At last: a game designed for budding pilots! Now's your chance to climb into the cockpit of an Airbus A230 with no need for a pilot's licence. There's only a few controls to get the hang of: thrust, landing gear, flaps, parking brake, and autopilot. The perfect introduction to realistic flight sims.
If you've always dreamed of getting behind the joystick of a medium-haul plane or private jet, but you haven't earned your wings and you always find the ultra-realistic sims too difficult to even get started, then you're in the right place.
Holiday Flight Simulator is a sim game designed for newbies who don't want to be frantically pressing the 1000 buttons found in the cockpit. It's also perfect for anyone who wants to fly over Europe on journeys between the game's nine airports.
We liked how easy it is to pick up and play. You'll soon be flying and having fun without any hassle.
And this game, as the name implies, is a simulation of... holidays!
Career mode begins with an introduction to manual flight controls. Across ten tutorials covering the different stages of a flight, you'll start off in a Beechcraft Baron before getting to grips with an Airbus A230. You can even choose the airline.
The cockpit gives players access to the most important controls, and you'll hear real air traffic control communications and flight crew announcements. It's as if you were really there! It won't be long before you're flying on your own and keeping the plane at its cruising altitude while following a flight plan indicated by shapes to fly through and a green line through the sky. The good news is that you won't be penalised if you leave the flight path, as long as you manage to land safely. This means you get a real sense of freedom.
Fortunately for you, you have your trusty co-pilot alongside you to keep you right, which they'll be doing a lot in the early game. It will be your round in the pilot's bar!
Our favourite part were the environments. We loved watching the ground scroll by, and then you can also admire your plane from the outside.
Each flight begins at the departure gate, and you go through the full range of formalities before you get permission to take off.
Our tip: taking off is easy, but landing takes a bit of practice. It's important to come in at the right angle to land – not too high, not too low – and not too fast, and to cap it off by gently setting the undercarriage down before lowering the nose.
The perfect intro to the genre, halfway between arcade and sim.
