strategy

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002, although outdated by now, is still worth every penny. You can fly to any airport around the world, even the tiny ones.

From Leguardia to Malvern Mun (Small town in Arkansas), you can fly all over the united states, with a borrage of planes. This game lets you experience the Landmarks of the U.S.

You can fly as a freestyle mission or you can fly one of the missions Microsoft gives you, such as circling the Colluseum or flying from New York to Japan.

The only problem with the flights to unknown or small airports, is that the graphics and the land under you is all repetitive and dotted with little buildings, it's all the same.

Overview:

Fun- 10/10 great for you flight buffs.

Grahpics- 7/10 Awesome in well-known places, but repetitive onceyou get into the unknowns of the U.S.

Gameplay- 10/10 Just liek you're a real pilot.

Difficulty-N/A Not really any difficulty.

Overall-27/30

This game is a lot of fun to play, if you know what you're doing, but if you wamt the real combat experience, I reccomend Flight simulator: Battle for Europe.

Try this game out though.

If you run out and get this program thinking your getting a game your wrong. This is a flight Simulator and that is what you get. If your a pilot or an aspiring pilot and want to get some practice flying or try out what it takes to fly an aircraft this is a good way to find out. I've run this program on my PIII 1.1 GHZ WIN-XP laptop with 512 MB ram and 32 MB graphics card as well as a Celeron 1.2 GHz 256 MB ram and integrated 11 MB graphics and it has performed well on both systems. Have even flown between the two systems over my home lan with great ease. This program is much better with a flight stick and is rather difficult to attempt with a keyboard. I use a MS Sidewinder force feedback 2 stick and it works great. Program is a hard drive hog on full install though using up 1.7 Gig per system. Thankfully Microsoft does not make you have a CD in the computer to run the program so you don't need to have the software handy after install. Overall I think it's the best SIM out there. If your looking for a game look at Combat Flight Simulator 2 or some other shoot-em up game.

You wake up at the controls of a small airplane. You're engine is already humming, but the plane isn't moving - must be those parking brakes. You're parked at the back of a runway of a small airfield with just one runway. Off in the distance, a huge dark tower looms, piercing the sky. What could just be the start of a Steven King novel or an episode of "Twilight Zone" is just the latest and prettiest edition of Microsoft Flight Simulator. Those who've flown older versions of MSFS will know what to expect - better graphics and sound, a database of airports and airspace, more included aircraft, better looking aircraft for those you can add-on (using 3rd party files) and a customizable editor that allows you to choose where, when and how you will go, and what color 747 or F-16 will get you there. FS2002 also continues MS's tradition of incorporating features of 3rd party add-on software offered on older versions of FS. FS2002 comes with a speaking interactive ATC (though others had "added" ATC years ago) to go along with all of those verbal lessons (FS2002, like FS2000, comes with a speaking flight instructor, though the new one seems as prone to getting hung-up as the old one). The tweaked graphics engine seems to allow for more realistic texturing of airplanes (from the glossy finish of a freshly built Mustang to the flat black of an SR-71), and more acceptable realistic movement of animated flight-control surfaces, flaps and landing gear. In addition to exteriors, panels and flight models, add-on aircraft now have "effects" (contrails, afterburner). Ground texture is also improved over FS2000, making for much more convincing low-level flight. Instead of the stiff blue of the water in older versions of FS, rivers, seas and oceans have waves in FS2002, probably to highlight the inclusion of seaplanes.

One annoying detail - long load times. This is compounded by the fact that you can only change one aspect of a flight at a time (time of day, location, weather), requiring the program to reload the flight each time.

While nothing will rock your socks off in FS2002, it's a solid and enjoyable sim that allows itself to be pretty much what the individual user wants it to - from an entry-level sim to a challenging one. I ran this program smoothly on my P4 (2ghz) w/WinXP & a Geforece3 card. I had planned to hold off on FS2002 since I already had FS2000, but I'm glad I got it nevertheless.