IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey Review

By Dan Whitehead Published 1 September, 2009

It's good to hawk.

Version tested: Xbox 360

Ah, the console version of the classic PC simulation. What a palaver this always is. The simulation series has built up a devoted and loyal fanbase on the PC, and they'll want reassurance that the unforgiving realism of the game they know and love hasn't been simplified into mush for its console debut. On the other hand, there's an even larger audience of console owners for whom this will be their first exposure. They'll probably be a little bit daunted by the ruthless reputation of the PC original, and looking for reassurance that it isn't too complex.

Of course, balancing these seemingly conflicting audiences is what developer Gaijin Entertainment has had to do with IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey, and perhaps inevitably the studio's taken the middle path, creating a game that can be played at both ends of the spectrum, but defaults to its easiest setting, the fairly self-explanatory Arcade mode. You can't stall the plane, and you also benefit from numerous other assists. Both aiming and flight control get an invisible helping hand, while enemy and allied units are highlighted on your HUD. There's even a floating crosshair that works out the optimum deflection angle for your bullets, making it easy to place your fire where the enemy is going to be.

It's a generous game as well, with a single-player campaign that offers 20 missions across six European theatres, from the Battle of Britain through to a climactic assault on Berlin that sees you bombing the Reichstag. Success in these missions unlocks new planes and pilots, as well as additional standalone missions that can be accessed separately at any time. There are 50 of these, and they're a real mixture of objective types. From reconnaissance sorties into enemy territory to testing allied landing strips in a storm, these bonus stages are also more flexible than the story missions, allowing you to alter the amount of fuel and ammo you can carry.

There's also a meaty multiplayer component for up to 16 players, boasting four game modes and a raft of user-defined variables. Not only can you set the weather and time of day for your skirmishes, you can even restrict players to planes based on the year of their manufacture. Dogfight and Team Battle modes are much as you'd expect, but Capture Airfields adds an aerial twist to the timeworn base-capture objectives by landing on airstrips. Strike, meanwhile, is a more tactical option. Teams battle to destroy each other's ground units, a task that requires a balance between bombers and fighters, as well as offensive and defensive play. Sadly, the servers for the game weren't active at the time of writing, but unless there's some horrendous netcode calamity this suite of online play should easily extend the game's lifespan.

'IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey' Screenshot 1

Behind the scenes at Google Maps, 1944 edition.

The timid player can enjoy all this content in Arcade mode, the easiest setting, and not once have to worry about realistic physics literally dragging them down. Played this way it's more like Ace Combat: WWII Edition, but that's no bad thing. A button press cycles through enemy targets (hold it down to select the nearest mission objective) and the left trigger can then be used to lock the camera on whatever you're chasing. Rockets and bombs are mapped to the shoulder buttons, when available.

The forgiving physics makes it easy to pull off manoeuvres that would be virtually impossible on the higher difficulties. Throwing your plane into a screaming, banking dive, skimming rooftops and then hurtling into a loop while tearing the wings off a Stuka is a genuine thrill. Flying right through the midst of a Messerschmitt squadron, guns blazing, and seeing a hail of fuselage parts roar past your canopy in balls of flame never gets tired. Faced with such cathartic moments, you'd have to be a fairly joyless simulation snob to not see the visceral benefit of more accessible gameplay.

The presentation certainly helps in this regard. Jeremy Soule supplies an orchestral soundtrack that equals his rousing score for Oblivion, while Joss Ackland narrates the between-mission snippets with appropriate gravitas. Visually, IL-2 Sturmovik won't be the best-looking game you see all year, but while its occasionally chuggy frame-rate may not sound amazing, the game itself always feels pretty fantastic. Holes can be torn in your wings, allowing you to see the scenery flying by down below and also affecting the plane's stability. Speckles of soot pepper your canopy as you hurtle through the smoke trail belching from a downed enemy. Of course, the plane models are second to none, with fully working cockpit instrumentation and distinctive handling. Being able to look out over the wing and see emergency instructions in Russian - these are the small details that help to sell the flying ace fantasy.

The environments are equally seductive. Combat arenas are vast - far larger than the missions technically require - but with size comes an unbeatable sense of scale, aided by a commendable draw distance. Most flight games pay scant attention to what's beneath you but with distinctive local architecture from Dover to Sicily and on to Berlin, and rolling, sprawling rural landscapes where you can even see tractor treads in a snowy Soviet winter, Sturmovik's world feels organic and real. Fly beyond the convincing cloud cover and it really does feel like there's a world beyond the invisible walls that usually hem you in.

It's well-populated too, with the game capable of filling the maps with more than 100 units. You rarely, if ever, get to see that sort of a crowd in action, but towards the end of the solo campaign you'll certainly experience hectic dogfighting between scores of fighters, while bomber squadrons thunder towards their targets and AA batteries pound the skies. It's just another example of how far the game is willing to go in order to immerse you in the seat-of-your-pants world of pre-jet aerial combat. Enemy pilots aren't particularly taxing on the Arcade setting though, and, while you'll be given a more robust challenge in the later campaign missions, a flexible AI slider would have helped keep control accessible without compromising the difficulty of the gameplay.

