Best Flight Games

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is the best flight game on PS5 and PS4, an arcade jet-combat campaign that turns weather and terrain into weapons, followed by Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 for civilian realism and Star Wars: Squadrons for starfighter dogfighting. This list ranks 11 hand-picked flight games, from arcade combat and free-to-play military aviation to VR flying, crew-management strategy and a niche off-world cargo sim. It says plainly where a pick launched rough, leans on grind or splits opinion, including Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024's troubled PS5 debut. Every game is playable on PlayStation today, including free and PS Plus options.

By Ugur Saritepe · Updated Jul 6, 2026

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11 games found

1ACE COMBAT™ 7: SKIES UNKNOWN
Best overall

ACE COMBAT™ 7: SKIES UNKNOWN

4.5(27,218)2019
ESRB Teenmilitary
GreatReview analysis

Overall, player feedback for ACE COMBAT™ 7: SKIES UNKNOWN is overwhelmingly positive, with many players praising its engaging gameplay, graphics, and soundtrack. However, some users noted frustrations with story coherence and control issues, particularly when using certain controllers. Despite these criticisms, the fun and accessibility of the game shine through, making it a recommended experience, especially for fans of the arcade flight genre.

Why it's here: A jet-combat campaign that treats the sky as a weapon: cloud cover hides you, storm fronts scramble your instruments, and a stall in the wrong canyon ends the run. It flies as an arcade dream rather than a checklist sim, sharp enough for veterans yet open to anyone who ever wanted to pull a high-g turn. Whether its famously tangled story lands is the part to find out.

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2Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
Best simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024

3.5(9,699)2025
ESRB Everyone
PoorReview analysis

Overall player feedback for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is largely negative, with significant concerns regarding stability and functionality, particularly in the PlayStation version. Some players enjoy the graphics and concept behind the game, but many express frustration due to bugs, crashes, and performance issues that hinder the gaming experience.

Why it's here: The whole planet, rendered to scale, from a Cessna over your own street to an airliner across an ocean, and it is the reason "flight simulator" trends every time it lands on a console. The catch is real: the 2024 build reached PS5 in rough shape. Whether the sheer scale outweighs a shaky launch is the question this pick exists to answer.

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3STAR WARS™: Squadrons
Best starfighter combat

STAR WARS™: Squadrons

3.9(15,865)2020
PS+ PlusCo-op: 5ESRB Teensci-fi
MixedReview analysis

Player feedback for STAR WARS™: Squadrons is decidedly mixed, with a significant portion expressing frustration over technical issues and lack of content, particularly in multiplayer. However, those who enjoyed the game appreciated its engaging gameplay and VR support, suggesting that experiences vary greatly based on user expectations and technical performance.

Why it's here: A cockpit-only starfighter dogfighter built to be flown, not walked: divert power between engines, shields and lasers mid-turn, in an X-wing or a TIE, and in full VR if you have the headset. The single-player campaign is the draw and the 5v5 fantasy is intact, though what became of its player base is the thing worth checking first.

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4War Thunder
Best free-to-play

War Thunder

4.1(400,378)2014
FreeCo-op: 4ESRB Teenmilitary
PoorReview analysis

Overall, players express overwhelming dissatisfaction with War Thunder, criticizing its monetization practices and lack of engaging content while lamenting the decline from a previously enjoyable experience to one plagued by greed and repetitive gameplay. The sentiment portrays a clear frustration with the developers, suggesting that many feel the game has lost its essence and is now primarily a cash grab. Players recommend avoiding it, especially for newcomers.

Why it's here: The free way onto this list, and one of the largest military-aviation sandboxes anywhere: hundreds of real aircraft flown from arcade-easy to full cockpit sim, across the same maps as its tanks and warships. The flying is genuinely deep and costs nothing to start. How hard the progression pushes you toward your wallet is the tension underneath it.

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5CHORUS
Best sci-fi

CHORUS

4.2(2,998)2021
ESRB Teen
GoodReview analysis

Overall, player feedback on CHORUS is largely positive, with many praising the engaging combat mechanics and visuals. However, there are significant criticisms regarding the story and controls, which leave some players disappointed. Some reviews highlight a divide between those who found the gameplay addictive and those frustrated by design choices and narrative elements.

Why it's here: A dogfighter with a plot: you and a sentient warship named Forsaken relearn forbidden pilot rites to tear through a cult, drifting and phase-blinking between kills in a way no straight flight sim allows. The combat is the reason to stay in the cockpit. Whether its earnest sci-fi story pulls its weight or just fills the space between fights is the open question.

