User Reviews (61 - 71 of 250)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Buggy

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: July 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I got all excited when I heard the new FS was comming out, and bought it right away.
First of all, the sceneries are nicely improved. The clouds are rather nice looking, the runway lights are gorgeous, the runways themselves are really lifelike, so are the taxiway markers and tha parking points at the gates. The liveries are also pretty nice. I particularlly like the new Learjet 45 Anniversary livery. The weather engine is fantastic in its premise. The addition of payload is really cool; it's nice to tweak with the aircraft's center of gravity. The improved ATC is wonderful when you hit bad weather; you can climb or descent in the middle of an IFR flight. The GPS unit is accurate to the real thing.
I have to give this game three stars just because I found a bunch of bugs. Little things perhaps, but things that Beta testers should've seen and reported. But the thing that [upset] me the most was the intrusive gauges in the middle setting of the front cockpit view (the one you toggle with W). I use this setting on my final approach so I can see the runway, and my speed, VS, altitude, and horizon, but now, the individual gauges for the planes block the view and there is no way to move them. The real weather engine is great, but you cannot access the "weather debriefing" before starting the flight. The GPS unit is hard to learn, and the "declutter" function does not serve its purpose. As always, you hit heavy traffic when on final approach, and "go-around" instructions are issued, although you get to choose a different runway (if there's a parallel or an alternate active). After closing the program, it screws with the video settings and turns my screen into a wuzzy 12" screen. I've had to restart the computer every time I finish playing.
I should've waited to buy this version. Maybe they'll come out with a revised version or a "Professional" edition in the months to come.

Great for the money

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: March 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

this is awesome for those who are interested in learning to fly, or those who already fly who just enjoy getting to see new stuff. the scenery is phenomenal, and really accurate for all the major cities.

the best part is the add-on software that lets you network with other sim pilots on networks - see vatsim.net and look for squawkbox software

Best online for simulations!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: June 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I went to ground school with the aspirations of becoming a private pilot. While taking my flight lessons, I purchased this game and used it as a backup and practice when not in the classroom or in the cockpit. This game is worth buying just for the schooling provided. Microsoft did such an amazing job of recreating some of the greatest planes that I felt like I was sitting in my plane. Using the many online programs that go with this game, you can talk to ATC, have live weather conditions and even see who's flying around you. This is the next best thing to flying and I still prefer this version over FSX.

Well rounded flight simulation for everyone.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: March 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If you have even a passing interest in aviation simulation, then the experience provided by MFS2004:ACOF (FS9) is one you don't want to be without.

This incredibly open environment will give you literally limitless experiences. The Microsoft Flight Simulator community is extremely large and there are literally thousands of add-on's (aircraft, panels, textures, sounds) that are public domain freeware. There are also many high-quality commercial add-on's to choose from as well. How well aircraft resemble their real counterparts is dependent on how much data the developer listed in the aircraft configuration file. The simulator uses a physics engine to process the data. This data can be changed by the user by just using a text editor.

The weather engine for FS9 is simply stunning. Real-time, photorealistic, weather generated dynamically from weather stations across the globe.

Through third parties (free and commercial), artificial intelligence with traffic is possible to the extent of real-world commercial flights in the simulator that are based off real-world flight schedules. Have an airline ticket with American Airlines for next week? Well, in the simulator you can go to your airport, today, and set the time and date for that flight. At the departure time, you will see that aircraft with correct details of aircraft type, airline, flight number, pull up to the runway and ask for IFR departure to your intended destination city!

All of this comes at a cost. The cost is hardware resources. You simply can't have enough resources for this extremely large program. This program is more of an environment than an application.

The mininum specifications listed is a joke. With the exception of the CPU, multiply all that by three. Multiply the CPU by FOUR.

You will want to have a video card with at least 128 MB. Even then, you should be looking at 256 MB video cards.

Yes, its that dependent on raw processing power!

This simulator isn't perfect, but it is the most well-rounded flight simulator that everyone can enjoy. If extreme realistic detail with flying a commercial heavy is more important to you than stunning graphics, then there are other simulators that will better serve your needs. Take a look at Aerowinx's "Precision Simulator" for this need, which is the most detailed (procedures and systems) 747 simulator that consumer money ($250+) can buy. "Precision Simulator" is designed for functionality, not pleasant graphics. In fact, it is a DOS application. I would not recommend "Precision Simulator" to anyone unless they knew exactly what they were getting with it. The learning curve is intense and in comparison it makes "Microsoft Flight Simulator" look like an arcade game. If you have just a passing interest in some of the more advanced avionics of a commercial heavy, I would recommend using PMDG's 737NG with FS2004. This third party add-on aircraft is put together very well and even has a partially functional CDU. While it doesn't have the depth of "Precision Simulator", this CDU does allow you to have the majority of the FMC capabilities -- including SID/STAR procedures.

