Hi Folks,
In the hope of helping out Xbox simmers, I’m going to start posting full, comprehensive reviews of all my airports, kicking off with my latest purchase: Ini’s EGLL. LVFR’s static aircraft pack will be installed for all reviews (so no live traffic), and for each I’ll specify which aircraft was used. I’ll also indicate whether live weather was on or off.
Aircraft used: default 32N
Live weather: on
DETAIL
The overall level of detail is noticeably superior to the Asobo version — knowing EGLL well I certainly felt that it was more faithful to the real thing. Ini have modelled all airside and landside (Bath Road and Southern Perimeter Road) hotels, plus a plethora of other relevant buildings that dot the airfield perimeter. Unfortunately, many of them feature really low-res textures, particularly the ones on the airport periphery. A real nice touch is the inclusion of the Emirates A380 model at the airport entrance — this area has been really well done, featuring traffic lights, lighting effects and even the Turkish Airlines advert next to the ‘Welcome to Heathrow’ sign.
T2 and T5 look fantastic but other parts of the terminal use similar low-res textures to many of the peripheral structures. Given the size of EGLL, I’m not too surprised, and it’s clear that Ini really wanted this airport to run well on Xbox. Also bear in mind that, during everyday taxiing, you’re unlikely to get close enough to these structures to notice. T2, T5 and the tower have interiors, although again SOME of the texturing is very low-res. They’ve included the static passengers in the Xbox version, surprisingly. T3’s façade looks great at night, with the pink neon lighting having been well replicated. Unfortunately there are generally a lot of ugly floating Asobo globes they’ve failed to remove.
The airside ground textures are great and the ramp feels used, with its various stains and imperfections. There are many small details all over the apron, including radio towers, equipment huts, gantries, baggage dollies, outbuildings, custom GSE etc., etc. Unfortunately the majority of the landside ground textures have been left as default, and some structures I’d like to have seen modelled (such as the BP garage near Hatton Cross station and the Esso close to the 09R threshold) are just flat, satellite images. But again, given the size of the airport, it’s hardly surprising.
What does look pretty good is the sprawling maintenance area, which totally outshines that in the Asobo version. LVFR’s static aircraft pack works really well with Ini’s EGLL (I could only find two minor ‘violations’ — an A380 wingtip slightly stuck in the side of an engine test bay and a narrow-body half in a closed hangar).
PERFORMANCE
I’d heard various reports of how EGLL performs on console and I’m happy to say, it’s really decent. My first arrival went extremely smoothly, with no stutters during finals, touchdown or taxi. The whole landing process was done using exterior views, which I was constantly changing to get a better view of the scenery. After arriving on stand I took the drone out, however it did black screen on me after about 15 minutes. Many textures also dropped out and didn’t return, which is something I’ve not seen since I installed SU13. I did another landing with live weather turned off (clear skies) and again took the drone out. No black screens this time, and after about 20 minutes of nosying around I returned to the title screen. Seems to be a little more temperamental, therefore, when you’ve got big, detailed clouds floating around.
VERDICT
If you don’t have the Asobo version included with the Premium Deluxe MSFS, it’s a no-brainer. Even if you have the Asobo rendition, it improves on it in so many ways; so if you want the best version of EGLL available, you’ll need to get it.
It’s not perfect but I suspect Ini have omitted a lot to get it running well on Xbox. EGLL is a huge airport, in quite a built-up area, and they’ve included a fair amount around the perimeter — something had to give, and so the ground textures and less prominent structures seem to have been given the boot. I’m certainly happy with it, but I’m from the UK and therefore a great EGLL is a necessity. Asobo’s LHR I always thought was one of their best hand-crafted airports, and so it’s less worthwhile if you have the Premium Deluxe and only a mild interest in the place.