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6Rogue Flight
Best arcade

Rogue Flight

4.5(504)2024
ESRB Everyone 10+
GoodReview analysis

Overall, player feedback for Rogue Flight is highly positive, with many praising its stunning visuals, engaging gameplay, and nostalgic references to classic arcade shooters. However, there are also notable criticisms regarding the game's depth and content, with some players finding it lacking in variety and replay value.

Why it's here: An on-rails arcade shooter that wears its Saturday-morning-anime heart openly: transforming mecha-jets, a synth soundtrack and boss runs pitched straight at the arcade cabinets it grew up on. It is built for the score-chasing session, not the long haul, and knowing that going in is the whole point. What it trades away for that focus is worth weighing.

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7Bomber Crew
Best strategy

Bomber Crew

4.4(1,577)2018
PS+ ExtraPS Plus ExtraESRB Everyone 10+
GoodReview analysis

Overall, player feedback for Bomber Crew is largely positive, with many players appreciating the game's engaging mechanics and challenging gameplay. However, there are notable criticisms regarding difficulty levels and interface usability, indicating a mixed experience for some players.

Why it's here: Not a flight sim but a flight-crew sim: you manage a WWII bomber and the seven souls aboard it, assigning gunners, patching wounds and coaxing a shot-up plane home before the fuel runs out. One bad raid can cost a crew you have grown attached to. Whether that permadeath tension grips you or just stings is the thing to settle. Included with PS Plus Extra.

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8Ultrawings 2
Best VR

Ultrawings 2

4.3(896)2024
ESRB Teen

Why it's here: Flying as the whole experience, in VR: a small open world of islands to earn your way across, buying and mastering distinct light aircraft one licence at a time, from short-runway takeoffs and touch-and-go landings to the new military ops runs. It is calm, generous and built for headset comfort. Whether the cash-for-jobs loop stays magical or slides into grind is the honest question it poses.

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9Red Wings: Aces of the Sky
Best couch co-op

Red Wings: Aces of the Sky

4.0(190)2020
ESRB Everyone 10+
MixedReview analysis

Overall, player feedback for "Red Wings: Aces of the Sky" is polarized, with a mix of enjoyment for the arcade-style gameplay and significant criticism regarding controls and content repetition. While some players find it nostalgic and fun, others express frustration due to gameplay issues and a lack of depth in missions.

Why it's here: WWI dogfighting drawn as a moving comic book: fifty missions of biplane duels over the trenches, flyable solo or split-screen on the couch with a second pilot on your wing. The arcade handling is easy to pick up and the co-op is the real draw. How quickly its mission loop starts to repeat is the trade-off to weigh before the campaign is out.

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10Project Wingman: Frontline 59
Best VR combat

Project Wingman: Frontline 59

2.9(2,681)2023
ESRB Teen
MixedReview analysis

The reviews for Project Wingman: Frontline 59 present a stark contrast between players, with some praising the DLC for its exciting gameplay and engaging story, while others harshly criticize the challenging tunnel mission and the overall difficulty level. Overall, many players who enjoyed the base game find value in the DLC despite its shortcomings, while detractors feel frustrated by the design choices and gameplay mechanics.

Why it's here: Ace Combat's spirit rebuilt for VR: a standalone combat-flight campaign of missile-dodging, canyon-skimming sorties designed to put you inside the cockpit rather than behind it. The soundtrack and the sense of speed are real, and it costs little. One notoriously punishing tunnel run splits players clean in two, and which side you land on decides the whole thing.

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11Frontier Pilot Simulator
Best cargo sim

Frontier Pilot Simulator

4.0(155)2024
ESRB Everyone

Why it's here: Flight as a living: pilot a VTOL cargo hauler across an alien frontier, taking on freight and trade contracts while wind, weight and a demanding flight model fight you the whole way, then reinvest the pay in better craft. It asks for real stick discipline, not arcade reflexes. Whether the trade-economy grind rewards that patience, past some rough edges, is what this off-world sim is really testing.

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About Flight Games

Flight games on PlayStation split into a few distinct traditions. Arcade combat flight is the biggest draw: Ace Combat 7 and the VR-native Project Wingman: Frontline 59 chase spectacle over checklists, while Red Wings recreates WWI dogfighting and War Thunder offers hundreds of real aircraft free-to-play. Sci-fi flight bends the same combat into space, in the story-driven CHORUS and the cockpit-only Star Wars: Squadrons. Civilian simulation is the other pole, led by Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, which renders the entire planet to scale, with Ultrawings 2 taking the same idea into VR and Frontier Pilot Simulator into off-world cargo hauling. Around them sit the specialists: Bomber Crew turns flight into WWII crew management, and Rogue Flight into a stylised arcade shooter. A raw catalogue search for flight games is dominated by low-rated shovelware and airport-management sims with no piloting, so every pick here is hand-curated for genuine flying, then ranked on player ratings, depth and overall quality.