In short, if you have the system resources and want to fly around mainly in general aviation aircraft and view stunning scenery, then FS9 is for you. General windows knowledge (copy/paste files, editing files with text editors, create/delete directories, using archives) is mandatory if you want to get the full potential out of this software.

Check out Microsoft's Game Player website before purchas...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 10 / 14
Date: December 21, 2003
Author: Amazon User

DO NOT BUY THIS GAME AS A GIFT...

Instead purchase an Amazon Gift Certificate and let your friend(s) do their own shopping on Amazon. And, here is the reason why... Compatablity issues. If the games requirements are not met it will not work. I don't mean the requirements stated on the box but the real requirements that remain unstated. (www.microsoftgamesinsider.com)

Now for the good stuff. The game has great techinical accuracy which is something I really like about this game . Flying real 172 is pretty close to Flight Simulator 2004 (I dont know about the rest but the 172's flight envelope is close). You do have to work with some techinical aspects of the aircrafts.

This is not a good game for those who like the arcade action type games. This is nothing like it. This is a simulator. For such a person this game would be a bore.

The reason for the 2 stars is because of the compatablity issues rather than for the game techinical merit. I really do like this game though.

"As Real As It Gets" says it all!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 12
Date: August 31, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Since the first days of flight simming the achievement of what has been made for a home computer is mind boggeling. There is no doubt with the addition of random weather, with the best clouds in the civilian flight sim arena, and the ATC upgrade that Microsoft Flight Simulator 9 (aka 2004 COF) will go down as one of the best. Now IFR flying is truly a challenge and realistic as it gets to date. No matter if there are small quirks...compared to the past years I have not wasted my money here. I've dreamed of such a flight simulator for 15 to 18 years like this one. I just hope it doesn't stop here, I hope they can smooth it out and go further. The online prospects of this could be real sweet. If your a real fan support the cause, you won't be disappointed. The people behind this one are making a programming legend and nothing pushes the technology like a great flight sim!

Flight Sim 2004 is wonderful!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: December 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

My system can nearly max out the graphics, it is a Pentium 4, with high video memory. A high end system (2005 model) can really do wonders with this game. The ability to have real world weather is nice, unless it is night (hard to see). Airports are lighted unless they are grass, this helps landing. I bought a low end flight joystick from Logitech, and it has worked well. If you are going to spend 2 hours playing a videogame on a Saturday, this is the one to play!
The new version X seems to have many bad reviews, so I will stay with 2004 (version 9) for now. It takes about three times longer to load a scenario.
I am actually learning town names as I land at different airports. There is also the ability to "slew" the aircraft over much of the terrain between large areas between states. This makes it go much faster than engines alone. "Y" for slew mode, etc. Look up this feature. This should be in the help, probably. With a good joystick, it really makes it nice to play this game.
2nd revision.

Best Flight Simulator!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: August 14, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 is the best flight simulator on the market today and probably will be until the long-awaited 2006 version is available! If you have only one simulator to buy, this is the one! It has a broad array of planes to fly and will even teach you how to fly them with a set of flight lessons built in. You will need to buy a joystick, if you don't already have one, but it will be worth it!

The Best

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: December 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I am a pilot and have flown some of the planes listed in this simulation. When I sit down and play this simulation it is like getting back in the cockpit again.

Same old graphics

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 13 / 21
Date: October 15, 2003
Author: Amazon User

There are not only fans who play these games to learn how to fly a plane, but there are also many people who just want to enjoy the scenery as they fly from country to country. That said, don't bother wasting your money if you already have FS2002. The graphics look almost the same as FS2002. As usual looking down at the terrain from a high altitude is great. On the other hand, once you come down to a lower altitude you can't tell if it's a field or a brown block. Sounds like they've used the same old programmers from FS2002 into 2004. Microsoft needs better programmers so we can appreciate the scenery at low altitude. They should also add farms and houses on mountains. It is completely desolate in the game with no lights at night. What happened to the Amazon rain forest in Brazil? It looks like a brown block with twigs sticking out. I can't see Microsoft making a giant leap, with regards to graphics, into FS2006. I'm going to have to wait for FS2008.

Review Page: Previous 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next 

Actions