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It seems that the latter half of this
year has already seen some pretty tough competition for the heavyweight belt of supreme
recreational flight simulator, and it looks like the last contender has finally entered
the ring. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000 is
the biggest name and has the longest list of knockouts, but the young blood of Looking
Glass Flight Unlimited III has the advantage in areas where it appears that the old
pro has gone soft. FS2K is the latest incarnation of Microsofts
seventeen-year run of acclaimed recreational flight simulators. It features a few
innovations when set beside Flight Simulator 98, though not enough to warrant all of the
hubbub that has been generated by Microsofts media machines. Along with two new
aircraft, considerably better weather systems, 20,000 available airports, and a nice
polish, FS2K has slightly better graphics than its predecessor. Unfortunately, the
graphics are not nearly as nice as they could be, especially when compared to the closest
competition. Further, the graphics run very slowly on middle to lower-end machines. And to
add insult to injury, there are few--actually I didnt happen upon any--in-game
options to remedy the curse of slow framerates. The manual frankly suggests forking out
the dough for more RAM. So, once youve spent some hard earned cash to get your
machine up to spec for the game you can get down to the business of flying. FS2K, as a recreational flight sim,
offers up a rather light and scattered selection of aircraft when compared to this years
other top civil aviation challenger. It
features the Cessna 182S and 182RG, the latter virtually the same save retractable gear,
the aerobatic Extra 300S, the Sopwith Camel, Learjet 45, Schweizer 2-32 glider, Bell
JetRanger III helicopter, the Boeing 737-400 and 777-300, and Concorde. Though both games
offer the same amount of aircraft, ten, respectively, where FUIII focuses on civil, small
plane aviation, FS2K spreads its selection to include helicopters and commercial
airliners. Sure this lends it a unique nature, but Id almost rather see the big
birds in a different game altogether, where they could be treated with a little more
realism. The flight models arent
particularly bad, theyre just a little too easy and simplified. Putting this
complaint aside, the Concorde was defiantly a attraction, and comes second only to the
Extra 300S in flying fun. One of the
first things I said to myself after getting the game was twenty-thousand airports
seems a little on the ambitious side. And Im sure that the decision process
for choosing the spots most suitable for inclusion into the game was no cakewalk, as well
as individually detailing many of the airstrips as it seems evident that they took the
time to do. Here lies the highlight of FS2K,
at least for me. Once I got the game loaded up, I instantly went to see if they included
the Idaho Falls, Idaho airport Fanning Field, since that is where all of my student flying
took place, save for another spot that somehow made its way into the game also-my familys
grass airstrip-Rainbow Ranch. It is demarcated on the sectionals as an emergency strip,
and does see its fair share of use, but I am still in awe of seeing the grass patch Ive
mowed and watered on occasion in a flight sim; I just wish theyd put the gas pump on
the other end of the runway where it belongs. So, after this revelation I went on a
search to find some of the most obscure and unique airstrips that Ive had the chance
to visit in small planes, most of which are in the primitive area of central
Idaho where roads are non-existent and you either fly or ride a horse. To my astonishment, most of my searches were
successful: the Flying-B Ranch, buried deep in a valley on the middle fork of the Salmon
River; Soldier Bar, which sits on a hillside and features uphill landings and downhill
take-offs, though they could have accentuated the dog-leg, it really does have one; Big
Creek, which in real life is one of the most beautiful spots you could ever dream of
flying into. Everywhere I went there was some
degree of accuracy, the terrain made sense, hills were in the right spots, rivers went
where the were supposed to, and so forth-save a few spots where the rivers miraculously
moved uphill in utter contempt of gravity, which kind of gave me the creeps. I just wish
they had included an appropriate backcountry airplane, like a Aviat Husky, or at least a
Super Cub. Along with
all the backcountry Im so excited about, there are six high-resolution
destinations: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, London, Paris, and New York. These spots are quite impressive in structural
complexity and the ability to sap framerates. Funny how Microsoft didnt bother
including Seattle as one of these, as featured exhaustively in FUIII. The biggest problem I have with the
FS2K is not an easily remedied one. The system requirements listed on the bottom of the
box are downright delusional. Id really feel sorry for someone with a Pentium 166,
32 MB of RAM, and no graphics accelerator card attempting to coax some decent framerates
out of this situation. Flight Unlimited III
ran great on my machine and its graphics are considerably more detailed and complex; I see
no reasonable excuse for Microsoft to release such a highly anticipated game and not have
it running in top form. Therefore I wouldnt recommend touching FS2K without a
Pentium II 400 or better. I think that they spent too much time
concentrating on adding all the bells and whistles that they could possibly come up with,
and sacrificed the core of gameplay-what it looks like, and FS2K just isnt near as
fun to play as Flight Unlimited III. Sure it
offers up the whole world as your playground, and despite an admirable degree of
accuracy-the textures are in the right spots and the terrain looks as it roughly
should-everything becomes a blur, there is little to differentiate things further. I would much rather have a smaller palate to fly
from and have brighter colors, bigger mountains, fluffier clouds, and a more luminous
experience. The weather is not nearly as developed as Flight Unlimited IIIs, one of
the most striking features of the previous game. The GPS is a particularly nifty feature,
as is the inclusion of the Jeppesen NavData database, and the instructional help of King
Flight Schools, but it just doesnt make up for the not-quite-finished feel of the
game. Maybe next time theyll get it perfect, if Looking Glass hasnt beat them
to the punch again. |