74 PCWorld OCTOBER 2020REVIEWS HANDS-ON: FLIGHT SIMULATOR
play it. (I would hate to ask you to turn down
the graphics options, however, as for me
that’s why you’d want to own the game!)
Flight Simulator employs a “rolling cache”
that seems to store recently-used textures
and objects, but it seemed to have the most
influence when I circled around and flew
over the same terrain twice.
The “reload” penalty for crashing makes
landings that much more nail-biting, especially if
you’re winging it, so to speak. The helpful
“window” that guides you to your destination is
Flight Simulator’s equivalent of the Forza driving
lines, but (at least to me) far more useful.
About the only thing I could have done
without was the constant chatter between my
AI copilot and the tower, which added realism
but just became annoying after a while. And isthere a photo mode? Microsoft’s settings
helpfully provide a search box, but other than
the usual methods of taking screenshots,
there didn’t seem to be an easy way to play
tourist. (I asked Microsoft about this, but
received no response.)
One of my favorite sites on the Internet is
MapCrunch (go.pcworld.com/mcrn), which
has a very simple, similar premise: It “teleports”
you to a random point within the vast network
of Google Maps images. (Recently, it opened
with a view of Vestfjarðavegur, Ísafjarðarbær,
Iceland.) Random.earth does the same, but
within Google Earth.
For me, Flight Simulator is a hybrid of the
two: a chance to explore our vast, beautiful
world without ever leaving my desk. One day
maybe I’ll be able to do the same in real life.