It's as you move up the rigid three-tier difficulty ladder that the game's attempt to be all things to all people starts to come unglued. You need to complete the relevant tutorial before the game will allow you to take to the air on the Realistic or Simulation settings, and the difficulty spike is pronounced. As well as removing the passive aiming and control aids, Realistic difficulty also introduces much less forgiving aerodynamics. Basically, if you attempt any kind of fancy flying, you'll stall. And, chances are, you'll then fall into a terminal spin. You need precision to keep your plane aloft and wrestling it back under control using two tiny thumbsticks is a fairly thankless task.

'IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey' Screenshot 2

Real time shadows will obscure your instruments, making the Simulation setting even harder.

It's even more pronounced on Simulation, where all modern assists are banished. There aren't even any HUD details telling you which planes are on your side, and the only view allowed is through the tiny smudged windows of the cockpit. It's claustrophobic and terrifying, and therefore makes you appreciate just what the real pilots suffered, but without a solid flight stick to hand it also feels virtually impossible. I usually groan at PC vs. console arguments, but as an example of how the simulation suffers because of inevitable hardware restrictions, to free-look from the cockpit you need to depress the right thumbstick and then keep it pressed while rolling it around. Stick-pressing is a slippery and often unpopular design decision at the best of times, but in a game mode where you have no choice but to continually look around to manually locate enemies and objectives it's a real pain.

So the physics may be up to simulation standard, but there's no getting around the fact that unless you invest in a console-friendly stick you're going to be playing with an arcade controller. These rickety kites were hardly the most complex flying machines, but even with a proper flight stick anyone hoping for the full simulation experience will be ill-served as the core control system was, by necessity, designed around the limited inputs of a gamepad. Plane functions beyond basic control and attack amount to little more than pressing a button to lower and raise the landing gear, and even that's rarely used since most missions start in mid-air and only require you to fly out of the combat area for completion.

You're always aware that the game is torn between full simulation and accessible shoot-'em-up, so while it's admirable that Gaijin Entertainment has attempted to bring a simulator to consoles, the end result falls between the two stools. Newcomers will probably be scared by the sheer difficulty of the higher settings, but I can't help feeling that existing simulator fans won't bother accommodating the compromised joypad controls when they can just play a previous Sturmovik game on the PC with whatever depth they desire.

Going back to the dilemma from the start of the review, your enjoyment of IL-2 Sturmovik's console debut will depend greatly on what you want it to be. Taken as a rousing aerial shooter, it's easy to recommend - and sadly rather too easy to complete. There's a ton of content, at least, and it's all presented in a whiz-bang style that draws you in with heart-pounding action without belittling the history behind the explosions. It's just a shame that for such a venerable simulator series, it's the more serious game modes where Birds of Prey feels most compromised by its hardware.

7 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Dan.

About Dan Whitehead

Dan has been writing for Eurogamer since 2006 and specialises in RPGs, shooters and games for children. His bestest game ever is Julian Gollop's Chaos.

Read more articles from Dan by visiting the Dan Whitehead archive page.

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Comments (82) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • X201 #1 2 years ago

    Have enjoyed the demo this last couple of days and I'm sorely tempted to get this.

  • JohnnyWashnGo #2 2 years ago

    The demo was good but I don't think I could stomach playing the full game.

  • Rodchenko #3 2 years ago

    Hmh, The preview sounded much more enthusiastic. Loved the demo, but why did they make the landing such a p.i.t.a?

  • Zebula77 #4 2 years ago

    I thought the demo was very meh. Big choppyness whenever too much of the ground came into view.
    To be fair, tho - not a big fan of these type of games.

  • kendoji #5 2 years ago

    The demo was fun, although the ease of playing on arcade started to get boring fairly fast. When I turned the difficulty up a notch I literally couldn't do ANYTHING without stalling. Might be tempted to get it later 2nd hand.

  • cianchristopher #6 2 years ago

    Anyone remember Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge on the Xbox? That was sweet! (Actually I think Uncharted lifted "liberally" from it's main character, come to think of it).....

  • kangarootoo #7 2 years ago

    Looks fantastic. I see a game like this, and I wonder why MS Flight Simulator looks so lame visually by comparison. Who knows.

    Anyway,

    "I usually groan at PC vs. console arguments, but as an example of how the simulation suffers because of inevitable hardware restrictions, to free-look from the cockpit you need to depress the right thumbstick and then keep it pressed while rolling it around. Stick-pressing is a slippery and often unpopular design decision at the best of times, but in a game mode where you have no choice but to continually look around to manually locate enemies and objectives it's a real pain."

    There are decent sticks available for both consoles, so this isn't really an issue any more than it is on PC. You wouldn't expect to get the best out of a PC flight sim using a mouse and keyboard, and would expect that many players would buy a stick. So why on earth would you levy the same complaint at a console flight sim?

  • estoo #8 2 years ago

    "Plane functions beyond basic control and attack amount to little more than pressing a button to lower and raise the landing gear, and even that's rarely used since most missions start in mid-air and only require you to fly out of the combat area for completion."

    That is a huge disappointment for me, take off and landing were always a hugely important part of flight simulation IMO.

