Flight Simulator X doesn't change a whole lot from the previous titles; its still a pretty hardcore sim game designed for the Aircraft aficionados out there. However, there's plenty of fun to be found for the more casual gamer too.

FSX offers up a wide variety of aircraft to choose from, everything from your basic Helicopters, and Commercial Jets, to the smaller twin seaters, gliders and so on. There are two versions of FSX out on the market as well, a Deluxe and Standard version, and with the Deluxe you not only get more vehicle options but also quite a few more missions to pick from. It's up to you if you want to pay the premium price for the added content. I would suggest going with the standard edition if this is your first foray into the franchise. Nothing like feeling the extra burn from an additional $10 spent on missions and extras that you'll never use anyways from a lack of interest.

The missions range from the basic point A to point B stuff all the way to the strange and quite involved. Even a few plot/story twists will pop up here and there, taking you from making a basic run into something far more dangerous. It's this element of surprise that will really appeal to the more casual crowd, and takes Flight Simulator X from being a basic Sim experience into something much more involving, at least for me.

As I mentioned, FSX is definitely taxing on your PC when it comes to the visuals. I'm working off of what I'd call a current "mid-range" PC, and there's no way in hell I could pull of anything close to optimal effects and graphics. However if you can, it's a beautiful game. Every local that the game covers (pretty much whatever you can think of) is faithfully recreated in digital form. Vegas in particular is a beauty to look at, simply for all the fantastic lighting effects to be seen, but there's a lot of beauty to be found when it comes to the more natural environments, and even when just skimming over the ocean. Microsoft has put a particular emphasis on what they call "Living World", meaning that everything isn't static in the environment. Instead you'll see cars, buses, people and more going about down below. I would suppose this is definitely one of those things that requires a nice chipset, but it's definitely worth seeing in motion.

No corners have been cut when it comes to sound either. You won't be jamming out to anything awesome music wise, but sounds of each aircraft are incredibly realistic and definitely make things that much more impressive.

Flight Simulator X is definitely a game to that knows its strengths and plays to them quite well, but this time out they've definitely improved quite a bit. Unfortunately, due to the hardware requirements of the title it might not be an option to some of those out there with an interest in playing it. If I could find a serious flaw in the Microsoft's "Games for Windows" initiative, it'd involve being a bit more in tune with what the average PC gamer is capable of doing with their current rig. Besides this gripe, the game is a solid bit of fun, and would definitely prove to a blast for flying enthusiasts.