Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 VR review: High-flyer or crash pilot?

Image: Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios

More than four years after the brilliant 2020 edition, Microsoft is launching the next installment of its popular franchise with Flight Simulator 2024 – VR support included. Is it worth buying?

Microsoft Flight Simulator has been attracting airplane enthusiasts all over the world since 1982. Just in time for the Christmas season, the Windows and Xbox manufacturer launched the twelfth installment. But the start was much bumpier than hoped…

Microsoft Flight Simulator in a nutshell

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 builds on the strengths of its predecessor and not only offers improved graphics and optimized flight physics, but also an extensive career mode for the first time. Our review reveals what else sets the game apart and why it had a real crash landing at the start – and still suffers from problems.

• Tested on: PC with Meta Quest 3S (via Link Cable)
• Available on: Steam VR-compatible headsets, Windows-compatible VR headsets

Get in and take off? Not here!

Anyone who travels frequently and regularly takes a plane knows the problem: delays and flight cancellations are not uncommon. Hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions of users who wanted to take off with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 had a similar experience on November 19, 2024. It often took hours before they could finally lift off into the sky – if it worked at all.

The reason for the disastrous start was the fact that French developer Asobo Studio had completely underestimated the rush for the eagerly awaited game. Although publisher Microsoft simulated such a load scenario in advance with 200,000 virtual users, the rush on launch day was significantly higher. Not least because Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 has been part of the Game Pass games flat rate since day one.

To make matters worse, patient players who did make it into the cockpit of an aircraft were confronted with sometimes massive display problems and many other errors. The main reason for this: In order to avoid an XXL install size of 160+ GB as in the previous game, the developers modified the program code so that considerably more game data is loaded from the cloud.

I thunder through the Grand Canyon in a Super Hornet. The cockpit of the jet – like that of many other aircraft – has been recreated in great detail. | Image: Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios

Essentially a good idea, especially as a full installation of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 only requires around 30 GB of storage space. However, if the game’s cloud servers are completely overloaded and important data only arrives in fragments on the end user devices, problems are inevitable.

Slowly back on track since the end of November

The good news is that server adjustments and bug fixes from Microsoft have eased the situation since the end of November. First on Xbox consoles, then also on PC. We have also been able to log in much more reliably with our Steam version of the game in recent days and finally take a closer look at one of the most anticipated VR simulations of the year.

Important in this context: A free Microsoft account is required to play Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. This may annoy some people, but it also has advantages. For example, anyone who initially flew on Xbox Series X during the bumpy initial phase and now – when things are finally running smoother on the PC – switches to a VR PC with the same account doesn’t have to replay anything. Career progress is synchronized across platforms.

Extensive career mode

Career is a good keyword, as it is one of the most important new features in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. Once I have selected the corresponding tile in the main menu, I first create an avatar, which can be either male or female. The subsequent customization options are pleasingly diverse and range from 48 different presets to the ability to tailor the face, body, hair and voice.

I can also dress my character and choose between different headsets, tops, pants, shoes and uniforms. Less nice: When I play in VR, all of this is superimposed onto my field of vision on a kind of movie screen. Only when I am actually sitting in the machine can I switch to native VR mode.

The character models – here of flight instructor Delia Cherchez – look good, but are sometimes a little stiffly animated. | Image: Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios

With the avatar creation complete, I find myself in a small American flight school in beautiful Sedona. My flight instructor Delia Cherchez welcomes me there and invites me to complete 14 tutorial missions that build on each other. With the skills learned in this way, it is usually no problem to take the exam for the coveted private pilot’s license.

Fair move from the developers: Flight Simulator veteran do not necessarily have to complete these and other tutorials, but can simply pay the required examination fee and demonstrate their talent directly. Once you have earned your private pilot’s license your career will continue to expand and allow you to obtain a commercial pilot’s license. This can be for either airplanes or helicopters.

