Microsoft recently unveiled the follow up to their popular flight simulation series, Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight at this years Electronics Entertainment Exposition in Los Angeles, California. Maintaining the genre "Flight Simulator" in the strictest sense, fans of this decade old franchise will no doubt be pleased by Microsoft's latest addition to the franchise, which, as the title suggests,  celebrates the centennial anniversary of man's first flight.
 
Any enthusiast will tell you that Microsoft offers the premier flight simulator available to the general public, readily available at anyone's favorite retail outlet. In addition to the anniversary of flight, Flight Simulator 2004 marks Microsoft's 20th anniversary of the franchise. To celebrate this coinciding anniversary, Microsoft has set out to create the most encompassing flight simulator to date by including historic flights of the last century as well as improvements over their already tried and true recipe. Pilots will get the chance to relive pieces of history, such as the Wright brothers' first flight of the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk Dunes, Charles Lindbergh's New York to Paris flight in the "Spirit of St. Louis", or even Amelia Earhart's record breaking flight across the Atlantic. Twenty-four different aircraft will be available, as well as countless airports from which to pilot from – just as one would come to expect from a Microsoft branded flight sim.
 
Slight visual improvements have been made over previous offerings, such as improved models as well as higher detailed terrains. However, the change is only incremental, and as with most any game, depends greatly upon the hardware upon which it is running. Given the vastness of any self-respecting flight sim, in which to entire earth has been modeled, these slight improvements can be quickly forgiven.
 
Perhaps the most visually stunning aspect of Microsoft's latest installment has to do with the 3D modeling of every cockpit of every available vehicle. Pilots now have one additional view mode, rounding out the previous inclusion of a 2D cockpit, tower, and chase cam (this feature was actually first added in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002). In 3D cockpit view, switches and gauges display in real-time, just as they do in 2D view, and look-around is progressive as opposed to 1/8th incremental. Those flight-junkies used to years of the latter still have that mode available to them, keeping the familiar feel and look many have grown accustomed to.

Past iterations of MS Flight Sim have focused primarily on modern aircraft. Again, as the name implies, would-be pilots are treated to a variety of planes that a century of flight has allowed. In addition to each historical and modern plane is an in-depth fact sheet and tale penned by Lane Wallace, aviation enthusiast and West Coast editor for Flying Magazine. Those looking to learn more about a particular aircraft, other than just how to fly them, can take the time and do so; most articles offer a short movie clip of both the MS model and its real-life counterpart.
 
There were 25 aircraft available in the beta that was waiting for us the minute we returned to base from the expo; 9 historical and 16 more or less modern. To my dismay, the supersonic Concorde was missing from the foray. Perhaps users will be able to import aircraft from previous versions, or perhaps create aircraft in a potentially included editor.
 
To give you an idea of the overall vastness of Flight Simulator, there are over 24,000 airports available. As mentioned earlier, the entire world has been generically modeled. Just about any landmark you can think of can be found, including bridges, buildings, monuments, etc. Of course they aren't modeled to perfection; they do convey enough likeness to be acceptable. Added to the mix of realism, Microsoft has added real-time weather conditions which are pulled from the worldwide Jeppesen NavData database, and updated every 15 minutes. Pilots can also customize conditions, such as fog, rain, snow, high winds, frequency of change, etc, if they are feeling a little less than challenged by sunny skies. Time of day, season, and specific date may also be assigned prior to or during flight. The weather effects themselves are quite impressive. In cockpit mode, raindrops will believably collect and disperse from the windshield, as will sleet and snow. Pilots will witness bolts of electricity as a storm turns more violent, making for some interesting and dangerous trips.

Is This a Game?
 
It would be easy to dismiss Microsoft's entire flight sim franchise as merely a game by most, especially given the fact that it will always be located in the game section of any retail outlet, and not with the general software. However, due to the extreme realism offered by the title, and the hyper in-depth tutorials, it should be thought of more as a learning tool. That is NOT to say that one would be able to actually fly a real-life aircraft based on merely virtual training. The training has more to do with understanding flight patterns, air traffic control, proper procedures for landing and take off, navigation and so forth. Following procedures is actually where the challenge is offered, and the only aspect that makes MS Flight Sim a game – that and the addition of multiplayer, though we have as of yet to see exactly what MP entails.
 
Hardly the aviation aficionado or flight purist, I can only imagine that this is as accurate as it gets. Those that don't find much enjoyment in following proper in-flight procedure, or correct runway approach – such as myself – can still find enjoyment in flying over areas of interest or familiarity, or plotting a course from here to a virtual vacation in Hawaii – in monsoon weather. It would be nice to see a mode that offered rewards, such as unlockable aircraft, for properly executing commands and following set guidelines. Then there would be no doubt this was a game.
 
If you're a casual gamer looking for a solid flight simulator to cut your teeth on, you can do no better than a decent force-feedback flight stick and Microsoft's soon to be released Flight Simulator 2004. There may not be enough for the veteran to warrant a purchase if they have already invested in the last 2 versions however. That will all depend upon what the full game ends up including, and as to whether Microsoft will release 2 versions (Standard and Professional) as they have done in the past.