Once in a while a game is released that I know won’t appeal to the public at large, no matter how much I try to convince myself otherwise. Flight Simulator 2004 is definitely one of those games.
In virtually every instance, saying that a game doesn’t appeal to the masses means the game itself is pretty much crap – however this is one notable exception. Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight is quite an impressive title, and for the hardcore nuts out there (meaning anyone seriously interested in flying), this is a must own title.
I’ve never laid hands on any of the previous versions of Flight SIM, but from what I’ve been told this is the easiest game in the franchise to pick up and play. I hadn’t really given that fact much thought (since I was so dead set on calling it a hardcore fans game), that I almost missed that. If you are willing to actually use that ability you have to listen and read, then everything in Flight SIM 2004 should be easy to do. In fact there is an included interactive flight school lesson plan taught to you by aviation expert Rod Machado that is probably as good as a ‘practice mode’ is going to get.
Flight SIM 2004: A Century of Flight isn’t just a sequel to the franchise; Microsoft is using it to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of flight. There is an insane amount of material written into this game about the history of flight over the last century, the included planes, and tips/tactics to flying each and every one of those planes. All that material makes this feel much less like a game, and more like a full blown course on flight. Imagine being in class, reading about a particular plane or one of its famous missions, and then being able to click a hyperlink and instantly be transported into the cockpit to complete that very mission. Does kind of put to shame the learning experience you’re getting at school right now doesn’t it?
Much like real life learning, you know if a tone of information is provided it’s because you’re more then likely going to need it. You can pretty much count on failure if you try to fly one of the new planes without learning about it, or taking some lessons to learn how to fly it. The entire history of flight, from the Wright Brothers Flyer, to Helicopters, to flying a passenger 747 is represented in the game, and flying each one is hard enough with the documentation – take that out of the equation and you’ll feel like a PAN-AM pilot after hitting a pub.
Besides being able to fly specific planes you can also take each one on a famous mission. You can try to get the Wright Flyer off the ground; take Lindbergh’s flight across the Atlantic; try to do what Amelia Earhart failed to do on her doomed flight across the same stretch of ocean, or just simply haul a few hundred people across the world in a 747.
Continuing on with the whole deep motif they’ve got going, Microsoft went all out with weather conditions and effects. The ultimate in real time flight in this game comes from the real world weather that is found in Flight SIM 2004. Weather Reports can be downloaded every 15 minutes from the Jeppesen database, and represented in the game. Think about that – you and some real pilot taking off from California en route to Florida could experience the exact same weather conditions. How’s that for realism?
Regardless of what missions and planes you choose to fly, DO NOT attempt to play this game with just your mouse and keyboard. It’s literally akin to trying to drive your car with your knees: it could be done under very limited circumstances, but really shouldn’t be at the top of your to-do list. If you purchase this game sans peripheral’s your screwed, because any vintage aircraft you try to fly will insta-crash as soon as you take control of it. Just something I think you need to consider before picking up the game.
The graphics in Flight SIM 2004 are really nice outside the plane and in the air. The 3D virtual cockpit looks like a crappy Photoshop creation, and the ground terrain doesn’t exactly spark the imagination. But the plane itself and the airspace you travel in looks gorgeous. You’d think after having said that, that the game would be easy to run on any computer, unfortunately nothing could be further from the truth. Just because half the game looks 5 years old graphically, doesn’t mean the nice looking sections of it won’t kill your system. Try to run this game at 1600x1200 with all the graphics settings turned up without a top of the line system, and you’ll be looking at a picture montage of the history of flight, because you’ll be lucky to get 5 fps.
Where the visuals come as a mixed bad, the sound is completely top notch all the way. Actual recordings of each plane are used to insure realistic sounds, and the Air Traffic Controls (ATC) need to be heard to be believed. At airports sporting an ATC tower you can (with a simple press of a button), ask for clearance for takeoff, landing, directions, and the air traffic controllers then answer your requests with the information you need. While this part of the game isn’t perfect, it does add to the sense of realism in Flight SIM 2004.
The ATC’s will certainly come in handy when trying to decide where to land, because nearly a thousand new airports have been added the game’s database, bringing the total to more then 24,000 places one could land across the globe.
If there was ever a game that needed a “casual fans need not apply” label, then this would be it. Average Joe will find little to no fun with Flight SIM 2004, and might in fact find himself hating the title after merely 15 minutes of play. BUT – anyone who considers themselves to be a fan of flight (or even if you just have a passing interest in it), should check this game out.
Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight is just as much of an educational tool, as it is a gaming experience, and is a must buy for the ‘flight community’. I’d wager a bet that anyone who bought this game and the required peripherals could, after a few intense months of gameplay, actually fly ANY of the planes featured in Flight SIM 2004, and that’s probably the best compliment you could give a SIM.
The rest of you however should run from this game like an after school special on the history of Mathematics.
