Publisher: 1C Publishing
Developer: Gaijin Entertainment
Genre: Flying Simulation
Release date: Available now

Do you like racing around at great speed, causing mayhem with guns and blowing up things? Look no further: IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey is the game for you, especially if you’ve been doggedly fighting World War II on the ground (World at War; Call of Duty) and are in search of a new outlet. At least you can then decide if you want to swap your infantry boots for a comically overlarge moustache with accompanying leather hat. Think first-person shooter with a bucket load of caffeine. It’s manic; even in single-player mode there’s enough action and activity to keep the most demanding flight simmer happy. Switch to versus mode for a while and you’ll need to lie down in a dark, quiet room for a few hours (days in my case – I am not as young as I once was). It’s by no means a perfect game, but it’s fun and exciting.

IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey is a combat flying game that signals the series’ jump from PC to console (in this case, the Xbox 360). Both the single-player campaign and the 16-player multiplayer mode should provide enough stimulation to keep any gamer who likes the concept of airborne dogfighting happy. The campaign itself covers five theatres of war: The Battle of Britain, Stalingrad, Berlin, Sicily and Korsun, and the action takes place in 50 demanding missions. Like many games it comes with a tutorial, which is short but informative enough to teach you the basics. After completing the first three of these, you can choose to train more or simply take on the enemy in arcade mode, which is designed for those of you not yet ready to place your rear in a cockpit. You can fly your plane without any risk of stalling. You have weapon assists that show you where to fire to compensate for target distance and speed. Best of all, your ammo is unlimited. Arcade mode makes the game easier, but it doesn’t necessarily enhance the thrill factor, as your wily enemy still proves to be a tricky foe. If you continue to play through the tutorials, you can unlock the simulation mode, making things even more challenging. I found myself swearing at my plane as much as the enemy in this mode. You also tend to do a lot more shooting, as you aren’t always sure who the enemy is. With limited ammo, you get twitchy quickly.

There’s plenty of variation in locations in the campaign, but not so much so for the mission types, which tend revolve around dogfighting or bombing runs. Each mission offers both primary and secondary objectives, which can add a bit of spice, such as protecting a disabled tank from enemy armor or landing to rescue a fellow pilot who has been shot down. The multiplayer package is another game in itself; think World at War on steroids. Sixteen players take to the skies in frenetic Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch encounters. There are also two other MP modes. Capture Airfields is a Domination mode in which you have to physically land your plane on airfields to capture them. And Strike mode has you destroying enemy ground units whilst trying to protect your own. Multiplayer games sometimes can be overly segregated, with players split into ranked and unranked matches, but this didn’t affect my own enjoyment when I was brave enough to take to the skies against fellow gamers.

Birds of Prey does an excellent job of re-creating the thrill of air combat. The planes suffer the same stresses and combat damage of real aircraft; damage inflicted on a plane results in markedly different effects. These range from losing maneuverability, weapons, power and vision. The game offers an array of planes in which you can zip around, including Spitfires, Hurricanes and the Russian IL-2 Sturmovik. These are all carefully and beautifully rendered. Also, the programmers have done a tremendous job capturing the myriad of colors seen when flying in both day and night missions. The ground scenery is marvellous, with rich textured forests and accurately detailed towns, cities and coastline. The cinematics that begin each of the five theatres set the scene without becoming boring. The documentary footage and voice-overs that mix historical information with personal anecdotes from the war are interesting, but not to the point of spoiling the game experience. There are also lots of unlockable extras in each level, ranging from 3D models of the Allied and Axis planes to articles on the history of the war. You can also unlock further tutorials on stunts and tactics that you can employ in battle.

So what are Birds of Prey’s main drawbacks, then? The game has some dramatic frame rate problems in places (fortunately not too many), which cause the odd rare slowdown during combat. Also, if you complete certain mission objectives out of order, they won’t be recognized and you’ll be unable to complete the mission without restarting it. Get close to the ground and the graphics wobble a bit – with everything a little more pixelated and grainy – but seeing as you are whizzing by at high speed this doesn’t really detract from the game too much.

So overall, IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey fairs well. It will definitely appeal to those gamers seeking a weekend affair with another game and the odd bit of dogfighting against other players. It doesn’t have the stamina to be as addictive or playable in the long term as games such as World at War. Still, I’m still taking to the skies – and falling from them amidst smoke and flame.

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Our Recommendation: