REVIEW: ‘Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024’ Is Stunning But Frustrating (XSX)

As someone who’s always dreamed of flying but faces real-world barriers—colorblindness, less-than-perfect vision, and no joystick setup—Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 felt like the perfect gateway to the skies. This iteration promised the ultimate combination of accessibility and realism, from helicopters to crop dusters to commercial jets. And for a brief moment, it delivered. Unfortunately, while the game boasts breathtaking visuals and an impressive range of aircraft, it often stumbles where it matters most: usability, immersion, and stability. What could have been a smooth ascent often feels like an endless series of frustrating turbulence.

Let’s start with what Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 gets right: the world. Few games offer an environment that is massive and visually stunning. The attention to detail in the aircraft is jaw-dropping—when you’re sitting in the cockpit, looking at the instrument panel, it feels like you’re really there. Every knob, dial, and display is rendered with meticulous care, pulling you into the fantasy of flying. Whether you’re cruising at 30,000 feet or flying low over a familiar neighborhood, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 gives you the ability to explore the planet like never before.

For someone like me, the sheer joy of being able to locate my hometown and trace familiar routes in the sky is unmatched. I’ve spent hours mapping out local landmarks, checking out my high school, and pretending I’m at a flight school near home. The Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024‘s real-world weather integration, complete with auroras and wildfires, makes it feel alive and constantly changing.

And for those who want to skip the monotony of taxiing or waiting for clearance, the game thoughtfully includes a feature to jump ahead to the parts you care about, like takeoff or landing. These moments make Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 seem like it’s scratching the itch for aviation enthusiasts who can’t take to the skies in real life.

But immersion doesn’t last, thanks to long load times and technical hurdles.

However, this beauty comes at a steep cost: patience. Load times in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 are a persistent issue, taking several minutes for even simple tasks. Worse, the game does little to make these waits interesting. Where other titles, like Star Wars Outlaws, creatively mask loading times with in-game transitions, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 leaves you staring at the same bland, rotating images. For a game so proud of its thousands of airports and real-world locations, why not use the downtime to display trivia or images from the areas you’re about to explore? Instead, valuable moments of your play session are being wasted.

But even after waiting through the load screens, you’re not guaranteed a smooth experience. Bugs and crashes plague Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, and the game often fails to register completed tasks. This is particularly frustrating for tutorials like the helicopter introduction—a segment I was most excited about. After three separate attempts to complete the lesson, I was stuck in a loop of glitches and resets. Even restarting the mission didn’t solve the problem, as it sent me back to the beginning, forcing me to endure yet another 15-minute wait to attempt the same broken task. This level of instability is disheartening for a game designed to simulate the joys of flight.

The beauty of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024’s world is hard to overstate, but it all falls apart whenever the game tries to include people. The AI voices are robotic, lifeless, and often frustrating. On my very first mission, passengers rudely complained and barked generic platitudes, making it impossible to feel immersed. Even the in-game feedback, like the endlessly repetitive “DON’T SINK!” warnings, feels more punishing than helpful. It’s as if Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is more focused on scolding you than teaching you.

This lifelessness is even more jarring when contrasted with the game’s stunning music. The soundtrack feels perfectly tuned to the majesty of flight, with sweeping compositions that evoke wonder and freedom. The music helps set the tone and elevate the experience of soaring through the clouds or navigating storms, offering a sense of awe that stays with you. But when the dialogue or feedback interrupts, it clashes sharply with the emotional journey the music tries to create. The disconnect between these elements takes you out of the moment as if two separate games are vying for control of your experience.

Flight Simulator 2024 has a rocky road for console players.

As someone playing Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 on an Xbox without a joystick or PC-level customization options, I’ve found the controls to be a mixed bag. While the game does a decent job of translating the complexity of flying onto a controller, it’s far from perfect. Certain actions feel clunky, and the inability to fully remap controls limits how intuitive the experience can be. It’s clear that this is designed with PC players in mind, leaving console users to make do with a less refined setup.

This is compounded by the game’s often unforgiving approach to mistakes. While it’s a simulator, and some degree of challenge is expected, the lack of positive reinforcement makes it harder to stay motivated. This iteration of Microsoft Flight Sim could benefit from a more encouraging tone, especially during tutorials and early missions. A little guidance and acknowledgment of progress would go a long way in making the experience more welcoming to newcomers and casual players.

Ultimately, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is full of potential but struggles to fully take off. For patient aviation enthusiasts, it offers a rewarding, if turbulent, journey. For others, the turbulence may simply be too much. Still, the game serves as a reminder of the wonder that flight represents. The ability to chart your own course, to see the world from above, and to feel connected to the beauty of the skies—those are powerful experiences that few games can replicate.

But for all its ambition, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 feels weighed down by its own shortcomings. This is a simulator that demands time, patience, and perhaps a little forgiveness. For those willing to embrace its imperfections, the horizon holds incredible promise. But that promise feels like it’s out of reach, lost somewhere in the clouds.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is available now on Xbox Series X|S and PC.