  • kangarootoo #9 2 years ago

    I'm surprised at the final score. Seems too heavily based on the suggestion that you need a flight stick to get the best out of it. I'll try not to beat that particular drum for too long, but it does seem an unfair basis on which to complain for the reasons I gave earlier.

    If you are using the PS3 version, these sticka are also worth a look. Both of them support this game directly.

    [link url=http://www.thrustmaster.com/product.aspx?Pro ductID=149&PlatformID=12
    ]http://ww w.thrustmaster.com/product.aspx...[/link]
    [link url=http://www.thrustmaster.com/product.aspx?Prod uctID=94&PlatformID=12
    ]http://ww w.thrustmaster.com/product.aspx...[/link]

    I have the first one, and it works a treat (on PC and PS3).

  • DanWhitehead #10 2 years ago

    @kangarootoo
    There are decent sticks available for both consoles, so this isn't really an issue any more than it is on PC. You wouldn't expect to get the best out of a PC flight sim using a mouse and keyboard, and would expect that many players would buy a stick. So why on earth would you levy the same complaint at a console flight sim?

    From the review: "...but even with a proper flight stick anyone hoping for the full simulation experience will be ill-served as the core control system was, by necessity, designed around the limited inputs of a gamepad."

    Even with a console flight stick, what you're essentially getting is a game with arcade depth but simulation handling.

  • Dillinger #11 2 years ago

    ditto to kangarootoo. played this at the weekend with a T-flight HOTAS and its quite jollly (I bought it mainly for PC playing Black shark, but liked the idea of a ps3 compatible one on the offchance something good came along that supported it).
    I didnt understand the constant stalling in simulation mode though. it seemed a bit 'binary' and precanned on any drastic move. it didnt feel like it was a progressive thing. And I dont remember the pc one being quite so prone to stall, but maybe as theres more than 3 realism options i may have wimped out somehow..
    Question is, IL2:BoP on ps3, or just get IL2:1946 on pc for 6 quid... ? (i only have 'forgotten battles')

  • Beige_Alert #12 2 years ago

    I had a hell of a time trying to fly the demo until I turned down the sensitivity ont he controls.
    I guess it might seem unfair, but perhaps it is simply a fact that a review of a game like this on the PC would assume you have a flight stick, while on a console it needs to handle well with the regular controller to get a good score. I'll admit to not remembering any console driving game that got its score based on how it handled with a wheel and not a controller.
    Edited by 1 at 01/09/09 @ 12:06

  • orpheus #13 2 years ago

    Absolutely loved the demo and can't wait for this to drop onto my doorstep on release day. I agree about the difficulty spike on Realistic/Simulator, though I and a few friends found that once you dropped the control sensitivity to about half on either mode, it solved many of the problems, left the stall mechanism mostly intact and still allowed for the increased sensitivity/realism of the harder modes. It's well worth a try if you want to get more out of the harder difficulties.

    Only thing that annoyed me was that ground targets in Realistic + are nearly invisible (and consequently fecking hard to hit!), though that may just be the snowy demo level setting making things hard to see. Would also loved to have seen a co-op campaign mode (can't be that hard, surely?), and yes the lack of much takeoff/landing does irk, but only a little, and in the demo you could land as a bonus mission - maybe we'll see more of that?

    Regardless of the minor niggles, this is as close as we're ever going to get to a decent flight sim on the 360 for the foreseeable future, so it's a must have for me!
    Edited by 1 at 01/09/09 @ 12:11

  • DanWhitehead #14 2 years ago

    I'll just reiterate that 7/10 is a good score. This is a good game. Played as an arcade aerial combat game it's a lot of fun, but too easy. Played as a serious simulation, it's hampered by having to share its design with an arcade shooter. That's why it didn't get 8/10 - not because you need a stick, but because the inherent conflict in making a game that can work as shoot-em-up or simulator prevents either element from achieving its true potential.

    I'll admit to not remembering any console driving game that got its score based on how it handled with a wheel and not a controller.

    I can't think of any console driving games that are virtually unplayable without a wheel though. If you want to play the Realistic or Simulation modes, you need a stick, and most console players won't have one of those. It's only fair to point that out.

  • kangarootoo #15 2 years ago

    @DanWhitehead

    The sticks I listed are described as having direct support for this game. In the case of Tom Clancy's Hawx this meant an image of the stick appearing in the game and custom control options. So it might be the case that using the same stick in this title gives the player different options to those available on the control pad. I say might, as I obviously don't know for sure.

    Anyway, I'll cork it on the subject now :)

  • tincanrocket #16 2 years ago

    Does the multiplayer component have clan (squadron) support? Also, I reckon a persistent multiplayer Battle of Britain online setup similar to Endwar/Chromehounds would rock for this

  • Metalfish #17 2 years ago

    Two minds about this game, I did enjoy the demo but I didn't spend much time with the harder difficulties and the controls did feel somewhat alien at the time.

    Still, any chance of a multiplayer review any time soon? I hear that's where the joy was for the PC version.

  • Nephirion #18 2 years ago

    You can clearly see that alot of time has been spent making the game graphically impressive, I would argue that due to piracy that sort of investment spent on the visuals and the high production values of the game just wouldn't of happened on a PC exclusive.
    Edited by 1 at 01/09/09 @ 12:34

  • skillian #19 2 years ago

    @Nephirion

    Huh? PC exclusives have rubbish graphics?

