ARS: When it comes to WW2 flight simulators, the IL-2 Sturmovick franchise has managed to win some serious respect since it launched in 2001, earning a reputation for solid action with a high degree of realism. Up until now, though, the games has been only available on PC; IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey marks the first time an entry in the series has been available for consoles. Thankfully, the foray onto the 360 and the PS3 seems to have paid off, as Birds of Prey delivers a combat simulation that is not only exciting, but rather educational, too.
The game puts players in the middle of a number of the biggest air battles of the Second World War's European Theater. Over 50 missions are playable during the game's single-player mode, taking place during five major campaigns of the war; missions include dogfights and bombing runs. Birds of Prey starts out in English skies, with players defending the United Kingdom during the Battle of Britain. After Britain, the game's locations include Stalingrad, Berlin, Sicily and Korsun.
VGChartz;s Adam Cartwright: "For a console that can only really be seen as a commercial failure, the PlayStation Vita did extremely well for itself in terms of software – more than 1500 games are available for it and that figure is surprisingly still growing each week, despite the hardware being discontinued earlier this year and despite the rhetoric suggesting it’s only a good machine for indie 2D platformers and niche Japanese RPGs.
Unfortunately certain genres didn't receive any representation at all and act as glaring holes in the Vita’s software library. Some of these just aren’t particularly popular on consoles in general, such as city builders, which have been niche for years. It’s these genres I’m aiming to look at in this article – what they are (including examples of some modern entries in the genres), why they weren't represented on the Vita, as well as some suggestions about what alternatives are available to scratch that itch."
The Publisher of GoozerNation recently had the opportunity to play IL-2 Sturmovik, not because he wanted to, but because his 5-year old son accidentally purchased the game for him through XBL. And because of Microsoft's draconian law of No Refunds, he settled in to play the combat flight simulator that released a little over two years ago. As a result, he was pleasantly surprised at how fun, yet frustrating, this value bin game could be.
GamingTrend writes: "Let's start this review with a big, fat, huge disclaimer right up front: I don't play flying games. In fact, I'm pretty sure the last time I stepped into a virtual cockpit was playing Afterburner in arcades 20 years ago. I know nothing about speed stalls, flaps, props, flat-spins, ailerons, Immelman turns (even after playing this for nearly 20 hours, I had to Google those last two), or any other kind of aerial maneuvering. So if you're looking to find out if IL-2 Sturmovik accurately recreated the altimeter on the interior cockpit of a WWII fighter, or if they correctly mapped the position of every ship during the Battle of Britain, you should probably check out some other reviews, 'cause this one ain't going to help you."
