Reviews - IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey - Xbox 360, PS3

[HEXUS]

Take to the skies of war-torn Europe in the console version of the acclaimed IL-2 Sturmovik series.

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[Knoxville]

There were dive bombing B52's in WW2? The history books kept that one quiet

[menthel]

I am waiting for mine to be delivered. Hopefully the positive review is right!

[gtech]

Demo was funny for the wrong reasons, once i realised i was flying over the white cliffs of dover i took a left and tried to find my house in broadstairs, it's got the shape of the coastline correct and certain landmarks i.e Manston Airfield but after that didnt really think much of it...played the original on PC.

[tommo]

how do you control the plane when its spinning? The instructions on what to press do not seem to be adequate:

[djfarmo]

Can anyone recommend a good USB joystick for playing games like this on a PC?

[menthel]

Playing this in arcade mode last night- I just wanted a quick blast. The missions are fun and the controls are OK. When I have more time I will have a go in sim mode. I am sure that will be completely different!

As for a spin, you need to fly out of it, not press buttons. I am sure someone who knows will correct me but if you spin its usually becasue you have lost too much airspeed and stalled. You need to regain airspeed by nosing down. Don't use the throttle though. And pray you have enough height to recover it!

[Skii]

I was hugely excited about the prospect of this game, but what the review fails to mention (although still a good review) is the fact that the game does not feature any cockpits for any flyable German aircraft, a huge immersion killer for fans of those aircraft in multiplayer, also the P-51 and P-47 share the same cockpit whilst being very different aircraft, this factor alone has pushed me away from buying this until the issue is addressed in a possible future patch.

It might seem anal, but this kind of thing was something I expected to be the bare minimum requirement for IL2 on the console, other things like control restrictions being understandable given the lack of keyboard.

[menthel]

I noticed this too last night whilst playing through the campaign. There was no cockpit for the A20! Although I do think that this is the best arcade styl game of its type- it really does poop over those burning angels games. I am enjoying it at that levels at the moment!

[tommo]

Am really new to games. Instruction Manual does not seem to cater for inexperienced gamers. I think the authors of the manual for 'Birds of Prey' assume all users are experts. Where do you get information and explanations from? For example every time I try to 'take out' targets in Stalingrad I get the message that I'm taking too long. There should be an 'idiots guide' or at least more information in the manuals. Can anyone explain further or point me in the right direction?

Thanks.

[menthel]

Are you playing in arcade mode? If not then you probably should. It gives you all of the required prompts, like flashing targets on your map etc. Only then can you build up to the harder modes. I have played IL-2 on the PC and am playing through this on arcade first!

[Knoxville]

Well, I saw it earlier in asda for £30 and it seemed rude not to pick it up especially as I've started getting back into it on pc, I've only done the tutorials and had a bit of a play with the training mode but first impressions are very good

It looks brilliant, better than hawx and blazing angels by a country mile or two as far as arcade style flight sims go. It's a shame to hear they haven't gone to the trouble of inculding proper cockpits for the german aircraft but hopefully that'll come in the form of a patch or maybe as dlc with a few extras thrown in for good measure.

Am really new to games. Instruction Manual does not seem to cater for inexperienced gamers. I think the authors of the manual for 'Birds of Prey' assume all users are experts. Where do you get information and explanations from? For example every time I try to 'take out' targets in Stalingrad I get the message that I'm taking too long. There should be an 'idiots guide' or at least more information in the manuals. Can anyone explain further or point me in the right direction?

Thanks.

I can't comment on the mission in question (haven't got that far into yet) but have you gone through all the tutorials? Also as menthel said, arcade mode is a must if you're new to the genre, even if you're not it's probably the right place to start out, it makes picking out targets really easy as they're all highlighted on the HUD and you can just cycle through them with the A button.

[tommo]

Thanks to those who offered the advice regarding Birds of Prey. Will give it another try and concentrate harder,

Tommo