Actually, at first I was really Impressed with the new Microsoft Flight Simulator X demo, that surfaced a few days ago. Considering it’s almost at beta code it looked a lot better than the old Flight Siumulator 2004. For comparison screenshots look at the Microsoft Site.
Then I decided to try the “Lock on Modern Combat”-demo from 2003. I was astonished!
Lock on is 3 years older and looks just as good on high settings. It has self shadowing, heat blur effects, great water, great physics, great textures… If You haven’t tried that demo, try it! Just as some sort of reference. In my opinion MSFSX is about 3 years after the “Lock on” graphics engine… and You know what? That 3 year old engine runs like clockwork on my old machine. The same can not be said about FSX.
What on earth have Microsoft been doing the last 3 years? Sleeping? Don’t get me wrong, I think MSFSX looks great, but the fact that a 3 year older product can hold it’s own against the brand new Microsoft engine is astounding to say the least. I wish I had tried “Lock on” 3 years ago… I would have soiled my pants…
That’s my opinion after trying 2 demos. One brand new and one from 2003 
Check out the Lock On Screenies
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