We started to hear a bit more about Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 last week as pre-orders opened up and the previews began going live, and everything we've been seeing and hearing so far suggests it could be a GOTY contender.
The main takeaway is that Flight Sim 2024 is far more than just an add-on - it's a brand-new game complete with tons of new features including a Career System, massively heightened detail (increased by a factor of 4,000!), the ability to ride hot air balloons and so much more. This is going to be much bigger than Flight Sim 2020.
Here's what some of the recent previews have been saying about the game:
IGN
"I am suitably impressed with what I saw, and I didn't think they'd be able to improve on MSFS 2020 much more than an iterative update, but this is a reimagining of the entire franchise. Everything good… is better now, and everything new looks awesome and fun."
Polygon
"I am once again floored by the scope of their ambition."
VG247
"Even a day with the 2024 edition makes clear that this is a bigger, better, and wildly ambitious game. All the pieces are clearly in place to not just keep the audience around, but grow it further still."
Press Start
"Microsoft and Asobo have literally left no rock unturned in MSFS2024, there’s a lot going on the surface as well as under the hood and only having a few hours with this title doesn’t justify how big this next title is. If the previous Microsoft Flight Simulator had you picking up your jaw at the sheer scale of this game, prepare to be amazed again."
As you can probably tell, the overall feeling here seems to be that Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 has really surprised the previewers in terms of its ambition, with many stating that they expected a few improvements but nothing on the scale that Flight Sim 2024 ultimately offers. That bodes extremely well for its release on November 19th.
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Microsoft Flight Sim ended up getting a 91 average on Metacritic a few years ago, so there's every chance this sequel could end up being Xbox Game of the Year according to the critics' reviews. With the likes of Indiana Jones, Stalker 2 and Black Ops 6 also around the corner, Xbox Game Pass members have got a very exciting few weeks in store!