Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 PS5 review – flying onto PlayStation

The most realistic flight sim on Xbox is now available on PS5, with more content than ever and some clever use of the DualSense controller.

Every console maker has its own jealously guarded, exclusive franchises. Nintendo has Mario and Zelda, Sony has The Last Of Us and Gran Turismo, while Microsoft has Halo and Gears Of War – or at least it used to, until it started releasing everything on PlayStation as well. Not that that’s a bad thing per se, more that it marks the end of an era, and when that happens you can never be quite sure what will follow.

We’ll soon find out, because Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is out today on PlayStation 5. So near to the beginning of 2026, it’s unusual seeing a new game branded ‘2024′, but that was the name of the Xbox and PC version when it came out a year ago, and although there are a few extras thrown in, this is almost exactly the same game.

Although actually, when this outing of Microsoft’s grande dame of faux flight originally released, it was horribly broken. One of its key features is a full ‘digital twin’ of the Earth, letting you take off, land and fly absolutely anywhere you like. To pull off that trick its developer Asobo streams textures from a server rather than downloading everything to your PC or console. At launch that wasn’t working well at all, but it’s a relief to find the PlayStation 5 port fully functional from the start.

You’ll still find the game has some stately load times, which are accompanied by crystal clear images of planes flying in different parts of the world, and the sort of mollifying ambient music you’d hear played in a spa. Although in most games that would be a negative, it fits well with Flight Simulator, because everything here has a slowness and grace. Trying to rush things typically ends in the kind of air disaster that in real life would create global headlines.

The complexity of real flight is not the same as driving a car or flying a plane in Ace Combat. There’s a multitude of things to consider as you bring even a nice, simple Cessna into land. Getting the right altitude and approach, following the glide path aligned with the runway, extending flaps 10 degrees, correcting airspeed using throttle, flaps and yolk, then dropping the engine to idle, before flaring slightly a couple of metres above the tarmac, then steering along the centre line using your rudder, while applying the brakes. It’s a process that demands practice.

This new PlayStation version is compatible with the Thrustmaster HOTAS (short for ‘hands on throttle and stick’), which gives you a more realistic feeling of control over aircraft. Twisting the joystick controls the rudder, while the position of the throttle gives you immediate feedback on the state of the engine. The weird positioning of all the different buttons, from square, cross, circle and triangle, to the triggers and R3 and L3 takes some getting used to, but once you do it’s a great way of sim piloting.

You definitely don’t need it though. Flight Simulator is designed around the DualSense controller and makes excellent use of its functionality. Haptics convey exactly what the runway feels like as you trundle over it, while the lightbar acts as your plane’s annunciator panel, warning you when something needs urgent attention. It also uses the adaptive triggers and optionally lets you fly by tilting the controller, while deploying the touchpad for throttle control or a host of other customisable systems.

The controller’s speaker is used by your flight instructor or ATC (which as every simulated pilot knows, stands for air traffic control) to cut through the noise of the cockpit, and actually using the HOTAS that’s one of the things you really miss, their voices often feeling a bit lost under the engines, wind, and audible warnings about avoiding terrain. While the latter only really comes into play when you’re fooling about, we found ourselves doing quite a bit of that.

For such an accurate and detailed simulator it’s surpassingly easy going, though. That means along with career mode, which sees you acquiring a private pilot licence, followed by anything from commercial jets, turboprops, and cargo aircraft, to various configurations of helicopter, you’ll also be able to take off and land in any airport in the world, enjoying free flights wherever you want.

There’s light relief in the form of World Photographer mode, where you buzz landmarks, getting just the right angle and timing for a shot that fulfils your brief. There are also Activities that include Red Bull air races and landing challenges, and Discovery Flights that take you over some of the world’s most beautiful and impressive vistas, from the Cliffs of Moher to Bora Bora. Challenges comprise weekly refreshed time trials around circuits where you need to balance the need for speed with ultra low level flight through a challenging series of gates.

On a more aesthetic level, you can also watch the seasons turn from anywhere on the planet, the russets of autumn giving way to winter snows (you can choose how deep), spring flowers, and the sunburnt glory of summer. Throughout all of that, your flight experience will incorporate the precise local air traffic sourced from real world data from that exact time of day, global position, and date. The dedication to every single tiny detail is nothing less than inspiring.

The range of different aircraft is just as magnificent. You can fly the Wright brothers’ plane, a blimp, crop dusters, hot air balloons, Howard Hughes’ insane vanity project The Spruce Goose, and Boom Supersonic’s new XB-1 – America’s planned civil supersonic jet, which will also arrive in a free update for Xbox and PC users. All are fully simulated, their flight surfaces, performance characteristics, cockpit, and sound effects rendered as perfectly as current technology allows.

Inevitably for something of this size and complexity there are minor issues. The AI that voices ATC and your flight instructor has a peculiar inflection and delivery that never feels quite right, and you’ll notice occasional frame rate drops, especially when you’re near the ground in low cloud. It’s also not clear how to ‘Toggle Photo Mode’ when instructed to do so playing World Photographer, while using a HOTAS.

None of those issues will cause more than a passing furrow of the brow, however, leaving you with a staggeringly broad and detailed flight simulator, whose scrupulous authenticity is balanced by a number of casual play modes and detailed step-by-step training. The PlayStation 5 version is the definitive console experience, even if PC users still hold the trump card, especially when it comes to joystick hardware and mods. If you’ve ever fancied yourself as an armchair pilot, there’s never been a better time to take to the simulated skies.

Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox Series X/S, and PC
Price: £69.99
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Developer: Asobo Studios
Release Date: 8th December 2025
Age Rating: 3

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