Last night I played Microsoft Download Simulator Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Last night I played Microsoft Download Simulator Cloud coverage. Feature by Tom Phillips Deputy Editor Updated on 28 Jul 2021 46 comments I'm in Microsoft Flight Simulator for the long haul. I've followed its slow taxi up the runway to yesterday's big Xbox Series X/S take-off. I expected a few bumps. I'm sure it will still stick the landing. But last night's launch was a little turbulent - even with all pre-flight checks complete. I had the game's base installation and additional offline pack all pre-loaded (102GB, ouch, but still about half a Call of Duty: Warzone). Then along came a surprise 27GB day one update. Well, flights do get delayed. After sitting through all that, surely, everything was sorted. Well, no. If I want to go see London or New York or various other global attractions in detail, you need their corresponding region's additional free content packs. These are accessible from Flight Sim's already bulging in-game store (alongside dozens of paid-for planes and airports). I couldn't see a way of getting these content packs downloaded via the standard Xbox marketplace. I wish there had been a way of pre-loading these too. Watch on YouTube After nabbing the UK pack and waiting another hour for that to download - it seemed like the game's servers were being hammered, which was understandable - I was finally in the air. London looked brilliant, but other cities were less impressive. The game's algorithmic building generation seems patchy - again, likely impacted by server capacity. Brighton's impressive Pavillion, for instance, looked like a standard American retail box store. The first day of release was always going to be choppy. I imagine countless thousands of people, like me, were all trying to dip their toes into the game since it comes as part of Xbox Game Pass. And while Microsoft Flight Simulator's console controls are pretty easy to pick up, I probably should have consigned myself to the game's flight school training a little longer, before taking off on grand sightseeing tours. But I also expect I won't have been the only one downloading over 100GB of data just to try and zoom over my house in the closest I'll get to an actual plane this year. For anyone giving it a go today on console, do download as much as you can ahead of time, and prep for the usual pre-flight delays. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More Features Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Feature What games get wrong about horses And what they could do about it. 28 Feature Shout out to all the Overwatch supports - where would we be without you? Merci. 55 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 3 Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Genshin Impact Path of Gleaming Jade dates, login event rewards Including other anniversary rewards and how to claim them. Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store