Flight Simulator 2002

"One of the best simulation games in history"

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 is, according to me, one of the best simulation games in history. It's almost like flying around the world, actually it is, but in the game itself. With its incredible and realistic features, flight simulator brings you extreme joy. Although it can sometimes get annoying when you overshoot the runway, loose controls or crash the aeroplane. I believe that if you can fly a plane perfectly in this game, you can fly one perfectly in real life. The keyboard controls may get a little annoying but it's worth it, its realistic and its fun.

If you're thinking of becoming a pilot, then this is the game for you.

GamePlay
You fly the plane from one airport to another. People can sometimes get very bored of this game because the controls may be difficult or they may not know how to operate a particular thing, but they just need practice. You can organise your own journey. There are lots of options and settings for you to alter. You can save your games, create your own visibility and weather. You can modify this game very easily, its just the basics of moving files to the appropriate folders.

Also, installing or using a joystick for this game is extremely painful in the ass. It can irritate you to hell. I've tried installing a joystick a dozen times and it doesn't work. So that's another disadvantage for FS2002. Some people may also get bored of the fact that all you do is fly aeroplanes, but that's what this game is designed for.

Graphics
If you have a good video card, then you'll have no problem with the graphics. You can also alter the graphic setting in the settings section. Most planes come in great detail, the runways look stunning. But if you don't have a reasonable video card, the ground may look very not-detailed or just flat and the planes may look like blurred up JPEGS. This game is worth getting a good video card.
The cockpits may seem a little flat and classical, but that's how it probably looks like in a real plane.

Sound
There's nothing wrong with sound if you have a reasonable sound card. The sounds are realistic. You can hear the engines noises, the sound from other planes and all sorts of other sounds that you may hear in a real plane. Sound is nothing to be worrying about unless you don't have any speakers. It's the graphics that may bother you the most.

Modifying
You can easily modify or add aircrafts, sounds, gauges, missions etc in the game. The best place for FS mods is www.flyawaysimulation.com or www.simviation.com. First of all you may think that the amount of aeroplanes available is quite low, but that's what mods are for. Adding more planes etc to a game.

Compatibility
I have a 512mb of ram and a decent video card and the game runs brilliantly on my game. This game may need better system requirements, but it's worth the upgrade. If you want to play good PC games with good graphic, then you'll need a good computer anyway.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/29/05