If the genre of the simulator affects many fields, it is more particularly the flight simulation that interested the players, and this, from the beginning of the 80s. Inseparable from the video game on PC, the flight simulator also exists, sometimes , on consoles as evidenced by Microsoft's porting to Xbox Series of its Flight Simulator July 2021.
Flight Simulator is probably the most popular flight simulator today. It is he who has given the genre a certain visibility. It logically figures prominently in our selection, while the other titles are more confidential. However, they have all benefited from the renewed interest of the general public brought about by the release of Flight Simulator. So, prepare joystick and HOTAS to, in turn, give them a chance to seduce you?
Digital Combat Simulator – The ultimate military simulation
Digital Combat Simulator World
- Free base game
- Realistic flight models
- Variety of add-ons
Very popular, especially since its release on Steam in March 2018, Digital Combat Simulator, or DCS for short, is the prototype of the “sandbox” flight simulation. The basic game is free, but it requires adding a number of modules - paying for them - to take all its interest. Thus one finds quantity of fields of operation to carry out campaigns in the Persian Gulf, in Syria, in Nevada.
Downright historical environments have also been designed to relive, for example, the Battle of Normandy. Still, most of the modules are made up of countless fighter planes, military aircraft that include both World War II aircraft like the Ilyushin IL-16 and modern planes like the Chinese Chengdu JF-17. Available both on its publisher's platform and on Steam, the modules in question represent a total cost of more than 2 euros, that is to say the quantity of add-ons available.
DCS is a simulation geared towards the realism of situations, but also and above all of controls, commands, flight models. The learning curve makes the access game tricky, but it's also particularly rewarding once you've mastered the devices. In recent years, it has added support for VR headsets to its many options.
Flight Simulator – Not far from being the most beautiful game in the world
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See the priceSee the testMicrosoft Flight Simulator 2020
- The whole world in your hand
- Graphically impressive
- Demanding gameplay but with many possible assists
- Well thought out tutorials
- Discovery flights, a good initiation
If the Flight Simulator franchise is a real reference in the world of flight simulation and, more generally, of PC video games, Microsoft had abandoned it a little between 2006 and 2020 with the only release of the very controversial Flight. Thankfully, thanks to Asobo Studios, the publisher has restored it to its former glory, and today Flight Simulator “2020” is undoubtedly the most popular of flight simulators.
First, Microsoft and Asobo Studios have worked to make the environment as realistic as possible by using more than 2 petabytes of data allowing the ultra-precise mapping of a very large portion of our planet: more than two million cities, 1 billion trees and more than 500 airports are thus present. It is therefore possible to fly over the entire surface of the Earth by preparing extremely complex flight plans leaving plenty of room for interactions thanks to a system of control towers and traffic in real time.
Of course, Flight Simulator is also a reference due to its remarkable aesthetics and the presence of, already, very many add-ons allowing to reinforce this or that element. Microsoft has certainly planned many aircraft, but specialists are enriching every day what constitutes a reference… also available on Xbox Series.
IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad – A bit of WW2?
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2nd Sturmovik : Battle of Stalingrad
- Simulation Accuracy
- Flight model realism
- Exceptional damage system
Developed by Russia's 1C Game Studios, Battle of Stalingrad is the latest iteration of the excellent IL-2 Sturmovik franchise once distributed by Ubisoft. The rigor of the simulation and the precision of its flight models constitute one of the main assets of the franchise which is a benchmark as long as we remain in the world of “accessible” video games.
IL-2 Sturmovik is a simulator focused on the military aspect of things and beyond the only control of the ten devices available on the basic version, it is also necessary to make a scripted campaign obviously putting the dogfight, the air combat , at the heart of the simulation. We then take advantage of the nervousness of the controls and an exceptional damage management system. Of course, the game not being the latest freshness, the graphic aspect is a little behind, but without it being a disaster.
In addition, the developers of 1C Game Studios have the good taste to follow their creation and many additional modules have already been published with, in particular, new battles such as those of Kuban and Moscow or Operation Bodenplatte.
