In August 2020, when international air travel wasn’t really a thing, Microsoft Flight Simulator took off and soared. Its release was perfectly timed and totemic: this was a ‘game’ of staggering ambition, gifting desktop pilots the entire globe to explore, the planet rendered in genuinely real-life fidelity using a combination of gargantuan map data and cutting edge artificial intelligence.

Perhaps to further entice non-simmers into the fold, a free expansion has now launched to tie in with the release of the much-delayed and critically-adored film Top Gun: Maverick. Alongside a ‘Maverick’ livery for the F/A-18E Super Hornet, you can now take part in training missions to learn how to perform the terrifying split S and low altitude high-speed flight manoeuvres as seen in the film.

As Microsoft Flight Simulator is very much a peaceful endeavour, don’t expect to be dropping ordnance over key military targets. One of the game’s challenges is to land on an aircraft carrier; but what looks like a fairly simple procedure is one of the game’s most challenging by far. Also included is the hypersonic SR-72 concept plane featured in the film’s prologue. Perfect for anyone who feels the need for speed.

Microsoft Flight Simulator – Top Gun: Maverick is out now for PC and Xbox series X/S.