I need flight sim recommendations for my Wish List

Hey all. My favorite kind of game has always been the flight/space sim. I'm looking for one that isn't completely arcade-y but isn't overly technical either, as I don't enjoy those as much. (Too bad Freespace 3 isn't going to get made. I've looked at a bunch of reviews, but I'd like to hear the opinions of actual people that I've talked to before.

Things I'd like to have in a recommended game are...

?Recent-ness. Have there been any good ones released in the last year? Is Combat Flight Sim 3 any good? Recentness isn't necessary, but it helps. Especially as the more recent games will probably have better graphics. Ooh, pretty colors...

?Dogfights. While not an absolute necessity, they're a lot more fun than just taking out the other guy from 30 miles away with a missile.

?Customization. This is a huge one. The ability to add your own planes and make new levels.

One that's already going on my list is X-Plane, just because I make up all thes crazy designs for planes in my head, and I'd like to see if they actually fly.

Also... you can recommend any games ou think are particularly good, not just flight sims. But those are the kind I like the most, generally.

 

X-Wing Alliance is awesome. and its cheap now too.

 

...and I have it. ;D

Games that I don't want (because I already have them) include...

?X-Wing Alliance
?X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter
?TIE Fighter
?Freespace
?Freespace 2
?Rogue Squadron
?Rogue Leader
?Battle for Naboo

 

Get the original X-Wing.

Sorry outside of Star Wars,old NES Top Gun, and Wing Commander I haven't played that many flightsims

 

StarLancer was pretty good.

 

It's a little dated, but I really liked Wing Commander Prophecy at the time of it's release. It's graphics blow away all the other WC games, but the storyline is linear, unlike the nonlinearity of the other WC games. Play it on hard mode though, sine normal mode is kind of easy.

 

If you want a good space sim then there's just one choice. You have to get Independence War 2: Edge Of Chaos. That's perhaps the most "realistic" space sim out there, mostly because of the Newtonian flight engine (just like in B5). No more just circling around other ships, this time you can really fly in space. Best Space Sim Ever (until I-War 3 is made).

 

Doh! Forgot to mention that I have Prophecy too.

I-War 2, eh? I have the demo but it crashes before it loads. Feh. Hopefully the game itself doesn't. Is it custonizable?

Does no one here play WWII sims or anything?

 

I have Microsoft's Combat FS 2. It's OK. I think my favourite FS was Aces of the Pacific about 6 years back. Much prefer WW1 / WW2 flight sims to modern planes.

Missile locks from 5 km away are teh suck.


There's that new Larry Holland / Lucasarts WW2 one coming next year. Could be worth keeping your eye on. totallygames.com

 

I-War 2, eh? I have the demo but it crashes before it loads. Feh. Hopefully the game itself doesn't. Is it custonizable?

Wel you can modify your ships quite lot. Other than that I don't think there's much to customize.

Does no one here play WWII sims or anything?

Only WW2 flight sim I have is Battle Of Britain, which I guess is quite good. But it crashes on my computer five seconds after start so I can't say much about it.

 

Have you considered Crimson Skies?

Splendid Dogfighting/Aerial Stunts/Blowing up large Balloon/Jumping onto a moving Train action.

And it's Pretty Recent.

And as if to add insult to injury, you can build your own custom planes.

Happy now?

 

Flight simulator Combat looks really cool.
As far as I know there are dog fights...
That's what I'm asking for for Christmas.

 

Other than Ace Combat 4, are there any other good combat flight sims from the PS2/PS1/PSX library? I played Top Gun a bit but found it dissapointing.