It’s been a surprisingly busy few weeks for gaming.
Whether it’s quality releases like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Helldivers 2 and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, riding the hype train for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, or rampant rumours about Xbox, 2024 has already been eventful for gaming, to say the least. (That’s to say nothing of the saddening swath of layoffs.)
All of that is to say that I found myself wanting something a bit more relaxing that doesn’t require any major investment. As luck would have it, that game would be Microsoft Flight Simulator, thanks to its new Dune update. Originally announced in 2023 but delayed to this year alongside Dune: Part Two, the update adds several vistas inspired by the films from Canadian director Denis Villeneuve.
And strangely, the vast and relatively empty deserts of the planet Arrakis actually add to that feeling of serenity I’d been looking for. Much of the appeal of the main Flight Sim experience is seeing impressive, dense virtual recreations of places around the world, including those in Canada. Arrakis, however, is a different beast entirely. There’s something especially calming about the smooth sandy dunes and cragged canyons, free of the trappings of civilization depicted in the regular Flight Sim maps. This is the first time Flight Sim has featured a fictional location, making this update feel refreshingly distinct.
Adding to that fantasy is the fact that you get to pilot an aircraft unique to Dune: the Atreides Ornithopter. In most crossovers, the dragonfly-like vehicle would likely be a skin for a helicopter, but naturally, Flight Sim ensures that its handling is both noticeably different yet still beholden to the realistic physics you’d expect from this game.
Now, I haven’t played Flight Sim in a while, so I was initially a bit worried about how I’d ease back into it, but thankfully, the Ornithopter is a more approachable vehicle. In particular, I appreciated that it feels appropriately light and agile, which you’ll quickly grasp through three short yet handy tutorials.
From there, you have six Dune-themed activities to take on. Five of these are engaging ‘Touch and Go’ challenges in which you have to quickly land and take off at various markers. As a nice touch, you can even have a ‘ghost plane’ fly ahead of you to give you guidance on roughly how high and fast you should be going, which further helped me reacclimatize myself to the whole Flight Sim experience. My favourite of these activities was Race to Arraken which has you carefully navigating through tight canyons while soothing rays of moonlight poke through the rocks.
The sixth and final activity, meanwhile, is a thrilling rescue mission that pits you on a race against time amid the drop of a stunning sandstorm. There’s always been something frightening yet oddly captivating about the grandness of this meteorological phenomenon, and the Dune update only deepens that sensation as you’re flying through it all. All that’s missing is Hans Zimmer’s magnificent chant-heavy score.
All in all, this Dune crossover is a welcome addition to the Microsoft Flight Simulator experience that’s also gotten me even more excited for the upcoming film. I also hope this is a sign that Flight Simulator — either this 2020 version or its 2024 successor — will do even more fictional location crossovers in this vein.
For now, though, you’ll find me soaring over Arrakis.
Microsoft Flight Simulator‘s Dune expansion is now available.
Image credit: Xbox