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Flight Games Compared

  • ACE COMBAT™ 7: SKIES UNKNOWN
    Best overall4.5 / 5

    The arcade jet-combat flagship: a set-piece campaign where weather and terrain are weapons, sharp for veterans and open to newcomers.

  • Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
    Best simulator3.55 / 5

    The whole planet rendered to scale, from a Cessna to an airliner, the marquee civilian sim, if you can stomach a rough PS5 launch.

  • STAR WARS™: Squadrons
    Best starfighter combat3.94 / 5

    A cockpit-only starfighter dogfighter with power management, X-wings and TIEs, and full VR support.

  • War Thunder
    Best free-to-play4.1 / 5Free

    A free-to-play sandbox of hundreds of real aircraft, from arcade to full sim, sharing maps with its tanks and ships.

  • CHORUS
    Best sci-fi4.24 / 5

    Story-driven sci-fi dogfighting with a sentient warship, drifting and phase-blinks no straight sim allows.

  • Rogue Flight
    Best arcade4.51 / 5

    A stylish on-rails arcade shooter of transforming mecha-jets, built for score-chasing sessions over the long haul.

  • Bomber Crew
    Best strategy4.39 / 5PS Plus Extra

    A WWII bomber crew-management sim where permadeath makes every damaged plane you fly home matter. On PS Plus Extra.

  • Ultrawings 2
    Best VR4.29 / 5

    Accessible open-world VR flying: earn and master distinct light aircraft across an island world from the cockpit.

  • Red Wings: Aces of the Sky
    Best couch co-op3.96 / 5

    Comic-book WWI biplane dogfighting across 50 missions, playable split-screen on the couch.

  • Project Wingman: Frontline 59
    Best VR combat2.92 / 5

    A VR-native combat-flight campaign in Ace Combat's mould, undone for some by one punishing tunnel mission.

  • Frontier Pilot Simulator
    Best cargo sim3.96 / 5

    An off-world VTOL cargo sim with a demanding flight model and a trade economy to reinvest your pay into.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best flight game on PS5?
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is the best flight game on PS5 and PS4 overall, an arcade jet-combat campaign praised for its missions, visuals and soundtrack that stays accessible to newcomers. For civilian realism, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is the marquee simulator, and Star Wars: Squadrons is the standout if you want cockpit starfighter dogfighting with VR support.
Is Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 good on PS5?
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 reached PS5 in December 2025 and is the most realistic civilian flight simulator on the console, rendering the entire planet to scale. Its launch was rough, though: players report crashes, long loading times and performance problems tied to its server dependence. It is the definitive civilian sim on PlayStation and the reason "flight simulator" is a top search, but check its current patch state before buying.
Are there any free flight games on PS5?
Yes. War Thunder is free-to-play on PS5 and PS4 and is one of the largest military-aviation games anywhere, with hundreds of real aircraft flown from arcade-simple to full cockpit simulation. The flying is genuinely deep at no cost, though progression leans hard on optional purchases and premium vehicles, which is the most common player complaint.
What is the best flight combat game on PS5?
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is the best flight combat game on PlayStation, blending accessible arcade handling with a spectacle-driven campaign. For a VR cockpit, Project Wingman: Frontline 59 and Star Wars: Squadrons both put you inside the fight, and CHORUS wraps sci-fi dogfighting around a story with a sentient warship. War Thunder is the deepest free alternative for military air combat.
Are there flight games in VR on PS5?
Yes. Star Wars: Squadrons supports PSVR and is one of the most immersive starfighter cockpits available, while Ultrawings 2 and Project Wingman: Frontline 59 are built for PSVR2, covering casual open-world flying and Ace Combat-style aerial combat respectively. VR support is a highlight players single out for Squadrons and Ultrawings 2 in particular.
How is this flight games list ranked?
This is an editorially curated list. A raw catalogue search for flight games surfaces low-rated shovelware and airport-management sims with no actual flying, so games are hand-picked for genuine piloting and ranked on player ratings, depth and overall quality. The arcade-combat flagship Ace Combat 7 leads, followed by the marquee civilian sim, the Star Wars starfighter, the free-to-play giant and the sci-fi, arcade, strategy, VR and specialist picks.