Microsoft Flight 2012 Takes Off

Microsoft Flight Simulator fans have been waiting and waiting for Microsoft to say anything about some kind of new Flight Simulator (FS). Most of the hardcore FS fans (is there any other type?) expected to see something grand, something great, something that would keep them busy for a few more years. And they got an announcement of a free-to-play flight sim.



Wow. That was unexpected from Microsoft.

As the announcement was made you could smell something rotten in the state of Denmark… A flight simulator from Microsoft for free?

All of the sim community just hoped that Microsoft would not give them a half-product; something that would be oriented more towards casual players (and not simulation enthusiasts). They wanted a real simulation, a true successor to FSX. And what did they get?

Free to play?
Sure, Microsoft Flight is free to play, or to be more precise, free to get a taste of what you could do if you buy extra airplanes, terrains etc. When you start the game, you have two planes at your disposal (the Icon A5 and Boeing Stearman N25) and you are welcomed with few basic tutorials that show you how to take off, how to land and some basic flight instructions. Upon completion of the tutorials, you’re ready for the real stuff! You’re ready to try some other aircraft and see how it handles, see how good the physics model is, or simply want to have fun. But, MS Flight says no-no - these two airplanes are all you have, and if you want that P-51D Mustang we mentioned so many times before the launch, you’ll have to pay $8 for it.


Boeing Stearman N25 biplane

Nah, I don’t want to pay anything extra yet, let’s take a look at what else MS Flight offers. Missions! Well, that could be interesting! Oh, those are just the tutorials, not real missions… Maybe we’ll have more luck with Challenges? Okay, here we go, some real flying... if you consider landings and flying through nice, glowing rings in the sky "real flying"... 

There must be something more, there must be! Wait, what’s this? Aerocache Hunt? Well, this is something spectacular: flying in search of a hidden cache! And the way to find it is to use the provided hint, then use Bing search engine to pinpoint the location and fly there. How cool is that!? Well, not at all, especially since only one of those Hunts is free; for the rest of them you need to buy the Hawaiian Adventure Pack.



I'm still not giving up, there must be something more. Job list in every airport? Sounds like fun! First mission is to take some woman for a burger on the other side of the island. How...creative, but I guess others will be more fun. They look like it, since in this one I’m supposed to carry cargo to another airfield (a bit more exciting than flying someone for burgers). But! - there is always a ‘but’ in this free game - in order to fly those jobs, you need a different airplane, and, you guessed right, you have to pay for it ($15).


Regardless of the game being free or not, the feeling of flight is as great as ever

So, if I’m someone who simply wants to fly in a free-to-play game, I’m stuck with two basic, underpowered planes and one island. Since there’s nothing else, let`s try that and give you our impressions.