  • Skurmedel #20 2 years ago

    skillian: Yes especially Crysis on PC!

  • kangarootoo #21 2 years ago

    "I would argue that due to piracy that sort of investment spent on the visuals and the high production values of the game just wouldn't of happened on a PC exclusive."

    Really? I would be interested to hear that argument.

  • Spekingur #22 2 years ago

    Excited for this.

    Also note that they took take-off and landing out of the game because they believed that 'it wouldn't sit well with the normal console user' or something (the ease of accessibility).
    I did land, however, in the demo. They offer you to continue after you have finished all the mission requirements - I finished killing off all the enemies and then it required me to land. It was in arcade and I had no trouble landing (and no slowdowns when getting close to the ground).
    I'm also pretty sure that this is going to be alot better than Heroes over Europe or whatever that one is called.
    Edited by 1 at 01/09/09 @ 13:01

  • metalangel #23 2 years ago

    Preordered ages ago, could not stop playing the demo. Realistic physics are a bit out (if I'm diving at high speed I shouldn't be able to stall except with extreme determination) but you have to remember- you pulling a little analogue stick down all the way translates into shoving a flight stick back a LONG way so turn the sensitivity down to compensate! Would have liked to have seen Tim Stone review this (especially as if did the preview) as he went into the kind of depth that a history and flight sim fan wants to know about the sights, sounds and stats.
    Edited by 1 at 01/09/09 @ 13:19

  • General_Zod #24 2 years ago

    @Nephirion

    Phew I sure am glad I can get the best visuals by playing consoles, looks like I will have to chuck my gaming PC in the bin.

    If you are interested in playing in simulator mode why on earth would you get this and not IL:1946? They are practically giving 1946 away and can be run on most PCs now.

  • T4RG4 #25 2 years ago

    Looks lovely, but on the more complex difficulty levels it gets a little unbalanced. I also want to return to base ablaze and try to land my plane :( I think I loved KOTS on the Amiga more than this, it had the right balance.... and better planes ;)

  • Nephirion #26 2 years ago

    You miss my point, compared to this nextgen one, I doubt we will see a better looking version of this on PC as it would be pirated from day one and they would get nowhere near the return on their investment. It's the same reason's Epic don't want to make PC games anymore, the reason for this is money, I doubt we will ever see another Crysis type game exclusive on PC as it was a sales bomb due to piracy. The owners of the IP want money, they don't care about the format ...

  • dagas #27 2 years ago

    I can't fly planes in any other games than Ace Combat because the controls are different. I've been playing AC like crazy ever since AC4 and it's just impossible to play this game, or the planes in BF1943. AC have a more FPS type of controls where you control up and down with one stick and tilt to the side with the other stick so that to turn you hold one of the sticks right or left and press the other stick down (to push the plane up) All other flight games have that on the same stick and it's really hard to be precise unless you have a flight stick, but I only have a regular controller.

  • DefdumBlindkid #28 2 years ago

    Is the 'Saitek Av8r' the only xbox 360 compatible flight stick?

  • skillian #29 2 years ago

    You miss my point, compared to this nextgen one, I doubt we will see a better looking version of this on PC as it would be pirated from day one and they would get nowhere near the return on their investment.

    What's so special about this game though? How come other PC exclusives have graphics equal to or better than the consoles? Crysis is hardly the only example.
    Edited by 1 at 01/09/09 @ 13:48

  • siro #30 2 years ago

    I wish this was a remake of Strike Commander. Just a slightly brushed up version is fine with me. :(

  • kangarootoo #31 2 years ago

    @Nephirion

    Your argument consists of speculation so far, and given that there are plenty of PC games out there demonstrating a level of graphical fidelity not found in many console games, I'm puzzled at to what led you down that road.

    I agree that share holders want money, but that is the same on any platform. And one of the things that stands PC gaming aside from its competition is the level of graphical fidelity possible on high end systems. Some publishers will not invest extra on a PC game, but others will do exactly that. Its all about how your pitch your product, what you perceive its strengths to be, and what you think your target market value most highly.

    Anything to add?

  • Nephirion #32 2 years ago

    @ skillian: the age of the PC exclusive is dead, every game that comes to PC now is in some form a port which usually arrives months later and runs poorly than the console version. As a PC gamer it is a depressing fact of life that MS with all there $$$ don't care about the PC anymore, leaving us with ports and popcap games

  • Rodchenko #33 2 years ago

    I can't think of any console driving games that are virtually unplayable without a wheel though. If you want to play the Realistic or Simulation modes, you need a stick, and most console players won't have one of those.

    I am sorry, but that is simply not true. Of course it takes a little practice, but you CAN fly on sim mode with a gamepad. Most certainly you'd be better served with a flight stick, but to say that is 'virtually impossible' is simply too extreme, imo.

