Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000

"We have takeoff, to yet, another exciting flight sim game!"

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000 (Professional Edition), provides you with everything you need for one crazy flight experience ever! With 14 real time aircrafts, 12 high-resolution cities, and more then 20,000 airports and 50 detail cities around the world, this game sure earns its title, and disappoints... no one.

Graphics -
The graphics are incredible for present time games. We're talking about the real deal here. Microsoft included 12 highly detailed cities, that look extremely beautiful. I couldn't even start the takeoff, I was drooling over the graphics half the time, even from the launch path. What's even more amazing, is that the game, Pro Edition is optimized for Pentium Processor III (not required for actual gaming though), to make the cities look even more beautiful, to make you feel like your really in the cockpit of a real aircraft! The one thing I was a little concerned with, is the Pentium Processors 2 and below gamers. They will have a real hard time seeing what I saw in the game due to frame rate drops, which could just about drop down to 30fps, maybe lower, but in all, most of us should get the aircraft experience we've been wanting for so long now.

Overall Score - 10/10

Sound -
Ah yes, the sound. Lets see, well the sound pretty much gets as realistic as could be. You could turn up your speakers while on the runway, so you could hear your aircraft's engine really loud. While in flight, you hear that same sound, unless you shut the engines off, then you'll hear nothing but the wind, and your aircraft rapidly descending. One thing, I really didn't like is that there wasn't any in-game theme songs you could relax too. And when you load your winamp player to listen to your mp3 files from your computer's harddrive, the game becomes even more slower, and frustrating for you. Microsoft could have really worked on this a bit more to satisfy the average hardcore gamer, but it is how it is.

Overall Score - 9/10

Controls -
Well, its the keyboard, and really pretty easy for some of us PC gamers. But, I assure you, it's not! If your playing this game with a keyboard, be prepared to be pissed off. The number one thing that annoyed me in Flight Simulator 2002, is the arrow use. Whenever your in flight, you would want to make a turn. Your ready to make a turn, and you do. What happens? Nothing. You click on the left button again. Nothing. You, pretty upset by now, hit the left button, and all of a sudden, you go left. Whoa, that's a little too much left, oh no, we're losing attitude! Time to turn right. So you turn right, and still nothing. You hit right, and start going right, but you end up making a hard right, and boom, you lost about 5000 feet of attitude, if not more. Right now, my guess is that you've crash. Nice keyboard huh? But never fear, for there is the Force Feedback joystick! For a mere 100 bones or so, you get to pilot the aircraft with real force feedback rumble, like in real life! This joystick responds to your every turn, in mere milliseconds, and gets you leveled out once you let go of it. This joystick, adds even more experience to the game, but it is 100 bones. A downside to that as well, my friends, for some of us, are to be stuck with the keyboard...

Overall Score - 7/10

Gameplay -
Here we are. The gameplay! Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 features 3 main modes - A mission mode, a freeplay mode, and a tutorial mode.

Automatically, the game loads the free play mode firsthand. You can do whatever your heart desires in the free play mode. Pilot a jumbo jet, a cessna, even a helicopter - Whatever you want, its there. Flight Sim 2002, also allows you to change the weather in the game. You could fly in a thunderstorm, a snowstorm, or just in a regular sunny climate. You could also pick the location of the airport you wish to take off from, or land on. Basically, Flight Simulator lets you do whatever you desire.

Secondly, we are at the tutorial mode. The tutorial mode teaches you how to become an aircraft pilot to help you earn your wings! You can choose any type of aircraft that you feel you need help in. You will go through about 6 average lessons - the takeoff, the during flight, going up and do, turning left or right, navigating, and landing. Doesn't seen so hard. In fact, its rather fun and relates to the actual thing a lot!

Lastly, we have the career mode. You have several options in the career mode. You could pilot a jumbo jet from just about anywhere in the planet, or you could have a scenario mode instead. A scenario modes is how it sounds like. You need to land the plane in different scenarios. For example, you've just been hit by a thunderbolt, and your main engine is out. You need to fly to the runway ahead of you and land safely. I honestly couldn't get enough off this mode - Its the number one thing which increase the replay value.

Overall Score - 10/10

The Ups and Downs (A Follow-up) -

On the up side, I liked:
-The different kinds of features and gameplay options.
-The latest in graphics technology.
-The beautiful gameplay scenery.
-The different kinds of airplanes.

On the down side, I disliked:
-The keyboard which really will annoy the heck out of you, and the time it takes for you to master it.

To buy or not to buy -
Well, this game entertained me for a long time, and still it. The Force Feed Back Joystick is a must have, but for over 100 bones, I'd try getting a cheaper joystick, one for 40 bones or so. Like I explained earlier, I had a great time with this game, and even if this game has no multiplayer aspect, I still enjoyed it. You could find this game at Best Buy for around 30, or 40 bones.

Final Reviewed Score - 10/10 Astonishing!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/30/02, Updated 09/03/02