Feature: 5 Activities To Try First In Microsoft Flight Simulator For Xbox Series X, Series S

After months and months of waiting, Microsoft Flight Simulator officially drops for Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S on Xbox Game Pass today, and it's safe to say it's going to be a massive hit. The game is undoubtedly a technical masterpiece and a true 'next-gen' title, so we can't wait to see how it fares on console.

Flight Simulator isn't your typical game, though - there's no story or campaign mode to speak of - and so it's very much up to you to make your own fun. With that in mind, we've put together a short list of activities you might want to try first when Microsoft Flight Simulator goes live for Xbox Series X and Series S on Game Pass.

Learn To Fly

We're sure you'll be tempted to get in the cockpit and just start flying when you boot up Microsoft Flight Simulator for the first time, but we highly encourage you to check out the tutorials before doing so. This is a simulator after all, and you'll at least want to get to grips with the basics of taking off, landing and cruising before you get started.

The team at developer Asobo Studio has integrated more bite-sized tutorials and other features into the Xbox Series X and Series S versions in order to accommodate beginners to the series, so it's worth taking advantage. That way, you won't find yourself failing to even get off the ground, or horribly botching the landing after a multi-hour journey.

Find Your House / Local Sports Stadium

The classic activity that everyone wants to try when they first play Microsoft Flight Simulator is to find their house. This is entirely possible, and while you shouldn't expect your home to look as wholly accurate as it would in real life (the game can't work miracles), you'll at least be able to identify the road / area you live in.

In addition to this, visiting your local sports stadium can often conjure up some intriguing results. Football stadiums in the UK, for example, do show the football pitch itself, but the level of detail around the grounds can vary wildly, from placeholder stands to intricately crafted arenas such as Chelsea's Stamford Bridge.

Visit Some Famous Landmarks

We all know that Microsoft Flight Simulator uses real map data to try and make every part of the world look as realistic as possible, but in certain cases, the team has hand-crafted specific regions and popular landmarks to increase the level of detail. As a result, you can take advantage of some truly breathtaking sights.

So, perhaps think about jumping in a small plane and getting up-close with these landmarks, such as the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, The Pyramids of Giza in Egypt and many more. There are loads of these to discover, and don't forget that some popular airports are hand-crafted for extra detail too.

Try The Online Multiplayer

Microsoft Flight Simulator for Xbox Series X and Series S includes the ability to play online with your friends, and considering it all takes place in "one shared world", you can also cruise the skies with other online players at the same time. It might sound a bit dull on paper, but in practice it can be really enjoyable.

Sure, you don't really interact with each other all that much when you're piloting your own aircrafts, but it's quite something witnessing a group of friends all flying together at once, and then watching their (often humorous) attempts at trying to land their oversized planes in tiny airfields. Again, multiplayer is all about making your own fun.

Check Out The New Discovery Flights

As we mentioned previously, Microsoft Flight Simulator is adding a few new features tailored towards beginners for the Xbox Series X and Series S version, and one of them is Discovery Flights, which allows you to be instantly transported to a picturesque location so you can explore its beauty at your leisure.

You can see an example of this in the video above, and there are various Discovery Flights at your disposal, ranging from London to San Francisco to Mount Fuji. This is also another fantastic way to visit famous landmarks if you're more interested in the visuals rather than the actual gameplay, so at the very least, we recommend paying these a visit.

What will you be doing first in Microsoft Flight Simulator for Xbox? Let us know in the comments.