Once I have achieved both, I can acquire a further 17 licenses. In the case of airplanes, up to the authorization for really big aircraft like the Airbus Beluga XL, a heavy transport cargo plane. If, on the other hand, I specialize in helicopters, at the end of the career tree I can unlock a hook and a winch authorization, among other things.

Lots to do

Admittedly, unlocking the respective licenses can be quite challenging at times. At the same time, however, it also feels very satisfying, especially as the individual license tests give you a very good feel for what real pilots have to pay attention to. As all the training lessons are explained with great attention to detail, I also have the feeling that I am constantly acquiring interesting knowledge as I play through the career. As my career progresses, I can also set up my own company and complete missions.

Flying mountain rescuers at work. | Image: Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios

The missions range from cargo flights and rescue missions to dropping parachutists as quickly as possible at a sufficient altitude and spraying fields with fertilizer. Not forgetting flightseeing tours, where I calmly circle well-known landmarks so that fellow pilots can marvel at them from unprecedented angles.

If I successfully complete missions, I collect both credits and reputation points, which in turn are needed to unlock new challenges. In short: there’s a lot to do here!

Saving money in the wrong places: AI-generated voice output

In terms of production values however, the career didn’t completely win me over. In contrast to many other major games from Microsoft, the manufacturer has opted not to use professional voice actors here. Instead, flight instructor Delia Cerchez and all other characters in the game are spoken by AI voices. This also also includes everyone from air traffic control.

Considering the complexity of the product, this is understandable to a certain extent, but leaves a very bland aftertaste, at least in career mode. Quite simply because the AI voices are immediately recognizable as such and the intonation of many sentences has an annoying monotony and uniformity. Enthusiasm sounds different!

And if I’m sitting in the cockpit in VR right next to such a character with an AI voice, the whole thing feels even more like a strange break in immersion. Will Microsoft add a voice package with real voice actors for the career mode? Rather unlikely in our eyes. But it would of course be a great thing to make up for the bumpy launch phase!

Photo safari around the globe

Apart from the career, there are four other game modes on the agenda. One of my favorites remains “World Photographer”. In keeping with the name, I travel to places around the globe and take photos of the sights from the air. To give the whole thing more structure, the developers decided on 31 different theme categories.

Some photo safari missions take place on board a hot air balloon. | Image: Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios

In “People’s Megabuildings”, for example, I have to photograph Las Vegas at night, take snapshots of Dubai’s artificial islands or take pictures of the busy Suez Canal. But the many other categories such as “The most spectacular bridges”, “European castle tour”, “America’s national parks”, “Animals around the world” or “Airports of the Pacific” also guarantee wow moments. At the same time they are a great way to introduce grandma or grandpa to the magic of VR.

Who can climb the leaderboards?

If you’re more of a thrill-seeker, take a look at the challenge league. In this game mode, the makers confront me with tricky flight challenges on a weekly basis. During my test phase, for example, a goal rally in Queenstown and a precision landing on Saba, the smallest island in the former Netherlands Antilles, were on the agenda. High scores from completed events are then immediately uploaded to a world ranking list.

Landing on Saba, a tiny island in the eastern Caribbean with a tiny runway, turns out to be a particularly tricky challenge. | Image: Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios

Asobo Studio bundles a broader spectrum of such challenges in the “Activities” mode. However, two of these – the Red Bull Air Races and the national championship races – were only marked with a “coming soon” at the time of testing. The same applies to the Marketplace. Every time I tried to open it, I was only greeted by a “coming soon” graphic. It remains to be seen when exactly Microsoft plans to activate these areas. We hope before the Christmas holidays.

That leaves the “Free Flight” game variant. Here, I select a take-off and destination airport on a freely rotatable and zoomable 3D globe and then complete the flight between the two locations at my leisure. I can determine which aircraft is used and set numerous flight conditions, such as time and weather.

Great: In the default setting, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 also simulates air and ship traffic in the respective region based on live data. If Live multiplayer is ticked, I can even see other online players during the flight.

