Skip to main content

Long read: The beauty and drama of video games and their clouds

"It's a little bit hard to work out without knowing the altitude of that dragon..."

If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Xbox Live Birds of Prey demo tomorrow

Fly before you buy.

Gaijin Entertainment and 505 Games have announced that tomorrow, 29th July, sees the launch of an IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey demo on Xbox Live Marketplace.

The demo promises to showcase two of the World War II flight simulator's most famous scenarios - the Battle of Britain and the Battle of the Bulge.

In the former, players fly an Mk. II Spitfire with B wing armament (two canons and four machine-guns, apparently), and the mission evolves into a big old fight with large and small bombers after a breezy opening.

In the Bulge, meanwhile, you're in a USAF P-51D Mustang attacking FW-190 fighters and German armour in the Ardennes.

Although the demo is single-player only, the full game promises multiplayer action as well, and we were fortunate enough to play around with that side of the game recently. We liked what we saw.

The full game is due out on DS, PS3, PSP and Xbox 360 on 4th September. We're asking about demos for other formats.

Read this next