Sim Gaming

Initially shrouded in controversy, IL-2 Battle of Stalingrad carries on the illustrious IL-2 name that has been at the forefront of combat flight simulation since 2001. In it's day it was an unforgivingly hardcore experience. After many expansions came IL-2 Cliffs of Dover, which didn't actually have a Sturmovik in it. Based on the Battle of Britain, it dissapointed almost universally. The fan base divided into those with ninja I-7 based PCs and those without who endured poor FPS and micro stutters that caused your's truly immense motion sickness!

 

So, the team that dropped the ball were merged with the folk responsible for uber WWI flight sim Rise of Flight, and this is the result.

 

So far, the flight model has impressed me, it is truly next gen in it's approach to graphics and looks stunningly beautiful. The animation and shadows impresses as does the scenery, even if it is all white and grey.

 

The action is frantic, the forces asymetrical in the quality of the aircraft, and ground pounding is a way of life, keeping this virtual flyer happy as larry!

 

As you would expect, a comprehensive mission builder is built in but the one truly dissapointing thig so far is the campaign. It just doesn't seem that impressive given the teams lineage. Perhaps this is something that can be addressed in the inevitable future patch scehdule.