Players can't win the Super Bowl in Microsoft Flight Simulator but they can go to Disney World. Releasing earlier this week, the newest entry in Microsoft's long-running plane game franchise wowed critics and gamers alike with its extraordinary recreations of locations around the world. Perhaps one of the true "next-gen" games on the market, the visuals in Microsoft Flight Simulator take things to a whole new level, with impressively detailed planes to fly in and a beautiful playable space created by satellite imagery. Players can fly wherever their heart desires, and that includes the Magic Kingdom.
Of course, before players do a flyover of Peter Pan's Flight, they'll have to install the game, which could post to be more of a process than people are expecting. Gamers are review bombing the game on Steam due to the longevity of the installation experience, something that many veterans thought PC gaming had left behind in the late 1990s. Instead of installing the game through a client, Flight Simulator opens a launcher and then installs gigabytes of data for hours on end. The installer also includes background music, meaning that players have to mute the program to do other work while the install is taking place.
Once over that initial hump, players are finding plenty of real-world locations to visit inside of Microsoft Flight Simulator. YouTuber X-CHECK recently posted a video tour of Disney's Orlando theme parks, including the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. The party is on all night in the game, as the parking lot is constantly full thanks to the satellite capture that makes the game's world possible. The video takes a slow ride over Orange County before spotting Spaceship Earth and Cinderella Castle. These are the "weenies" of each area, them park jargon which means a huge structure that draws guests further into the park.
Once X-CHECK lands in Epcot, it's clear that the AI that runs Microsoft Flight Simulator's mapmaking did not perfectly recreate the Orlando landmark. Nor should anyone expect it to, as the flight game is more focused on recreating airports and other aviary buildings. Still, he notes that it's amazing to visit these famous tourist destinations in a virtual world, even if it is from the confines of the cockpit. The up-close problem is masked perfectly from the air, which is where the game expects players to be at most times.
Part of the fun in Microsoft Flight Simulator lies in virtual tourism, and there are few places better to perform such activities than Orlando's premier tourist destinations. Near the end of his video, YouTuber X-CHECK and his copilot visit the Magic Kingdom gate, something that any Floridian has grown to love if their parents took them to Disney's human mouse trap over and over each Summer. Even though it looks a bit garbled up close, seeing the gate can bring back great memories of bouncing off the walls of a minivan and wondering what a favorite ghost is up to in the Haunted Mansion. Such is the magic of the Magic Kingdom and the magic of video games.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is available now on Xbox One and PC.
Source: X-CHECK