Plenty of room for improvement – also within the VR mode

Sounds pretty good so far? Absolutely. Nevertheless, the fun factor loses altitude in many places. Sadly, after more than two weeks, many things in Microsoft Flight Simulator 24 are far from running as smoothly as they should. Especially with regard to the graphics.

For example, when I wanted to take a photo of the Royal Gorge Bridge, built 291 meters above the Arkansas River, as part of a photo challenge, I discovered a gigantic rock floating in the air on one side of the impressive structure. Unfortunately, I encountered errors like this and others far too often, which marred the overall positive impression. In addition, there are balancing inconsistencies in some career missions and things that the game only explains half-bakedly despite extensive tutorials.

Graphic errors such as the one shown here spoil the immersion. | Image: Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios

Asobo Team also needs to improve the VR mode, which requires a lot of experimentation, especially at the beginning. For example, if I play with a Meta Quest 3S (via Quest Link cable) and then get out of the plane on the ground, I can move around, but I can’t turn on my own axis with the analog sticks of the Touch Plus Controller in the default setting.

Of course, this is more of a minor issue that I can fix by switching to the gamepad. Yet, for VR newcomers who don’t have the patience to try out other input methods, frustration is quickly inevitable.

However, I can also say that whether I’m flying through London’s Tower Bridge in a helicopter or jetting through Grand Canyon in a jet – once everything is configured correctly and the technology plays along, the FS2024 looks simply breathtaking in VR.

Fast internet is a must

Speaking of technology: VR enthusiasts should definitely have a stable Internet connection with 50 MBit/s, or even better 100 MBit/s. We also recommend 32 GB of RAM, an RTX 2080 or AMD RX 5700 XT GPU (or better) with at least 8 GB of video memory and an Intel Core i7-10700K or AMD Ryzen 7 2700X CPU (or better).

However, we can also confirm that even on a weak system you can still get started in VR. We tried it with only 16 GB RAM, an Intel Core i7-6800 K CPU and a GTX 1070 with eight GB RAM and it worked. Problem is: the result then only runs on low graphics settings, which don’t leave much of the visual appeal.

You can also control each aircraft from an external camera perspective in VR mode. | Image: Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios

Another warning for all VR fans. If you use Windows 11 and want to break through the clouds  with a mixed reality headset such as the HP Reverb G2, you’ll be left out in the cold. This is due to the removed WMR interface in the current Microsoft operating system. However, if you are playing on a Windows 10 computer with all the latest updates, you can also use Windows mixed reality headsets.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 VR review: Our verdict

The launch of Flight Simulator 2024 was a huge mess and Microsoft rightly received a lot of criticism for it. Not least on Steam, where the majority of user reviews were initially largely negative. However, thanks to the ongoing server optimizations, the rating level has now improved to “Balanced”. And should continue to rise, provided Microsoft continues updating on a regular basis.

After all, if you can successfully log in, are using powerful hardware, have acces to a fast internet connection and are spared from streaming errors, you will not only experience one of the most beautiful VR games to date, but also a really good flight simulation. The new career mode certainly has room for improvement in many areas. At the same time, it also gives the gaming experience significantly more structure. And motivates to log in on a regular basis.

Microsoft has also made sensible improvements to the flight model and weather simulation. And the numerous new aircraft types also fit in well. Nevertheless, as long as the numerous remaining bugs have not been ironed out, the bottom line is that it is not enough for a purchase recommendation.

Our tip for those interested: First get a 14-day PC Game Pass trial subscription. It only costs one euro and allows you to run some test flights. After that, the decision to buy should be much easier.

You can buy Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 here

Microsoft Store

Steam

Interested in VR simulations? Then follow us on Facebook or X or share your experience in the comments.

For feedback, topic suggestions, or other ideas, please email us at hello@mixed-news.com.

Note: Links to online stores in articles can be so-called affiliate links. If you buy through this link, MIXED receives a commission from the provider. For you the price does not change.