Are you feeling the need, the need for speed? Then get ready for some fast-paced thrills with the official Top Gun: Maverick Expansion for Microsoft Flight Simulator, which was finally released today to match the release of the movie in theaters.
Top Gun: Maverick for MSFS was announced almost a year ago, initially scheduled for a release in November 2021, but delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, just like the movie. Now with the sequel to the 1986 blockbuster finally out, and with the marketing machine in full swing around everything related to the movie, Microsoft jumps on the bandwagon with this official partnership that hopes to replicate some of the iconic scenes and set pieces of the movie in our favorite flight simulator.
Top Gun: Maverick was supposed to come with the F/A-18E Super Hornet, but the MSFS team couldn’t hold the airplane for themselves and ended up releasing it back in November with the GOTY Edition of MSFS.
This free DLC that launches today adds exciting new content for pilots to use with their F-18s, such as three training missions designed to teach pilots some radical maneuvers, five high-speed challenges at low altitudes, and a carrier landing challenge. Unfortunately, it seems that’s the only way to practice carrier operations since the carrier doesn’t seem to appear on the world map outside this challenge…
Top Gun: Maverick also adds a new airplane, an experimental bird that seems to be based on the Lockheed Martin SR-72. In MSFS, this hypersonic aircraft is capable of some extremely unique feats, reaching Mach 10 speeds and stratospheric altitudes. Simmers will also find a special mission for this aircraft.
Top Gun: Maverick is now available for free in the Marketplace, for both PC and Xbox users.
- A “Top Gun: Maverick Edition” livery for the F/A-18E Super Hornet.
- Three training missions for the Super Hornet that will allow you to master radical flight maneuvers including unrestricted take-offs, split S maneuvers, and low altitude, high-speed maneuvering through complex terrain.
- Five high-speed, low-level challenges that require utmost skill to navigate just above mountains and traverse through canyons.
- A carrier deck landing challenge, one of the most demanding operations in the world of military aviation.
- A never-before-unveiled hypersonic aircraft that can attain speeds of Mach 10 and altitudes greater than 150,000 feet above sea level.
- A mission to roar into the stratosphere.
