with Intermetrics. The game was released on December 12, 1997. Reception Flight Unlimited II was placed in direct competition with the Microsoft Flight Simulator series and Sierra Entertainment's Pro Pilot, and it performed well enough to recoup its development costs. PC Gamer USs Stephen Poole commented that the limited environments of Flight Unlimited did not create a believable flight experience, but that the "exquisite terrain, impressive flight-physics models, and meticulous attention to the details and procedures of civilian aviation" in Flight Unlimited II created "the closest experience to actual flight" available. He praised the game's ATC system, which he considered to be "so real that it's almost scary". Poole summarized, "Flight Unlimited II is so impressive that to even whine about little details shows a shortsightedness that's all too common amongst us gamers." Denny Atkin of Computer Gaming World believed the game to be the first simulator to recreate "the real feeling of civilian flying", particularly because of its graphics and ATC system. He considered its flight physics to be "much better than Pro Pilot, although not up to the level of Flight Simulator 98". He finished by calling Flight Unlimited II "a must-have for any general-aviation enthusiast." John Nolan of Computer Games Magazine found that the new flight physics were "more than adequate for the task at hand", despite certain "questionable areas". He praised the graphics and ATC, but noted AI glitches with the latter. He summarized, "Overall, this simulation is somewhat above average". Dean Evans of PC Gamer UK called it "the best civilian flight sim we've ever seen", which makes "Flight Simulator look like a sack of old spam". He found the game to be "immensely realistic" and praised its terrain and simulated airspace. Similarly, Edge praised the believable and highly detailed environment, noting that Looking Glass Studios managed to cleverly soften the contrast between photo-captured textures and polygon objects "using haze as a real effect rather than a distance-clipping cheat". The magazine concluded that dismissing the game simply because of its lack of weapons "would be a mistake", and explained that the interaction with the world "is everything—it's reward enough simply to explore rather than to destroy." PC Zones Paul Presley believed the game to be inferior to combat flight simulators and stated that it "isn't nearly as deep or varied as Microsoft's Flight Simulator '98". He found the graphics to be lackluster and the terrain