    I've even managed to land the plane a few times on sim level in the demo (there is at least one airfield in the North-East of the first map where you can practice). Where it becomes a bit ridiculous is when you have to stop the plane from moving forward after the touchdown, because apparently it doesn't have brakes (at least the one in the first mission) and there is a certain speed (around 50 mph) where it tends to flip over if you don't do the right thing (keep the nose up). But the flipping over doesn't have anything to do with the controller, because people with flight-sticks have the same issues (as seen on the official forums).
    Edited by 1 at 01/09/09 @ 14:06

  • miiiguel #34 2 years ago

    I don't usually do demos. I only try them when I suspect I won't be interested in the game, such as this one. It plays quite well in "noob mode", a good urgency feeling or stealth in one of the missions, it looks very good, the litle birds are quite agile. Though I tried Realistic dificulty level, and it's impossible to play... my airplane just started spining and nose diving like it had a personal agenda with me, I hate it so much... And I tried everything. They should rename Realistic to Kamikaze.

  • miiiguel #35 2 years ago

    "Your argument consists of speculation so far, and given that there are plenty of PC games out there demonstrating a level of graphical fidelity not found in many console games, I'm puzzled at to what led you down that road."

    Though, you have to admit, it's kinda puzling not to see more 'Crisys' games on the PC... How old is the game by now? And it's still the game every "Darren" talks about. There's much more investment in the console buisness, that's probably a fact.

  • Dillinger #36 2 years ago

    'graphics fidelity'. bleh, how shallow. more depth in the gameplay for me, thanks!

  • General_Zod #37 2 years ago

    @Nephirion

    You might have a point if it wasnt wrong.

    Check out Storm of War: Battle Of Britain, also known as IL-2 2, this is a PC exclusive.

  • skillian #38 2 years ago

    @ skillian: the age of the PC exclusive is dead,

    Well, it's not what it used to be for sure, but it's strange that you think this particular game would not be as polished/pretty without the consoles. Maybe in ten years you'll be right and all we'll get are badly rehashed console ports, but games like this which clearly appeal to a "PC audience" will surely be last on the list.

    For now, just look to recent releases like Anno 1404, Arma 2 or the new Total Wars - hardly being scaled back in terms of graphics or ambition just because they aren't console friendly.

  • cianchristopher #39 2 years ago

    "@ skillian: the age of the PC exclusive is dead, every game that comes to PC now is in some form a port which usually arrives months later and runs poorly than the console version. As a PC gamer it is a depressing fact of life that MS with all there $$$ don't care about the PC anymore, leaving us with ports and popcap games "

    Starcraft II and Diablo III beg to differ....

  • Dillinger #40 2 years ago

    REVIEWER: serious question if I may.. can you restrict the realism of a multiplayer game? eg set a server to 'simulation' only so theres no chance of arcade players having a massive advantage?

  • kangarootoo #41 2 years ago

    @wascallywaycyst

    Someone needs to chill out. miiiguel made a perfectly reasonable comment. Clearly you love PC gaming a whole lot, which is cool. But don't go all dogmatic about it, or it makes it look like you are deep down worried its a bit crap.

  • Spekingur #42 2 years ago

    Money is in the console market. Mostly because it's an ongoing trend and most casual gamers seem to start there, nowadays.

    Unless your company is named Blizzard, of course. Wouldn't matter on what platform they released a game on, enough people would buy it for them to make a good amount of profit. It might be a game that's played on a cake, where you must dress up in a hawaiian skirt and sacrifice babies - as long as it had Blizzard on it, people would still buy it.

  • miiiguel #43 2 years ago

    "And lol at your 86000-odd gamerscore. Think of the PC you could've bought with all the cash it took to build that! I guess it's just some sort of neurotic fear of technology that keeps you on your own particular comfy sofa, then.

    It's always either poverty or cowardice with your kind. Ho hum. "

    Hey..., matey, I was commenting on an issue not making personal consideration. Can you calm down? Or are we school budies or something? Want to tell me what to do with my money?
    We're obviously not remotely related otherwise you wouldn't use "neurotic fear of technology"; nor "poverty" when adressing to me.
    Edited by 1 at 01/09/09 @ 15:27

  • kangarootoo #44 2 years ago

    @wascallywaycyst

    I didn't for a second expect my words to have any effect. I am after all not a mental health expert.

  • mkreku #45 2 years ago

    I like this review! I mentioned in the preview thread to this game that I've played the original Sturmovik on PC and that I usually ended up as a burning ball of fire rolling down the runway whenever I tried to take off or land. I assume the PC version defaults to Realistic then :p

  • sneetch #46 2 years ago

    @Spekingur
    It might be a game that's played on a cake, where you must dress up in a hawaiian skirt and sacrifice babies - as long as it had Blizzard on it, people would still buy it.

    Dammit, I'd pre-order it in the hope that I get into the Diablo 3 beta. ;)

  • PearOfAnguish #47 2 years ago

    Not including indie titles there are lots of PC exclusives. If you count indie games than PC exclusives far outweigh those on other platforms. And PC exclusives are often very different to anything available on the consoles due to the more powerful hardware and flexible controls.

    Your argument would have made more sense if you'd said that the days of platform exclusives are over, as you may have noticed that most games available on the consoles are also available on PC now, even traditional console fare like Resident Evil and Devil May Cry. When so many people have a PC at home it's stupid of devs to ignore that segment of the market when they just need to spend a bit more time and money on a port.

    as it was a sales bomb due to piracy

    It really wasn't, Crysis sold millions (not even counting digital distribution) and continues to sell now. But that wasn't good enough for CryTek, and they chose to blame what they saw as poor sales on piracy, when it may have had a lot to do with the game being heavily marketed as a graphical showcase for high end PCs, scaring away anyone with a mid-range system.

