Mankind would look up to the clouds and wonder what is beyond them, but before we could ever find out, we would first need to be able to conquer the hurdle of achieving flight. Humans have continued to break through the barriers that limit our physical limitations, and our aeronautic accomplishments are one of our greatest accomplishments.
There are many different kinds of games about flying, some as just a small portion, while others base the entire point of the surrounding gameplay. Not all of these are modern and not all of them are even realistic, but they are all a great experience regardless.
10 Red Wings: Aces Of The Sky
A lot of players may want to enjoy the latest advancements in aerodynamics and have an array of modern weapons, but the experience of using old WWII planes has a charm that games focusing on modern flight simulation cannot capture.
In Red Wings: Aces Of The Sky, the player will command WWII-era aircraft to duke it out in dogfights where acrobatic maneuverability will be key to dodging incoming projectiles. It’s not all about just combat though, as there are a lot of stunts for players to test their aerial prowess against as well.
9 Star Wars: Squadrons
Not all flight games are set in the skies or even on our planet. Star Wars: Squadrons sees players take the roles of pilots for some of the most iconic ships in Star Wars history. They will take part in intense 5v5 fighter pilot battles — also known as dogfights.
These battles can take place among the stars with various asteroids spread about fights, or even take place on one of the game’s many well-known planets. Unlike the other flight games on this list, this game’s inclusion of space as a battlefield makes for some unique feeling controls and maneuvering tactics.
8 Wings Of Power: WWII Heavy Bombers And Jets
Wings Of Power: WWII Heavy Bombers And Jets is another game set during the times of the Second World War. The WWII era led to some historically monumental events and lots of developers love to explore this setting in many different genres.
This game comes as an add-on for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight and adds 50 different historical missions that were taken right from the logs of actual pilots for those missions. This game would go on to have a successor in the form of Wings of Power 2: WWII Fighters.
7 Combat Flight Simulator 3
Fans of flight simulators will be no strangers to “Microsoft Flight Simulator”, which is so popular that it has spawned many spin-offs. One such spin-off is the Combat Flight Simulator series of games. Combat Flight Simulator 3 was released in 2002 and is one of the best in this spin-off series.
This game features an engaging campaign based on true events that see the players take the reins of various combat planes to change the tide of war, or fail and see history take a dark turn for an alternate outcome.
6 Xtreme Air Racing
Testing your skills against adversaries, be they controlled by a computer or by another human, has always been a thrilling addition to any game. Xtreme Air Racing does not just tick some boxes that confirm what you can and cannot do in a flying game but rather pushes your prowess every time.
This game has a focus on both flight simulation and racing against opponents gives it a great sense of excitement at all times and features many different planes to choose from.
5 Enemy Engaged: RAH-66 Comanche Versus Ka-52 Hokum
Enemy Engaged: RAH-66 Comanche Versus Ka-52 Hokum is quite a mouthful to say, so most people will just call it EECH. This flight simulator focuses on taking control of an attack helicopter. This is the successor to Enemy Engaged: Apache vs Havoc and shares a lot in common with it.
It has been praised by fans of the flight simulation genre for its hyperrealism, aeronautic physics, and a truly astonishing amount of work put into its sound design.
4 Heroes Of The Pacific
Another brilliant entry for flight games set in World War II is Heroes of the Pacific. This game has a big emphasis on its story element, where players will take control of a pilot named William Crowe, a man driven by revenge for the death of his brother, around the time of the Pearl Harbor bombings.
Heroes Of The Pacific features numerous historically accurate events and references and will be a real treat for both fans of historically accurate games and flight simulators alike.
3 Fighter Ace 3.5 Online
Fighter Ace 3.5 Online is an MMO set during the events of World War II. Thanks to this game being an online experience, there are plenty of other players wanting to test their skills against the player. Players can take the role of a pilot for the Allied Forces, or even a pilot for the Axis Powers.
Players can take part in high-octane aerial dogfights or lay waste to ground troops with bombardments. Players will constantly need to be aware of their surroundings for other players trying to flank them.
2 Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown features a large roster with some incredible choices to decide between. Released 5 years after its predecessor, Ace Combat 6: Fires Of Liberation, Ace Combat 7 takes place in a custom world setting known as Strangereal.
Strangereal is very similar to our world but features its own geography, nations, and a completely different world history when compared to our own. Ace Combat 7 deviates from some realistic features found in most flight simulators in order to provide a more fun and “video game” like experience for its players.
1 Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020)
It would be an understatement to say that Microsoft Flight Simulator is a popular game. This game has come such a long way and has continued to strive for the best possible flight simulator experience imaginable.
Players with a true passion for flight and aerodynamics will have limitless enjoyment from this game — which can be further extended thanks to the inclusion of its VR features. The time gap between this game and the previous entry is 14 years, giving it an incredibly long development time, but there’s no doubt that it paid off.