Airplane Games

IS PRO FLIGHT SIMULATOR REALLY A GOOD AIRPLANE GAME?

Here is my unofficial review of the popular Pro Flight Simulator airplane game. What you’re about to read are the essential details you need to know before deciding to get this airplane game for yourself.

I do not work for the Pro Flight Simulator company, this is just my personal opinion of this flight simulator.

If are you looking for a combat airplane game then I recommend you read our combat flight simulator games page.

Introduction

When I first started using Pro Flight Simulator, I was a bit frustrated with the simulator, as they’ve literally tried to make the flying experience as realistic as possible, so you have to learn a number of controls before you will be able to fly.

This is a good and bad thing:-

• The bad is you can’t jump into the simulator and fly one of the more complex planes without learning how the plane works.
• The good because once you’ve learnt a particular airplane, you’ll have an extremely realistic flight simulator.

This is not a simple action game, so please think about this before you buy it. You will need to learn quite a lot of aircraft controls, so I suggest you learn with something like a Cessna C172 at the start.

Do not try to fly something like a CitationX jet (unless you already know how to fly a CitationX) when you first fly this simulator, as you will just get frustrated.

Saying all that, I really did have a blast learning and making stupid mistakes along the way. Just remember, it’s a simulator airplane game, not an arcade game.

If you do decide to get the Pro Flight Simulator, make sure you at least read the beginner tutorial (read the manual!)

Check this video for an F4J airplane in action.

Watch till the end as it lands on an aircraft carrier!

Aircraft Choice

This aircraft simulator has approximately 120 airplanes and helicopters. So it will take a very long time to master all of these. Aircraft include a wide range from small Cessna’s, through medium commercial jets like the CitationX, plus the large commercial airliners like the Boeing 777.

Terrain Realism

The terrain is based on real world data which is one of my personal important points. They’ve used the map data from Google Maps which I think was quite ingenious. So I know when I’m flying my airplane around the Grand Canyon, I know it’s accurate.

I was able to fly around almost the whole world, seeing many major landmarks and places of beauty. For me, this gives me a fantastic sense of exploration as I chart a new course to whatever country I want to fly to.

Weather

This is one of their really impressive features. The have very realistic weather in this airplane simulator. So the weather will affect the way the airplane will fly and land. This gave me quite a good test of my flying skills but it could annoy some players I think (although you can turn it off).

Aircraft Realism

They seem to have taken a lot of time to model these aircraft to make the cockpits are realistic as possible. Jump into the cockpit of a Boeing 777 and you’ll see what I mean!

But seriously, when you first play this airplane game, I wouldn’t try any of the more complicated airplanes, as it will probably be too much to learn in the beginning. Try something like a Cessna 172 to get used to the flying controls.

And here is another cool video showing in cockpit flying over realistic terrain.

Flight Realism

I found the feeling of flying to be extremely realistic, compared to the other flight simulator games I have played. Just make sure you don’t try to keep flying with the landing gears down or full flaps like me!

Testing Flying Skills

One of the things which I often encountered was the fact that it has many features to test your flying ability. Things like the weather, night landing, landing on an aircraft carrier etc. They even have random mechanical malfunctions (which you can turn off or on) which I really enjoyed.

What I Did Not Like About Pro Flight Simulator

1. As this is a real flight simulator and not some arcade game, you have to understand that it is very realistic. Which is a good thing but not so good when you first use it. When you first start this aircraft simulator, you will probably be a little stuck. Hint: read the manual!
2. I think they could have included a better in-game tutorial for complete beginners. Just make sure you click on the Learn to Fly button first.
3. The graphics are pretty good but do not expect the same level of graphics as a shoot em up or other action game.
4. I didn’t like the airport selection screen. It has a list of airports but it’s a little difficult to know where each airport is located without clicking on each one. I think they should have given an option to group them into areas.

What I Like About Pro Flight Simulator

1. My personal opinion of someone who has ‘played’ many flight sims over the (many long!) years, I firmly believe that realism is one of the most important flight sim features. And Pro Flight Simulator certainly has realistic aircraft, realistic flight, weather and realistic terrain.
2. The sheer number of aircraft which you can fly is amazing. Remember that each aircraft has a realistically modeled cockpit with working controls. And each aircraft fly in a realistic manner.
3. Also the number of airports really surprised me. They total around 20,000 airports.
4. I love the hardware support as well. It supports many kinds of joysticks, rudder pedals and multi monitor displays.
5. I really like the multiplayer mode, which links to Google Maps.
6. It’s synchronize with real-world time. So if you’re in a particular country then pro flight simulator will render everything in the correct time of day.
7. They also advertise a free updates for life. So when they update the flight sim or add new aircraft later, I know I’ll get them for free.
8. They have a 60 day money back guarantee, so I was happy to try it risk free.

They are currently offering four extras when you buy their game, which I think is quite good value.

 

Free Bonus 1 – Interactive Scenery Designer

Great for designing your own landscapes, buildings, rivers, mountains and even famous landmarks.

Free Bonus 2 – Kelpie Flight Planner

This one is really important and allows you to plan your flight ahead of time.

Free Bonus 3 – Aeron Combat Flight Simulator

This bonus is great for people who want an advanced combat flight simulator. It includes combat maneuvering, air to air combat battles, artificial intelligence and flight dynamics. It is not as good as a proper combat flight simulator game but it’s pretty fun.

Free Bonus 4 – Professional Airplane Flying Handbook

And finally this bonus has lots of information on flying and learning to maneuver aircraft.