    It did well enough for them to make Crysis Warhead, a new version of the engine and Crysis 2. But maybe when Crysis 2 comes out they should focus on telling people that it will run quite happily on a mid-range system and still look better than most console games.
    Edited by 1 at 01/09/09 @ 16:47

  • E-Raz0r #48 2 years ago

    anyone has this joystick http://saite k.com/uk/prod/av8rxboxv2.htm and knows if it works with this game?

  • cyber_nicco #49 2 years ago

    Review read like an 8 (or 9). I don't know why I feel compelled to mention that...

  • PearOfAnguish #50 2 years ago

    "the last "high end" game was nov07 crysis"

    By 'high end game' I assume you mean 'game which is marketed entirely on the basis of its graphics'. Which is entirely meaningless to anyone but PR bods.

    The obligatory link for any stupid people who say there are no games on the PC

  • miiiguel #51 2 years ago

    Sheesh, I also been dragged - and named called - into the PC debacle, though I never contributed to the fall of PC gaming. Every PC game I have were bought. Can't figure out why the "angryness" is aimed towards users who don't like office-desk gaming - heck I even sign a petition if someone asks politely. At most whine at devs. Or pirates.
    I do system administration 8-10 hours a day, I don't want to sit at an office desk at home, installing drivers (anymore, 10 years ago... it was fine and fun).

  • sneetch #52 2 years ago

    @PearOfAnguish

    Woah there Nelly! Nice! Cheers for the link!

    Glad to see all those turn-based strategy/tactical/rpg games especially this:

    "Elemental: War of Magic

    Turn-based fantasy wargame in vein of Master of Magic, from Stardock (their Galactic Civilization 2 plus both add-ons to it all got 9+ ratings on Gamespot)"

    Any mention of MoM piques my interest.

  • kangarootoo #53 2 years ago

    @E-Raz0r

    It should certainly work insofar as it replicates all of the 360 control pad functions (and can therefore press every button and push every stick, if you see what I mean). Whether the game recognises it for exactly what it is and applies a different default control system, etc...


    There is some chat here.
    [link url=ht tp://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=9181
    ]http://fo rum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread....[/link]

    Not heard of the Hori stick. Found some pics though. Looks nice.
    [link url=http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-dd-49-en-70-24j8.ht ml
    ]http://ww w.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-dd-4...[/link]

    I believe Hori stuff is hard to get outside of Japan. Not my area really though, so I might be wrong.

    Found a non-Ace Combat version.
    [link url=http://www.goldenshop.com.hk/AI-trad/xb360/flightsti ckex.htm
    ]http://ww w.goldenshop.com.hk/AI-trad/xb3...[/link]
    Looks like import is the only option.


    Anyway, 360 peripherals are tightly managed and regulated, so as long as the game allows you to config your button assignments I would think the Saitek stick will work as well as any other.

  • skillian #54 2 years ago

    Can't figure out why the "angryness" is aimed towards users who don't like office-desk gaming

    The only angryness is coming from the obvious troll, I don't think you can read too much into that.

  • metalangel #55 2 years ago

    Fellows, (based on the demo) unless you have a proper flight stick AND a good HDTV, I'd say Realistic (the middle setting) is as high as you'll want to go.

    Simulator first is extremely difficult due to the nature of a joypad (as I said before, you simply cannot get the same fine adjustments with an analogue stick as you do with a big full size flight stick). And second, without the HUD, you'll struggle to spot targets both airborne and on the ground.

    Oh, and to the guy who wondered why Flight Sim can't look this good. It can... but Flight Sim models the entire world. IL2 does a few tiny in comparison battlefields. If you go to one of the areas where MS has concentrated its designers, or buy a third-party scenery pack (there are some astonishingly detailed airports, cities and satellite-derived scenery to be had) you'll be stuck with the autogen scenery in most places, which is accurate down to the location of cities and that's about it. Given you'll spend most of your time high in the air and not hedge-hopping looking for tanks to bust, in Flight Sim it doesn't matter so much. (and, when you're landing your A350 in the wind and rain, you don't want a bunch of pointless buildings slowing down your framerate or causing caching pauses).

    Roll on my preorder!

  • Spekingur #56 2 years ago

    Now, if he had said "the popularity of consoles has pushed gaming into directions that PC might never have been able to, thought of or remotely explored" then I might have agreed.

  • kangarootoo #57 2 years ago

    "Oh, and to the guy who wondered why Flight Sim can't look this good"

    That was me :)

    I wasn't wondering in a serious way. I'm sure the MS built the best tool for the job and I realise Flight Sim isn't all about posh graphics. It was more just thinking out loud, when you look at how stunning IL-2 looks.

  • miiiguel #58 2 years ago

    @ skilian: Guilty there for a split second of generalization. My bad, ignore used. Let's move along.

  • kangarootoo #59 2 years ago

    @donnie080208

    I'm not sure a stick would help with the stalling. I've not played this yet (just tinkered briefly with the demo), but it sounds like the stalling occurs when you do something that is not aerodynamically sound (which is, as the title says, realistic).

