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Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight Review - PC

"The fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown." - Carl Sagan. The Wright Brothers along with all the other geniuses of the 20th century have made the 21st century a much easier world to live in. Would we still be stuck in a semi-information age if it weren't for these geniuses? Chances are that we wouldn't, but we may of not been able to play Flight Simulator 2004 with one hundred years of flight history in stall.

Gameplay

We used a Logitech Freedom 2.4 Cordless Joystick while playing Flight Simulator which allowed for complete wireless control over the airplanes. We recommend this joystick to enhance your gaming experience with Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight.

Flight Simulator 2004 will take your breath away every time you launch off in to the sky. Providing you have an adequate computer capable of supporting the massive landscapes of the planet known as Earth, you'll be experiencing a game like no other. Flying from one city to another and landing in the exact geographical co-ordinates is very possible in Flight Sim, whether it be a 12 hour flight in a Boeing 747 from Heathrow, London to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, or maybe a two hour flight from Melbourne to Brisbane, you'll experience everything in real-time, and what's even better is that you can choose the time of the day.

With complete control over seasons, date, and time of the day, you'll find yourself in the cockpit of many exciting adventures as you set off around the globe. The realistic weather in Flight Simulator 2004 is at its best with surround sound. The weather can change from sunny to rainy to snowing and even massive thunderstorms. In a thunderstorm you'll hear the sound of thunder going off behind you, and all around you, which is of course delayed a few seconds from when the lightning strikes. As you lift off through the clouds in a modern aircraft you'll find yourself popping up above the clouds to where the sun is still shining, just like in those airplane commercials. It's truly an awesome experience to be sitting in the cockpit flying above the clouds.

When you begin, you can run through videos of real life people teaching you the basics of flying your plane. They may look a little corny, and often try to sell the game to you (because of course you haven't bought it already) but try to sit through the annoying facial actions and voices because they can tell you some pretty interesting stuff about flying. There's a whole heap of lessons to take too, where you'll learn how to fly like a professional commercial pilot, and also like any other pilot ... (continued next page)