Microsoft Flight Simulator Review (Xbox Series S)

by Jim Smale · Published July 28, 2021 · Updated January 5, 2023

Test your piloting skills against the challenges of night flying, real-time atmospheric simulation, and live weather in a dynamic and living world. This is our Microsoft Flight Simulator review.

Microsoft Flight Sim 2020 Review

Microsoft Flight Simulator Review Pros:

Amazing graphics.
100GB download size. (standard game)
1000 Gamerscore.
On Game Pass.
Cross-buy – if you own the Win 10 version then you own the Xbox version. It Goes for of you have the Deluxe or Premium versions.
Colorblind support.
HDR 10 support.
Data setting-satellite data streaming or no world streaming, Bing data world graphics, photogrammetry, live weather, live real-world air traffic. Set data limitations, bandwidth usage limits, warnings for data, rolling cache include max size and when to delete.
24 avatars to choose from and you set the one you want and then avatars for your Copilot and instructor.
Text size slider.
Screen narrator option and you can change pitch, speed, and volume.
You can limit/cap your data usage and speed in the settings.
Set default controls-controller, mouse, keyboard.
Assists-all assists/middle ground/true to life. You can customize these under the following areas-piloting, aircraft systems, failure and damage, navigation aids, notification, and user experience.
Flight training is the games tutorials and completely optional – basic handling, take-off and landing, VFR navigation, and airline training. Each section is broken down into manageable chunks.
The flight training modes will show a completion percentage.
You get a score and rank for performance during your flight training.
They have done amazing work on getting all the controls to work on the controller.
The most detailed controller setup menu ever for each device.
Flight Simulator gameplay.
Cross-play with the PC version.
Four modes-world maps (free flight), live events (changes regularly), flight training (tutorial), and activities (challenge mode).
New spotlight mode that will give a random fly-over path to play.
Profile stats, earned badges and achievements, hangar, and logbook of all flights.
Hangar-change planes and plane liveries, see plane specs, and a brief description of them.
Tutorials-8 lessons and they even tell you how long they will take.
Clean easy to navigate the menu.
Helpful hints on loading screens.
Loading times are not that bad once in the game.
Play and do what you want.
Tailor the game to your exact needs and preferences.
Traffic and density of vehicles and people can be controlled via the sliders.
View-out of plane and cockpit (can change seating position like far back or up close).
Weather-set it or use live weather. Choices are-storm/snow/rain/overcast/high level clouds/broken clouds/scattered clouds/few clouds and clear skies.
It runs better on my Xbox Series S than it does on my GTX 970 PC.
Loading times are definitely better.
Multiplayer-live/all players and off which is only group members can be seen.
Can tweak the weather further with the settings for – date, density/depth (snow), precipitation, lightning, temperature, is a, and pressure.
Traffic-live traffic, Ai or off
Handy search button for settings and airports.
World map allows you to choose any departure and destination airport and then the weather and multiplayer settings.
Full control tower chatter.
Focus on the nearest landing strip in free roam and it will create a flight path for you to follow and help you with speed. (optional).
AI co-pilot-you can have your Copilot take control at any time.
Free world updates that give those areas better graphics and fidelity.
Free planes and instrument panels can be found.
The drone allows you to fly around with full camera-style controls.
Sound volumes change if you are wearing a headset.
Server drop-down box showing ping.
Set your status with the online, offline, busy, and away options.
Content management screens will show what’s downloading, downloaded, and what if anything needs updating.
When selecting departure/arrival locations you can (on the bigger airfields) set the gate/location within the airport.
Seeing the world play out below you is incredible.
Can set up your own routes.
You can see other planes and their callsigns on the minimap and in the world.
Weather and time of day can be flipped with a menu button and slider whenever you like.

Microsoft Flight Simulator Review Cons:

No way to turn the music off when it’s downloading as it’s done in-game.
Long initial load time.
Destroys your hard drive space.
Can only download packs and updates through the game itself so the game has to be running.
The game will start choppy as it streams in the content.
Mission prompts in the tutorial don’t always show.
Fail (crash) on any step of the training and you have to start it all again.
The learning curve with the sensitivity and general controls.
Decides to stop showing controller prompts at random times.
Slow loading times in places.
Can’t skip the initial splash screens.
For towns and cities to look amazing you have to hope you have the hard drive space for the pack and that a pack for that location is available.
Default controls are not great.
Doesn’t clearly say about the cross-buy stuff.