On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the franchise, Asobo Studios have embarked on another of their usual free updates for Microsoft Flight Simulator, but this time there is much more than new planes, airports or visual improvements. In fact, their great asset is that they now offer a completely different way of playing: helicopters.
Despite not being the only novelty that comes in an update to which we must add gliders, airports that have already disappeared and classic planes, it is by far the one that I was most excited about seeing materialized. Walk around Microsoft Flight Simulator by helicopter is a completely different experience.
Turning the simulation challenge into an exploration game
You yourself, as a non-expert player in the world of aviation or flight simulators, may have found yourself in a situation similar to the following. You want so much to stop to see something while you fly – a monument, a landscape, your house – that you either always pass by, having just seconds to appreciate the details, or you directly crash in the process for not paying attention to what you should .
The idea of being able to control a helicopter, by far the easiest aircraft to move in Microsoft Flight Simulatoris not only a new excuse to approach the game for the first time or return to it after a long season, it is also a new way to approach map exploration with photogrammetry from Asobo Studios.
Hilarious to control with systems that many of us already have more than assumed from other franchises like GTA, the new helicopters move away from that arcade simplicity to offer us something more challenging without going overboard. It’s far from being an arcade game, of course, but it does maintain a duality between relaxing flight and challenging control.
In just a few minutes you begin to understand how everything works. Namely moving the pitch and throttle levers smoothly enough for it to flow as it should. Before you know it you are approaching hills at high speed to take advantage of the airflow hitting the ground as the helicopter rises high enough to carry you to the top and then nose down as if you were plummeting.
Not only can I get closer to visiting monuments with a peace of mind that I couldn’t afford until now, I’ve also found it hilarious to experiment with the controls and push the propellers to the limit even when playing unaided. It is by far the best gateway to Microsoft Flight Simulator for those of you who don’t like the idea of a simulator.
More work – a lot more – it will cost to get used to the new gliders and classic airplanes. Much more complex vehicles for the player on foot but a treat for those who want to take the challenge one step further, especially with the new missions and challenges that the game puts at our disposal.
The dream of being an airplane pilot
However, its helicopters, the great incorporations in the form of mythical aircraft from the world of aviation, or the idea of turning the planet Earth from Microsoft Flight Simulator in a kind of monument to preservation starting with classic airports that have disappeared -the idea of the creators is that the time will come when we can change the whole stage-, they are not what I have enjoyed the most in this test of the new update .
As a child I had a great fascination for airplanes and, among all those professions that resonate in your head during that age, in addition to making video games or writing about them, one of the ones that attracted me the most was being a pilot.
I do not remember clearly if all that came from having seen Top Gun on TV or the replicas of the F-14 and the Micromachines Apache helicopter that used to take me to shit, but I do know that over time I abandoned the idea until I completely separated myself from the world of aviation. It is what it has to be a damn denied with the numbers.
If all this is important it is because during the test of the new update of the 40th anniversary of Microsoft Flight Simulator I have not only had the opportunity to experience first-hand that mixture of accessibility and simulation that their helicopters and ultralights display, but also to have seen part of what a version of me would have been like in an alternative future in which I am still passionate about the world of aviation.
Don’t call it a game, call it a simulator
From the hand of Tuckie10press colleague who is also an aerobatic and drone pilot, I have been able to see the other side of Microsoft Flight Simulatorthe one that does not appear in the trailers or occupy covers because it is a niche too complex for most mortals to even understand: to what extent the Simulator tagline deserves the Microsoft game.
It is easy to fall into the belief that, despite the realism amply demonstrated on several occasions – that of Rami Ismail putting its efficiency to the test against a real flight is one of my favorites-, the mainstream side embraced by the game during this latest installment, the most successful in its history as far as users are concerned, could well resemble what was experienced with other renowned titles that seek to approach the world of simulation.
In other words, for someone outside this world it is difficult to know if you are facing the equivalent of a Gran Turismo or an iRacing. The key to finish choosing sides in that duality did not take long to arrive. In the nicest way possible, he made me understand how much it bothered him that they called Microsoft Flight Simulator a game.
The following hours were an invaluable lesson in curiosities and machine-gunned data through the mouth of one of those people who is a pleasure to listen to because of how much he is passionate about what he is telling, and watching him play, as you may have already imagined, has also been a complete show .
Listening to him talk about things like the turn of the nose of a glider depending on the swing of the wings and shortly after seeing how it is replicated on screen has been quite an experience, and I recognize that my assessment of Asobo’s work now weighs even more than what I I did when I last tried it.
Personally, I will continue to enjoy it with all the aids activated and I really want to fly again with some helicopters that promise to give us many joys to fans of a more leisurely and contemplative exploration in the world of Microsoft Flight Simulator, but it has been one of those cases where it makes you happy to see a different type of public enjoy a game so much. Sorry, from a simulator.
