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Flight Simulator Top Gun DLC is out now, and it’s free

The Microsoft Flight Simulator Top Gun DLC has arrived, and it'll challenge you to land an F/A-18E on the deck of an aircraft carrier

Microsoft Flight Simulator Top Gun DLC: A pilot wearing a helmet marked 'Maverick' taxis in an F/A-18E Super Hornet on the deck of an aircraft carrier as the sun sets in the background against a blue partially cloudy sky.

If you’re looking for a new kind of aerial challenge to take on, then we have good news: the Microsoft Flight Simulator Top Gun DLC is out now, it’s free, and it’ll casually ask you to land a ludicrously powerful fighter jet on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

The Top Gun DLC was announced at E3 last year, but was subsequently delayed – not because of any development issues, but because it’s a tie-in with Paramount’s Top Gun: Maverick, which itself was delayed due to the coronavirus surge late last year. The film hits theatres this weekend, however, so the tie-in DLC is ready for takeoff.

To access the Top Gun expansion, you simply have to launch Microsoft Flight Simulator. In the main menu, you’ll find a new tile called ‘Maverick Activities.’ If this is your first time launching the DLC, clicking the tile will take you to the marketplace, where you’ll be able to download the new expansion – it’s about 4.78GB if you’re playing on the Xbox app.

Once the pack is downloaded, you’ll find five new low-altitude challenges for the F/A-18E Super Hornet, including buzzing Riffe Lake (to potentially check out some of the cool new supersonic effects Asobo’s recently added) or flying over Alaska’s Yanert Glacier.

The two advanced challenges include a carrier landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier off the San Diego coast, and piloting an experimental Darkstar hypersonic jet up into the stratosphere for a coast-to-coast flight from California to Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida.

The pack also includes three training missions for the Super Hornet so you can get acclimated to the kind of power you’ll be working with in the powerful fighter jet.

In a very nice touch, the Top Gun score plays while you’re in that section of the menu. Now, get out there and make Goose proud.

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