IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey
2009
- shooter
- simulator
- strategy
- action
- single player
- multiplayer
The story
IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey is based around the large-scale aerial combat and ground military operations of World War II. Players can participate in some of the war’s most famous battles piloting fighters, battle planes and bombers across a range of thrilling missions. There are six theatres of war to engage in – The Battle of Britain, Stalingrad, Ardennes, Berlin, Sicily and Korsun' representing the main airborne battles of World War II in Europe. IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey also boasts an all new damage effects engine as well as advanced environmental visuals enriching the game play. Players can see real time damage to the aircraft such as holes in the wings and trail lines during dog fights. IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey features hundreds of airplanes taking part in air battles. The unique environmental engine also produces highly detailed, realistic landscapes that allow players to see breathtaking ground support actions.
What it’s like
Hazy summer skies, cloud banks lit low by the sun, and wide patchwork fields seen from altitude, all rendered in chunky early-2010s polygonal 3D. Aircraft leave dark smoke trails and visible holes in their wings when hit, and the landscapes below stay broadly detailed rather than photorealistic. Sound is dominated by engine drone, rattling machine-gun bursts and heavy explosions, with long stretches of quiet cruising in between. The pace alternates between slow, deliberate patrols and sudden, chaotic dogfights, with missions set across several European theatres of World War II. Intensity is high in a mechanical, distant way: aerial combat, crashes and fireballs, but no gore or visible injury, and cruelty is absent beyond the violence of war itself. Mood is tense and focused, with a steady undercurrent of loneliness in the big empty sky. It suits a long, quiet evening or a stretch of focused solo play, and it is for players who enjoy the discipline of flight, hardware-style mechanics and the atmosphere of historical air combat.
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