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34 of 35 found the following review helpful:
 The mother of all flight sims has finally arrived!Oct 24, 2001
By Art Vandelay
What the giants at Microsoft have managed to accomplish with Flight Simulator 2002 is simply astounding! Gone are the resource eating and maddening slide shows offered in FS 2000, which for the record, I loathed (hate is such a strong word isn't it?). What we get in turn is a highly and richly detailed virutal world (from the planes to the terrain) that is guaranteed to make even the hardened heart of the most jaded flightsimer soar!
Straight out the gate FS 2002 pulls away from the pack with an untouchable collection of options and tweaks and it's in these tweaks that we find what truly makes it shine. The system requirements (as stated on the box) are a PII 300mhz machine, with 64mb of RAM and a 8mb video card, now that may get you flying but it's fair to say that to take full advantage of every beautiful pixel FS 2002 has to offer, you'd better be packing a mighty big stick indeed, like say a P4, 1.8 ghz machine with a truck load of ram (256 plus) and a 64mb video card. That said however the endless options FS 2002 offers, makes it quite friendly to middle of the road machines. My PII 450mhz system for instance with 256 Mb of RAM and a 32mb ATI Rage 2000 Xpert Pro video board gets me into the air nicely thank you with an average rate of 14 frames per second on the low end to over 30 on the high end. And although the graphics options for my system need to sit toward the lower end of the spectrum FS 2002 is still nothing short of breathtaking! From it's use of satellite ground imagery (roads and landmarks are accurately rendered), auto generated scenery, textures, shadows, lighting and finely detailed airports, buildings and even trees (which intensify the sensation of speed near the ground) to it's amazing AI and voice commands from airtraffic control calling out directions and commands from any of 20,000 airports, everything stitches tightly together for a simulated flying experience that simply makes you forget your sitting at your desk top. The cabins of the aircraft are now virtual 3D environments, sinking you deeper into the sensation of actually commanding some of the worlds most famous and powerful aircraft. Nice additions to the FS series are a floatplane and the mother of all commercial work horses the 747-400, Microsoft also threw in an F4U-1A Corsair, which is not listed on the box, nice bonus.
If there are in fact down sides to FS 2002, I've missed them (or over looked them) while exploring the heights of this remarkable simulation. No I take that back, it would be even better if I had a more powerful machine!
Now if you've got the system speed and hard drive space (at over 700mb it took nearly 20 minutes to load) prepare yourself for the ride of your life (but be sure to upgrade your drivers first). FS 2002 is a winner, making you wonder if they could manage such amazing visual miracles with this one, what can we look forward to 5 or 10 years down the road, wow!
37 of 40 found the following review helpful:
Great Improvement!Nov 06, 2001
By Kevin
Wow! This is my word for this game. If you owned last years FS 2000, you know what I am talking about. Ok, from the start, those of you who are thinking of buying this game, here are the newest things: (ATC, Artificial Intelligence Traffic, Auto Gen Scenery, new planes, improvements in the game)
The ATC too me boosts the game up another hundred notches. This is just smart, the ATC knows where you are, where to go if you filed a flight plan, what to do, and sounds very real! There is no airplane without Air Traffic Control, and this addition just makes this simulator even better! Next is the AI Traffic in this game. Microsoft added other planes to fly with you, so the ATC can also talk to them and you, making it even more real. You now have to hold short of the runway so another aircraft can land. How great is that compared to last years version? OK, this Auto Gen thing is supposed to generate the landscape and make it beautiful, and at first I didnt see a difference from the first version and this one. Then I went to settings, and changed it, and went back flying. Wow! What a difference, it is beautiful. And flying at night is great, I mean the lights (Beacons, NAV, Landing) look so great, even when you land, the lights show up on the runway all of the sudden, it is nice. Oh, and the landscape is nice. Go to a major city, such as San Francisco or Chicago, and see how great the tall skyscrapers look. Las Vegas at night is amazing! The new planes are the Cessna Floater, and the mother of all planes, the Boeing-747. The 747, the mother of all planes is finally here, which I am sure many of you are happy about! Oh, and a note: When you first start the game, the imaging is good, but could be better (ex- the skins on the plane can be a bit messed), go to settings, and fix it up. Go back to the game, and wow, it is amazing. One question I have to those that know the answer: How come I see a screenshot online of an airport, and there is a gate (boarding gate from terminal to aircraft) in the picture, but not in the game? Is it only for the professional version? Those of you who have the love for flying, and the love for planes, this is the simulator, program for you. And if you are a user of FS 2000, what are you waiting for? Get this game! Actually, those who love airplanes, flying, and everything else about aviation, this is your game! WOW!
17 of 18 found the following review helpful:
A giant leap from FS2000Oct 29, 2001
I just purchased FS2002 standard ed. over the weekend, and I have to say it's incredible compared to FS2000. The scenery is rich and generally authentic, and the virtual cockpit view makes the game much more realistic than the previous version. A note on system requirements: I'm running an Athlon 1.2GHz with a ATI Radeon 32 graphic card and 512mb RAM, and the game runs smoothly at the highest screen resolution and all scenery options enabled. Hats off to the FS Team at Microsoft on this one! Thanks!!!
43 of 52 found the following review helpful:
 Awesome gameNov 06, 2001
By David Vanderbyl
Beautifully done and a joy to play. (I wanted to give this item 5 stars but Amazon won't let me change it from 2. Go figure.)
This game has so much to offer: awe inspiring scenary, take off or land at any airport you can think of - no matter how small, and the new floatplane means you can take off and land anywhere there's water.
When I first started playing this game it crashed my system a lot, but it turned out I had a bad memory module. This game really gives your system a workout.
The flight instruction is great, except that the manual is filled with annoying (non)humor that makes reading it a real pain. I just want flight instruction! If I want comedy I'll turn on the comedy channel.
Overall I give this product two thumbs up!
14 of 15 found the following review helpful:
 -Junior PilotJan 07, 2005
- To Fly is all i have wanted since i was little and game was right for me. Last christmas i got this simulaor and a sidewinder joystick. This game is so real i find myself yelling in my room because im doing barrel rolls in the extra. i play this simulator every day when i get home from school till i go to bed.You never will get tired of this simulator
There are so many things to do on this simulator including:
-Select a flight-where you choose a flight already made.
-Create a flight-you can choose your own plane, choose anywhere in the world you would like to fly and all the conditions of the flight
-Learn to fly-take lessons from instructor,Rod Dimacho, and earn your private, instrument, commercial, and airline transport Licenses.
-Multiplayer- Fly with other aviators online
-Library- You do not go to the local bookstore anymore! Get your charts, Ground school handbooks, and many others.
The only bad thing about this simulator is that the graphics arent the best.You may be thinking that if you fly off in your town that you can see your house but thats not true. Also you cant get the exitement of crashing out of this simulator, all it does is stick the plane in the ground and if you do not want to crash just turn that setting off and you will just bounce off things.
If you dont have enough money tot ake lesson or you just want to practice this simulator is for you.My uncle is a pilot and he is amazed on how i can fly just by playing this simulator.
Hope you liked my review!
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