    Now this degree of instability is fair enough, but in a real plane you would get plenty of warning (unless the manouver was particularly sudden). In a game, its hard to get the same feedback as your sense of feel is missing (its a bit like knowing you are about to lose traction whilst cornering in a driving game).

    On a general note, the ease of stalling should not necessarily be viewed as a bad thing. If you play on a realistic setting it should be no surprise that flying acrobatic manouvers is difficult. Unless you can actually fly (or put in a fair amount of practice) the realistic setting should perhaps be avoided.

    I'll try and have a blast on the demo sometime soon, or maybe on the full PS3 version with my stick, and then I might have something more useful to say.

  • metalangel #60 2 years ago

    @Donnie: I've said how twice already, I'll make it a third (and be more detailed) time.

    Quick version: Turn your elevator sensitivity a LONG way down, to about 25%. See how you do then.

    Longer version: A stall is when one of your wings stops generating lift. Wings only generate lift when they're moving forward, which means they'll stall if:
    -air stops moving over them (you're going too slowly)
    -the flow of air is disrupted (you pull a harsh maneuver)

    The first situation is easily remedied - go faster. Stop climbing, dive if you have to, increase the throttle. The second is what you're encountering in IL-2. Because your controls are so sensitive, you're essentially wrenching the stick back all the way in a split second - this is causing your elevators to try to pitch the aircraft up quickly, which is in turn disrupting the airflow (because they've changed direction so quickly) over the wings, which is causing you to stall. The solution is to not pull back so hard, something that will be made easier by turning the elevator sensitivity down significantly.

    A few other flying tips:
    -if you go into a spin, full REVERSE rudder (against the spin) and bank WITH the spin. You might have to push the nose forward as well if you're losing speed. The game sometimes flashes the sticks up at the bottom of the screen to help you with this.
    -use the rudder while turning - the best turn is to roll to the angle you want, and then pull back AND push the rudder towards the turn.
    -don't push forward on the stick so much - the plane's wings are designed to lift you up, pushing forward won't get you nearly as quick as response. So if a target is below you, don't just push the stick forward to nose down towards it, flip on one side and then pull 'up' towards it.
    -when landing, remember to have your nose pointed slightly up so you don't tip forward into the dirt and crash. Holding 'down' on the throttle seems to be your brakes.
    -fly to your aircraft's strengths - if you climb quickly and are fast, don't get into a turning battle with a slower, more maneuverable foe as you'll lose. A BF-109 vs a Spitfire, for example, would do well to get some shots in and then climb away fast.

  • Nephirion #61 2 years ago

    Consider Crysis took nearly a year to sell 1 million copies, Gears of War 2 sold 2.1 million in one day, that's why there are no more PC exclusives.

  • UncleLou #62 2 years ago

    The old "PC gaming is dying" nonsense again? Can't say I am noticing. More and more multiplatform games are on the PC, mostly in superior versions, and there's a metric fuckton of exclusives console gamers seem to easily overlook because they're not surrounded by multi million dollar hype campaigns. Most of them are a lot more interesting to me personally than the latest focus-group tested console blockbuster. And at the same time, console exclusives are getting less and less. I felt the need to own a PS2 at the time because it was a parallel universe to the PC - but today, not so much.

    Case in point - while you people play Sturmovik (and it sounds good, no doubt), I'll be buying Rise of Flight next week when it's released here. A flight sim that looks gorgeous and, according to US gamers where it was released a month ago, sports the best flight, physics and damage model of any flight game to date. And lo and behold, it's even a PC exclusive!
    Edited by 2 at 01/09/09 @ 19:06

  • mens_rea #63 2 years ago

    That JU-87 on the front cover has no visable landing gear attached to it - historically inaccurate!!!! :(

  • UncleLou #64 2 years ago

    Consider Crysis took nearly a year to sell 1 million copies, Gears of War 2 sold 2.1 million in one day, that's why there are no more PC exclusives.

    Making up figures much? Crysis was released mid November 2007. In January 2008, EA reported it had sold more than 1 million copies (until 31.12.2007).
    Edited by 1 at 01/09/09 @ 19:46

  • PearOfAnguish #65 2 years ago

    Also, anyone quoting PC sales figures should remember that they rarely include sales from download services like Steam. And you should try not to get it completely wrong like Nephirion.

    The old "PC gaming is dying" nonsense again?

    It will never go away.

  • kangarootoo #66 2 years ago

    @Nephirion

    I'm sure if I could be bothered I could find a PC game that outsold a console game. Two examples mean nothing.

    Tell you what, compare your Gears of War numbers with World of Warcraft (or the Liche King xpansion, if speed of sales is your bag). It is equally pointless, other than to demonstrate exactly that.

  • UncleLou #67 2 years ago

    Well, it's fair to say that they do sell more. Just the conclusion is a little idiotic. Now excuse me while I install the Cities XL demo. :)

  • Mr_Gallows #68 2 years ago

    Another retarded review. You're complaining about playing this on simulator mode with a gamepad. That would be the same as expecting a PC player to play with the default mouse and keyboard. Fools. You can get the thrustmaster PS3 flightstick cheap and when I control the game with that it's perfect... and I am a big fan of the PC original.

