation of a GPS device you would use in flight. 4. The World: FS2004 adds signs at airport runways so you can see where your going! It lso adds more features to the world around you, such as construction cranes, and different buildings not seen in previous models of FS. Although I have noticed a new "Chick-fil-a" looking restaurant, I can state definitively that no such place exists in San Diego, CA next to the Lindbergh field runway. However, the scenery looks a lot better than FS2002. Little details really add up and make flying in FS2004 much better. The airports really look great. Denver Int'l looks very realistic now, as does Seattle-Tacoma. ( I would rate more but I just havent had the chance to fly all over to world yet!) 5. Computer: For some reason, FS2004 sees to run better on my machine than did FS2002. No "slide shows" (bad framerate) that I have found yet, and the computer seems to run better with FS2002. I like this very much. I haven't added to many third-party add-ons with FS2004 yet, but it just seems to function better than does FS2002, so perhaps FS2002 had some unresolved framerate problems. 6. Open architecture: In general, MSFS has open architecture which allows aviation geeks like me to ad-on scenery, and hundreds of planes, general, military and specific airlines as well. Most of the products and downloads I have found are excellent and work well with FS2004. Complaints:
Given how I feel about this product, I have very few complaints.
I wish the ground textures were better. However, you can either download or purchase products that have photo-realistic scenery, so you can really fly though England of Souhern California and really recognize the ground.
Also, I wish the aiports had more realistic aircraft in them. Sometimes flying through LAX, I realize that Cessna would probably not be at that airport.
However, these are minor probelems, and overall Microsoft FS2004 is an excellent product and is well worth a purchase.
|
|
|
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Once again, a truly magnificent game, July 29, 2003
Fligh Simulator 2004: A century of Flight was anticapated ever since Microsoft anounced the game's release date. The game has yet to be known as the most well improved Flight Simulator ever since FS5. Speaking of FS5, it was the first game i played. FS5 had improved much more than its prodeccesor. Its prodeccesor (FS4)had only two colours included in the game. Blue (for sky) and green (for land) and its series was highly improved. And the same thing goes for us right here. What is the new feature(s) in this game? Is it just an addition of one or two planes, plus highly improved graphics? well, the asnwer is no. After reading forums, checking out sites such as fsgateway.net or fs2004.com, i realised that the game has more than just 2 features. Try 5 new improvments discluding the graphics design. So what else is there in the improvments section...well theres: 1.Enchanced Weather Systems: finally, weather is not a stable issue. Throught time to time, the weather changes. Ofcourse, you can always keep it stable or be more realistic and start off with a clear sky at take-off and end with a terrible storm while approaching the airport of your destination. You have a variety of different weather effects, from storm, to clear sky, to cloudy overcast, and remember, they all change naturally. They move, they bond with other clouds to form rain, all which you can expect. Ok, we finished with weather improvments, and more are yet to come. 2.Virtual Cockpit: though appeared in fs2002, it wasnt accessible. Well, now it is, and not only that but now you have a full view of the cockpit so you can see everything but not only the instruments panel above the throttle. You can turn your plane by moving the throttle using your mouse, you can even change the virtual cockpit view. I dont mean different angles, i mean changing the view as if turning your head around. Which means you have free movement; smooth movement. Not like before in which all you had was a front, front left and front right buttons to pick from. Now you can move the camera in any angle using your mouse. So that is another major feature of fs2k4. 3.Improved AI and GPS modes: unlike before, GPS will be very helpful this time. It'll give you different view modes of the map. Instead of the boring black back-ground, you can change into the virtual satellite image and see rivers, mountains and more in the GPS screen. The GPS nowadays are easier to use plus can prepare you a very easy approach. It can help you navigate your way even without having it activated in the screen. Red markers, arrows or metric units can tell you where the destination is, which direction, how fast you should go and how far away it is from you. As for AI aircrafts, they respond better and quicker. Now a days, AI planes wont land in the same runway as to which you're cleared to land in. Well they can if there's time. But it was alwaysa problem before, so you can now select your runway you want to approach towards by confirming it with the AI tower. If you're flying a robinson however, you can also land in helipads or before preparing the flight, can choose to start off at the heli pad instead of a gate lol. 4.Additional Airports: the biggest complaint lead Mircosoft into adding more airports. Here's another thing you should know about the airports in fs2k4. Theyre more improved than before. Number one, the addition of taxi signs made it easier to navigate without purple tracks for you to taxi to the runway or to the gate! Number two, the green taxi lights appear for the first time. These lights help you find the centre of the taxi way, also helps you in knowing when to turn or when the next available turn is coming to you. Before, many people taxied off the path 'casue it was hard in knowing when the turn was without the green lights. Now, there's nothing to worry about no more. 5.Nine historical planes: will allow you to experience the best historical planes and how hard they were to fly. From the wrightbrother's planes to the Spirit of St. Louis and all the way to the not so modern DC-3 (the first official passenger airplane) With the new special features such as virtual cockpit, you'll enjoy your time even more now. So these were the features, and last of all, we have two other features which are known as minor features but can also change your perspective view towards this game: 1. Graphics: more improved, plus all those new water effects including the new weather feature which will make graphics even better for clouds, rain/snow effects etc. etc. 2. AutoGen: now has been extended to its second level which means that there are no more odd-ball buildings. This means, there's a huge variety of buildings. Nowadays, towns in islamic nations can also have mosques. Some places have churches, in others you'll also be able to find gas stations etc. so do expect alot from this year's game. Now onto the sound effects. Really, not much of an improvment but do expect the engine noise better than before. Do expect to hear strong sounds from take-off and landing, it's going to be much much better, i guarantee. Lastly, i would like to recommend this game for anyone interested in flights, aviation, simulations and any kinds of mass transportations ;) it's a very excellent game, and i know you'll love it. If you're just a beginner, check out the training section and the manual book. Also be sure to check the resources centre where you can check the information on all historical planes, and modern ones too ;) good luck, i hope this review was helpful to you
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
