Soaring Over Jurassic World In Orbx’s Flight Simulator 2024 Archipelago DLC

Orbx released its Jurassic World: Archipelago DLC for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, so I climbed into my motion simulator to explore the ultimate pack’s detailed islands from high above and walked among the dinosaurs up close. Read on for my first impressions.

Who here as a kid wasn’t fascinated by dinosaurs? I couldn’t get enough of them when I was growing up, especially the gentle giants most people refer to simply as long-necks. Back in the 80s, we unfortunately didn’t have the kind of CGI in our films that we see in the modern marvels of today, immersive technology, or even home PCs that could run the simplest games in most of our libraries now. When Jurassic Park first hit theaters in 1993, many of us sat in our local theater with our jaws gaping, getting our first look at those dinos, and it was exhilarating.

Flash forward to 2025, and those iconic landscapes, film sets, and even some dinosaurs are making their way into Flight Simulator 2024 through a new DLC pack developed by Orbx. This takes us back to the more memorable islands and structures made famous in the film franchise.

This pack isn’t something you can get through Steam; for this add-on, you must download and set up Orbx Central or purchase it directly in the game’s marketplace. After an hour of battling some server issues on launch day, I painfully watched bars slowly fill in as the files were downloading and installing to my PC. Once the wait was over, I jumped into the cockpit. As I dropped into the sky above that first island in my new Jurassic World-branded virtual CubCrafters XCub, I knew this adventure would be something special.

I found myself mesmerized by what’s being presented beyond the small windows in my little starter plane—the sun near the horizon in the distance. A flock of pterodactyls caught my attention to the left, and I sat there in awe.

After finishing my initial lap around the island and not finding many dinosaurs to gawk at, I kept thinking to myself, “I was told there were going to be dinos on this island?” Then I decided to try one of the guided interactive sessions. The tour offered in the Archipelago DLC is actually active, unlike some others in Flight Simulator 24, and you fly to each pre-marked destination yourself. I was hoping for a more passive ride where I could just sit in the passenger seat and soak it all in while listening to the tour guide’s narrative.

You receive a brief backstory explaining why the site is notable upon arriving at each new location, and then you return to free flight until you choose to head to the next area of interest. This specific tour is broken down into 8 distinct areas from the films, each with a chance at a dino sighting as well as on-foot exploration of the iconic sites and structures. But this is where things get a bit rough.

One intriguing thing about Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is that, just like in real life, each new aircraft handles and flies a bit differently. There really isn’t any relying on muscle memory to get you through until you take a minute to learn each new plane you’re piloting’s quirks. The Archipelago DLC has you flying the CubCrafters XCub personal aircraft, and it’s not the easiest plane in the hangar to handle. One of the DLC’s best features is the ability to land, walk around with the dinosaurs on the islands, and explore some of the film’s more iconic locales. However, landing the XCub, even on a stable surface, is challenging enough, let alone attempting to land on small patches of flat earth, which is nearly impossible for me as a novice virtual pilot.

I eventually realized you can access all the new content through the regular “Free Flight” setting in the main game’s menu. Exploring the DLC content this way gives you access to all of your owned aircraft. Discovering this option let me finally choose a more manageable and slower-moving plane, one where I can start taking in the sights and sounds of the island without crashing.

Orbx has four options for you to explore Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna. Pick the one that suits you, and then be sure to join us for VR Sideload, where we’ll explore more of the iconic islands and discuss our findings live.