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What’s the Story?

Reviewed by Marc Saltzman

Microsoft Game Studios' ambitious FLIGHT SIMULATOR X lets gamers fly two-dozen commercial aircraft -- from the giant Boeing 747-400 to the deHavilland DHC-2 Beaver floatplane and the Bell 206B Helicopter -- with incredibly lifelike graphics that include authentically re-created cockpits, airports, and scenery (even cars and livestock). Players can even choose a season, time of day, the weather conditions, and more. In addition to free-flight modes -- either starting in the air or working with air traffic control to follow protocol and take off from a busy airport -- players can accept more than 50 challenging missions. These missions include successfully completing a transatlantic flight, demonstrating an Airbus A321 at the Paris Air show, dropping relief materials in the Congo, and landing a stunt plane on top of a moving school bus.

Is It Any Good?

4

Talk about attention to detail: the game lets you fly to or from more than 24,000 airports on seven continents. But be forewarned: Players must install two full DVD-ROMs on a Windows-based machine, totaling an incredible 14 gigabytes of hard drive space. What's more, installation takes about 35 minutes, and another 10 minutes to launch the first time you play. After this, however, it's smooth sailing.

Gamers can join other players online, where one chooses to fly the plane while others assume the role of co-pilot, air traffic control, and so on -- while chatting via a headset. If you don't own a flight stick peripheral, you can easily use a regular console-like gamepad. A recommended pick is the Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller for Windows ($29.99). If you want to try Flight Simulator X before you buy, visit the official Web site to download the playable 817MB demo.

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