It’s a long post and sorry it’s a bit of a rant. This is my first time I’ve requested a refund for a game. TLDR; Bugs aside, Microsoft and Asobo falsely advertised a groundbreaking simulator that didn’t live up to expectations.
A fun and engaging career mode is the sole thing I truly wanted in addition to MSFS2020. Improved graphics, smoother operation, and increased realism were all just bonuses to be expected from a newer sim. With the exception of performing better on the same system with the same graphics settings, the game falls short of hopes, basic expectations, and actual promises/marketing in every single way.
Realism. The game was advertised as the most realistic flight simulator experience ever. Microsoft and Asobo repeatedly stated they wanted an authentic, real aviation experience. (Source: https://news.microsoft.com/source/features/work-life/as-real-as-it-gets-pilots-lend-their-expertise-to-the-most-authentic-flight-sim-on-the-market/ ) There was supposed to be an inherent progression from a person learning to fly a plane for the first ever time to being a captain of a commercial jet. It’s completely missed the mark, and is why I’m calling it a game, not a simulator. X-plane sells a product that can actually be used to log simulator time in an FAA logbook. MSFS 2024 doesn’t have anywhere near that level of realism. The few procedural elements they’ve attempted to incorporate into the game are executed very poorly and don’t reflect real-world aviation. In fact, some objectives in career mode are downright dangerous in the real world, but you’re penalized in the game if you do what’s right.
Examples;
-After landing it wants you to stop inside the hold short
markers of a runway. (You’re required to stop on the
outside of the hold short markers irl)
-Helicopters taxiing to an active runway (very rarely done
irl, typically much safer to take off from its parking spot
or they’re towed out to a helipad)
There are numerous other examples which break the immersion and realism aspect of the game. Most are related to the ATC system, which functions even worse than 2020’s did at launch.
Graphics/performance. If you run the same graphics settings on the same gaming setup and compare 2020 to 2024, the game does perform better… when it works. Having the world be on a server requires a solid Internet connection by both parties, and it requires a steady, reliable server. The quality of streaming varies widely depending on the time of day, and the individual users’ internet speeds. However, even at its best, I only notice some minor improvements over 2020. In general, the placement of generic airport buildings actually seems worse than in 2020. The airport ground textures, taxiway/runway markings also seem like a step back. The light bloom from instrument displays and panel lighting is extreme at night, to the point it can still be blinding even on its lowest brightness setting. From posts on these forums it seems the MSFS2020 game engine was derived from the FSX game engine, and that the MSFS2024 game engine was completely redesigned from the ground up. This must’ve been an incredible effort on the developer’s part to create something that looks this fantastic from scratch. There’s no denying MSFS2024 is a very good looking game (when it works). What’s difficult to understand is why they’d go through all that effort to get a product that essentially looks the same as MSFS2020. The effort expended doesn’t seem to reflect the same increase in quality of the final product (diminishing returns). The game appears nowhere near what is advertised in the trailer that states “in-game footage” at the bottom.
Career mode. It’s broken in a way I can’t see being fixed. Conceptually it feels as though the developers have put needless blocks on progression in the name of realism, without any of them caring what real-world aviation is actually like. See this interview with a lead developer on creer mode; https://youtu.be/wGZ_eTCs8E4?si=F9I5tSJh3oRUPGoG The certification check rides are a joke that don’t feel like any sort of achievement upon completion. The trainings don’t provide much in the way of real-world procedures, especially IFR. Some certifications still aren’t even available currently, they say they’ll be integrated in a future update! The mission sets are completely generic and don’t offer any sort of variety. The developers said where you choose to start your career from will heavily impact what kind of career you’ll have, but that’s just not true. Every time a new specialty is unlocked, you’re flown halfway across the world for a special mission to unlock that specialty. Then, you get to fly the same exact mission, just from different airports. Even after unlocking some specialties, missions don’t appear to populate (firefighting and VIP charter missions especially). The airports often don’t make sense for the mission types. Passenger airline flights regularly end up taking off from/landing at a military base or at an airport that doesn’t have 737’s based at them. The 737 is the only passenger airliner in career mode. For other missions, frequently the distances traveled exceed the aircraft’s maximum range. So far I haven’t been able to fly a vip from the top of a skyscraper to an airport in a rotorcraft; all helicopter flights seem to take off and land at airports. None of this is to mention the countless bugs that plague career mode currently. I’ve no doubt the majority of bugs will be fixed eventually, but at its core, career mode has a limited amount of fun that isn’t as described in the marketing.
Bugs aside, the core of the game feels unsatisfying and contrary to what was advertised. On top of that, content is still locked down and will become available in a future update. A lot of marketplace items purchased in 2020 hoping they’d be in 2024 aren’t available, and might not be for a long time. Bottom line, I feel lied to and was sold an inferior product due to false advertising. I paid $200 for a game that feels nearly the same as 2020 in most ways and didn’t live up to expectations. That’s not to mention the hundreds I’ve spent on 2020 marketplace content assuming most would be available in 2024 as was promised.
