Flight Unlimited III

Time to beat

Main story

41.5 h5 reports

Main + extras

60.5 h4 reports

Completionist

103 h3 reports

Median of the hours reported by players who completed the game.

Synopsis

Flight Unlimited III is a 1999 flight simulator video game developed by Looking Glass Studios and published by Electronic Arts. It allows players to pilot simulations of real-world commercial and civilian aircraft in and around Seattle, Washington, United States. Players can fly freely or engage in "Challenge" missions, such as thwarting a theft or locating Bigfoot. The development team built on the general aviation gameplay of Flight Unlimited II, with more detailed physics and terrain, more planes, and a real-time weather system. Roughly half of Flight Unlimited II's team returned to work on the sequel, supported by new hires. Lead designer Peter James described Flight Unlimited III's development as a struggle, thanks to a lack of interest from Electronic Arts and from Looking Glass's management. Placed in direct competition with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000 and Fly!, the game failed to capture sufficient market share. It became one of Looking Glass's biggest commercial flops, with roughly 20,000 units sold in the United States during 1999. This contributed to the company's closure in 2000. The game was well received by critics, who praised its terrain rendering and dynamic weather. Its simulated physics were lauded by several reviewers, but others felt that the physics were imprecise and that the game's system requirements were extremely high.

Text license: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

Details

Type

Game

Release date

September 17, 1999

Genres

flight simulation video game

Platforms

Microsoft Windows

Created by

Looking Glass Studios

Countries

United States