Prepar3D – Rigor of an ultra-realistic simulation
Prepar3D
- Ten years of follow-up counts
- Simulation realism
- New weather management
It's been eleven years since Lockheed Martin launched what aimed to become the most realistic flight simulation possible. Contrary to what Flight Simulator offers, the ambition here is not to represent the entire planet, to allow the flight over any corner of the world.
No, Prepar3D – to pronounce prepared – puts us in the shoes of an airline pilot, an air traffic controller or even a stuntman for very oriented, very rich missions. Basically, the "game" was created for professional or academic purposes. Inevitably, the video game aspect takes a hit and the whole thing may seem a little austere. However, the amateur of realism and precision in the simulation will find his account. Better, a development kit is delivered so that we can perfect the simulation and modify the framework (scenario, landscape…).
Obviously Prepar3D is a kind of UFO in our selection, but knowing that it is used by some professionals for learning to fly, it certainly deserves at least a quick look.
War Thunder – When the MMO takes off
JVFR
War Thunder
- Sur PC, PS4 et Xbox One
- Free-to-play to discover without risk
- Over 2 different devices
The studios are very active in the military simulation market and, more specifically, that of military flight simulation. Gaijin Entertainment has been working on War Thunder, one of the benchmarks for online aerial combat, for more than ten years. With an open beta launched in 2013 and a "final" version marketed from 2016, the game has convinced many players despite an orientation more "arcade" than "pure and hard simulation". In this sense, we are significantly moving away from Digital Combat Simulator.
However, the thing is far from being unpleasant and is above all an opportunity to introduce the world of "flight simulation" to console players since alongside a PC version, the game was also released on PlayStation 4 in stride and on Xbox One a few years later. On each of these versions, we take advantage of rich battles allowing clashes in two teams of 16, or even 32 on certain special maps.
Obviously, with more than 2 vehicles represented in the game, you should not expect the same level of realism as in the other games in our selection. The fact remains that to let off steam on nervous dogfight, War Thunder has no equal... and more than 000 simultaneous players on Steam, it allows you to imagine battles!
World of Warplanes – The other aerial MMO
JVFR
World of Warplanes
- Very accessible gameplay
- Fast and fun games
- Variety of situations
Stunning and colossal success of the video game on PC, World of Tanks logically gave ideas to its creators who launched World of Warplanes two years later, finally, in trial version. The idea is clearly not to offer a pure and hard flight simulation, but rather an action game featuring a number of planes from the Second World War.
Massively multiplayer, like World of Tanks, World of Warplanes is a direct competitor to War Thunder except that it is limited to computers (PC / Mac) and is not planned for consoles. It has several game modes and many options to customize its planes, but you should clearly not expect realistic flight models or even remotely believable situations. On the other hand, the immediate grip and the quality of the mouse controls more than compensate.
World of Warplanes has never had the same success as World of Tanks, but still benefits from an interesting follow-up from Wargaming which does not give up and always supports its community of players.
X-Plane 11 – LE concurrent de Flight Simulator
JVFR
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X-Plane 11
- Incredible level of realism
- Significant graphical improvements
- Effective weather management
A little less old than Flight Simulator, the X-Plane franchise is still turning 30, a more than respectable age when it comes to video games. Initiated in 1993 by Laminar Research, the game has evolved even more regularly than Microsoft's simulation, as evidenced by the release of version 11 in 2017 and the announcement of version 12 a few weeks ago.
For many years, X-Plane and Flight Simulator have been opposed constituting the two main "accessible" flight simulations while maintaining a high level of requirement. X-Plane now has a technical achievement that has little to envy to Flight Simulator – including excellent weather management – ​​if not perhaps the photogrammetry of certain places.
X-Plane 11 was the occasion for a massive overhaul of the user interface, but also of the sound environment or the graphic design. It has countless flight options and is characterized by the excellent management of aerodynamics for a realism that fears no one. The simulation could be easier to pick up, but recent developer efforts have made things a lot better.
