The only WW2 flight sim you will EVER need!
But ever since I saw my friend playing the first IL-2 Sturmovik, I became interested in this game. And finally, I was able to get my hands on IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles, a 2003 edition of the original game with some extra content. Altou it doesn't add much to the original formula, it's still one hell of an impressive game. Why? Well, first of all (and I assure you, it's the key to any flight sim's success) it's deep and complex enough for old-school flight veterans and accessible and easy to learn for rookies. Either way, this game is simply tons and tons of fun...
So let's start with the basic concept. The game takes place in the Eastern front of WW2, during Hitler's campaign in Russia. I don't know why the programmers decided to take this concept to work with, but it turned out great. Finally, a game that doesn't take you to Pacific, or Battle for Britain, like thousands of flight sims before. It takes you to one unique and very much unexploited trip to the Russian front. That's pretty new, and you gotta respect that. For the first time, you have the chance to drive the Russian planes, instead of British or American. Russian and German, to be precise. Hey, what's a WW2 flight sim without the good old Me-109? So, you can jump into cockpit of a German workhorse, the famous Messerschmit (did I spell that right?!) and decimate the Russian air force, or try to defend the motherland with your trusted IL-2 bomber or Yak and Mig fighters. In Forgotten Battles you can even try out for a bomber crew in He-111 or TB-3. Whatever you decide, there's tons of fun to be had with this game, and good joystick. That's right, forget about gamepads and keyboard-mouse setup. Don't even try this game without a flight stick.
For one, you can choose between pilot career, full mission, quick mission multiplayer, or even a full mission builder where you can create your own missions, even alternate history such as pitting Me-292 jet fighters against Luftwaffe in the Battle of Moscow. Personally, I enjoyed quick mission for hours before I even touched the pilot career. This way, you can pit your tiny fighter against mighty bombers loaded with gun turrets, go head to head against enemy fighters, or scare the enemies half to death with your experimental jet fighters. I enjoyed taking on a bombers, since they're huge and difficult to gun down, but not very fast. So I used that as training before I even tried to take on an enemy fighters, a much faster and smaller targets. Great workout for the beginners. And all of it was simply FUN!!!!
How come? Well, because you can adjust your difficulty any way you want. Sick of getting killed? Turn the God mode on. Too difficult engine management? Turn it off. Drag? Stall? Realistic gunnery? On and off, my friend. Everything can be turned off. You want an arcade game such as Crimson Skies? Got it right here. Hard core sim? Here as well. You wanna experience take-off and landing? Be my guest, you'll do that a lot in the campaign mode. Or you wanna build your career as a fighter, but take-off and landing seems to difficult? With a simple press of a button you can turn the auto pilot on, and enjoy the view until you reach your target. Or perhaps you don't wanna wait that long. With yet another press of a button you can accelerate time until you reach your destination. The entire game is extremely user-friendly. IT adjusts to you, instead of forcing YOU with a big, fat, painful stick to adjust to it and learn all the tiny details of flight. Yes, you can be an ace and do all that yourself, but if it's too difficult, you can simply ignore it. And that's what makes this game extremely friendly and appealing.
As for the planes, don't worry. You can try just about any plane that was available in the eastern front. Even some experimental planes that never even saw action against Russians or Germans. And they're all modeled so great it will make you cry tears of joy. From cockpit to paint job, they look great, feel great and every plane has its strengths and weaknesses, just like in the real world. My advice - choose one plane you like and drive the heck of it. My personal favorites are Me-109 from 1941 series and Supermarine Spitfire (you can only get that one in an Ace expansion pack, but hey...I never said I only have Forgotten Battles version). Whilst Me-109 is a killing machine, pure and simple, Spitfire was my love at first sight. "Like dancing with the most beautiful girl in the ballroom", one pilot once said. And it's true. You will soon learn to appreciate those special planes you get to fly throughout the game. As you learn their strengths and weaknesses, you slowly become a killing machine yourself. I might even change my nick name into Bomber_Killer. Anyway, let's just say that bomber crews (after about 40 hours of gameplay) simply bail out as soon as they see me coming with my 109, hehehe...
Graphics? Sounds? Damage models? Needless to say, it's the best thing that happened to flight sims. If you try to gun down a bomber with your machine guns, you won't even scratch it's paint. No matter how many bullets you waste, there is no "combined damage" methode to gun it down. You'll need cannons. If you fire at a column of tanks, they will simply keep moving. You will need rockets and cannons to deal with those. Enemy fighters? Machine guns are the answer. The coolest thing about this game is that you can view your enemies from up close and see the damage you've caused as they go down in flames. Every bullet hole and busted engine can be viewed with so much detail it's incredible. Same goes for you. Your weapons get jammed if damaged, your rudder controls, elevation, engine, everything can be damaged. Even your pilot can get killed by a shrapnel or a stray round. Every sound of engine, fire, damage, cannons, everything can be heard clearly, just like the real world. It's simply amazing.
As for the bad side of the game, well, there isn't much to say. Loading times are a bit long, but I haven't experienced any bugs so far. Depending on what add-on you install, you may experience some problems, because some expansions don't really support each other, but it mostly worked just fine. Nobody's perfect, after all...
So what are you waiting for? Get to your local store and buy this game!!!