    This game is without a doubt THE best simulator game ever made for a console... On arcade controlling with the gamepad is super easy. Controlling the game with a flight stick on simulator feels awesome. You can easity look around using the HAT, use the rudder, deploy combat flaps etc. It feels great and not a single time did I feel like I needed another button to make the simulation feel real.

    I can pull off loops, barrel rolls etc. without stalling. But you can't just jerk your stick around like sunday morning.
    Edited by 2 at 01/09/09 @ 20:55

  • PearOfAnguish #69 2 years ago

    high end pc gaming is finished

    When did it start? There's just PC gaming, only you seem intent on dividing this into 'high end' and 'everything else' categories, for some reason.

    the pc game releases that take worthwhile advantage of new graphics cards etc says it all,while devs keep optimising the console hardware.

    Huh?

    steam tends to sell mostly last gen valve games

    Hahaha sure sparky. There are no games on there but Valve titles.

    and isnt the big pc cash cow for devs that many think.

    Please show your working out.


    Nothing you say makes sense.

  • MinerWilly #70 2 years ago

    Also loved demo but sadly im skint so I will defo pick up this in the future . Online should hopefully be the best dogfighting yet seen on console .

  • septimus #71 2 years ago

    Indeed, the demo on both systems was very good. For once the PS3 seemed to have less dropped frames. I guess it isn't v-synced.

    Definitely one to consider... Dirt2 and still yet to get Batman are putting this on the back burner.

  • superdelphinus #72 2 years ago

    does anyone make games like DID used to? EF2000 was amazing really in campaign mode

  • kangarootoo #73 2 years ago

    So I played the PS3 demo last night. It recognised and named my Thrustmaster HOTAS stick and even prompted me to choose the best control layout (not custom controls, but two options specifically for my stick).

    Unhelpfully the demo only actually showed the layout for the first SIXAXIS option (the second SIXAXIS and both thrustmaster layouts just showed a blank screen). I managed to work out what was what though through a mix of tutorial prompts and guesswork.

    Edit: I assume the blank screens were just a demo bug.
    Edited by 1 at 02/09/09 @ 09:38

  • mezzomorto #74 2 years ago

    Can anybody recommend a good leftie flightstick for PS3 and/or X360?
    Looking at all the (very helpful) links in these postings, I took one look at the layout and knew it wouldn't be very awkward for southpaws

  • kangarootoo #75 2 years ago

    I think the Saitek sticks are ambi-dextrous. Saitek are quite good about that sort of thing, and some of their posher monodextrous [sic?] sticks can be unbolted and reassembled for left or right handed use.

    Those links again.
    [link url=http://w ww.saitek.com/uk/prod/av8rxboxv2.htm
    ]http://ww w.saitek.com/uk/prod/av8rxboxv2...[/link]
    [link url=http://ww w.saitek.com/uk/prod/av8rps3v2.htm
    ]http://ww w.saitek.com/uk/prod/av8rps3v2....[/link]

  • mezzomorto #76 2 years ago

    Thanks! Will check them out

  • E-Raz0r #77 2 years ago

    ty kangarootoo!

  • Dillinger #78 2 years ago

    reposting this since it got lost in the AVALANCE OF INSECURE FANBOY RANTING.

    REVIEWER: serious question if I may.. can you restrict the realism of a multiplayer game? eg set a server to 'simulation' only so theres no chance of arcade players having a massive advantage?

  • metalangel #79 2 years ago

    @Dilinger: if you don't get a response, I'll check my copy when it comes tomorrow.

  • littlewilly91 #80 2 years ago

    It seems like they made progress with catering to both sim/arcade. All they needed to do was keep the "realism" settings separate from the mission difficulty, and have more than one slider for realism, so you could choose to enable landings and take offs, or turn on and off HUD elements.

    That ultimate realism mode is a bit unfair to the user because unless you have a projector the screen is going to be nowhere near big enough to let you see the sigils on enemy craft like you would if you were actually there, and it doesn't give you the peripheral vision you need to keep track of your plane. But the only way to get truly tough enemy A.I. is to go in cockpit? That's appalling. I think the best way to go is 3rd person perspective.
    They'll learn from these mistakes in the sequel, and It'll be better than the usual console crap where none of it has any depth.

  • HornedGod #81 2 years ago

    @Dilinger: Yes, you can host a game and set it to either Arcade, Realistic or Simulation. Everyone plays using this setting. When searching for games to join, you can opt to only search for Arcade games, or Sim ones, etc.

  • metalangel #82 2 years ago

    Hornedgod, I was coming here to post the same but I think it isn't available at first - I've only now finished the three basic training missions (would've been nice to carry that over from the demo but hey) and I can still only host Arcade... I'd imagine the others will become available once I've played the game more.

    So yes, it's there, and it looks like (a bit like America's Army) you have to prove you know what you're doing before they let you loose. A good thing - I've had too many games of ranked strongarm in Saint's Row 2 where my teammates immediately ask how to play.

    EDIT: I'm right, the final two advanced training missions are for Realistic and Simulation respectively, by completing these you then unlock those difficulties for use in the single and multiplayer games.
    Edited by 1 at 04/09/09 @ 21:37