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Microsoft Flight Simulator X Standard DVD Review (continued)
More User Submitted Microsoft Flight Simulator X Standard DVD Reviews
Date: 2007-03-05
Overdone and Overblown
I bought this sim within a week of it coming out in October of 2006. I had heard all the hype about the improved graphics, the new look and the "living world." All of that was true. The graphics are outstanding if you park your plane and just look around, or enjoy the detail of the instrument panel.
I also heard about it being hard to run on low end systems. I figured (wrongly) that my system with an AMD 64 3700+ with 2GB of RAM and an nVidea Geforce 7600GS with 512MB of dedicated RAM should operate the program at a reasonable rate. I can run the program with all of the sliders set to near minimum, but not much higher. Even then I can only get a somewhat jerky 18 frames per second.
Another problem I had was the program has always been unstable. It would crash more often than I did. I have dubbed it the Windows 95 of Flight Simulators. I should note that I had installed a new hard drive and had a fresh install of Windows XP just prior to loading Flight Simulator X.
On the good side, the terrain mapping is excellent. I flew a Mooney over an area of Northern California and was amazed at how the terrain mapping reminded me of a trip I took in a truck through the area 18 years earlier. It was actually refreshing and confirming my memories of that trip. It is considerably superior to FS 9.
After running the program for the last three months, I have finally given up on it. I uninstalled it and dusted off and installed Flight Simulator 2004 A Century of Flight. With my computer I can set all of the graphics sliders to near maximum and although the colors aren't quite as vivid, it looks more real and more detailed at low altitudes than FS X could ever be on my computer.
Final word; if you have FS 9 don't waste your money on FS X. If you are looking to upgrade from an earlier version, buy FS 9 instead. It is selling at about $20 now, and well worth it. If you are willing to fork out the $2000 or so necessary to have a computer capable of running this massive program, them maybe FS X is for you.
Date: 2007-02-23
Not what I expected, plus there's a catch!
So I saw the commercial for Flight Simulator and it looked pretty cool. Reading all the reviews here on Amazon, it seems like I was one of the more lucky ones to have a smooth installation. Everything thing went well, game booted smoothly, graphics looked nice, but there are a few big major flaws to this game. First off, Microsoft took great lengths into detail, like how the baggage carts move, the gate opens, and it's almost like real life. However, your plane cannot blow up...COME ON! What ever happened to real world problems? Landing gear fails, out of gas, etc.?? All your plane does is keeps on rolling when it hits the ground. Now here's the catch. You really need to cough up the extra $$$ for a joystick to really get the MAX enjoyment out of this game. The mouse and keyboard don't cut it. Personally, there seems to be a lot of problems and it's just not what I was expecting for $50. I've only played this twice and I'm bored already.
Date: 2007-02-22
Great Game, Runs fine as well.
Okay, I would first like to adress the shooting down of FSX as it is only on DVD-ROM. This is because the HUGE 14 gigs of information would need about 12 CD-ROMs AT LEAST.
anyway, there is nothing wrong with this game power wise. I have a computer that is 2 years old and FSX Runs great at 1152X864 resolution with all eyecandy at maximum.
Bottom Line: Great game, Great performance.
Date: 2007-02-17
Difficult to maneuver via the keyboard
Using the keyboard is clumsy, and I keep crashing. Maybe I need a joystick, or that other device.
Date: 2007-01-18
would be best on duo processor
This version will take up an extreme amount of hard drive space but is the BEST flight sim yet. Unless you have a duo processor expect to do a little extra tweaking to find the best combination of graphics vs. speed. Still, this is a lot of fun. I enjoy flying the float plane out of Juneau harbor at sunset. Spectacular.
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