Rating: 
Summary: Close but no cigar. A great game that almost is.
Review: After reading and hearing a raft of praise for this game, I finally went out and bought Obisoft's IL-2 Sturmovik a few days ago. Being a huge fan of WWII flight simulators, I was eager to check out this particular piece of software based on...very positive word of mouth.
There is no denying that it's the best WWII flight simulator to come out since MicroProse's (now Infogrames ) European Air War, but in all honesty the overall game isn't quite as fun to play, or as engaging as EAW.
The graphics are quite stunning, but even with a moderately powerful platform (P4-1.4Ghz,512MB,Nvidia GeForce3 MX 64mb)they're choppy and stall from time to time. The aircraft skins are the most detailed I've seen, save for the missing swastikas on the German planes. While I understand the sentiment behind omitting this insignia, I am a WWII geek and it somehow detracts from the overall sense of historical realism. If you're going for historical accuracy...then be historically accurate.
The sound is okay, but nothing spectacular at all.
The flight, gunnery and damage models are all much more accurate than any WWII flight sim I've played. Scoring a kill in this game definitely gives you a sense of accomplishment. The AI is also a vast improvement over its predecessors, hence the hard won aerial victories. On the down side, after flying over thirty-plus missions, I've only been slightly damaged by enemy aircraft fire, and have never been downed by it.
The single missions are historically accurate and well thought out, but here's the whole problem with this game:
...For me an accurately based, dynamic campaign mode is the cherry on top of the pie of a quality military flight sim and it unfortunately falls flat in Sturmovik. For starters you can't continue in the campaign unless you successfully complete each mission, which is totally unrealistic and quite stupid. There is no ability to change squadrons or even aircraft if you play the German side (as far as I have played). There's no humanizing of your squadron what so ever. No squadron roster. No kill sheet. No historical outside news of the war. These are all key factors that made games like Red Baron II and European Air War good and complete air combat simulators. I know this may all sound silly, but for me a realistic campaign is an integral part of a quality WWII flight sim, and despite all it's technical advances IL-2 Sturmovik falls flat, if only barely. If they took the time to craft a solid campaign feature and fixed some of the problems with the graphics engine, I would not hesitate to give this game a 5 star rating.
If you could care less about campaign play, and are looking for the best WWII flight sim that's out there today...this game is a must have. If you're looking for the complete WWII flight sim experience akin to Aces Over Europe, Red Barron II or European Air War...take a pass on IL-2 Sturmovik, you'll only be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Simply the best combat flight simulator available for a PC. It is a must have!
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful sim, but horrid campaign.
Review: This is a beautiful sim with an amazing amount of detail. The planes have wonderful flight models with even the different models of the same plane flying very differently from each other. The AI is ok- although not terribly aggressive. I've lost more planes to stalls and collisions than to AI planes. The game also has very nice single mission options with the ability to make quick missions to jump right into the action or design your own intricate missions. Il-2 has received raves and I think for the most part they are well deserved.However, I play strictly single player, and thus a quality campaign is very important to me. Il-2's campaigns are scripted- you can't advance to the next mission unless you successfully complete the current mission. The problem I have with that is that success for WWII fighter pilot was generally just survival. If the mission objective was a failure, but you lived then you counted yourself blessed. Il-2's campaigns, even the fan generated ones, give you really no incentive to try and stay alive. If you bail out or turn back to avoid certain death- you failed the mission and have to do it all over again. I can't believe a game that has all the bells and whistles a PC pilot could wish for doesn't have a campaign that gives me the same rush of addrenaline that I got while playing Dynamix's old Red Baron and Aces series on my old 486. I'm not asking for dynamic campaign like Red Baron II, but I wouldn't mind naming a pilot and then trying to keep him alive as long as possible. If I fail mission objective- not earning points for medals and promotion should be the punishment not being forced to fly the mission over and over again until I finally get it right. I love the uniqueness of Il-2's subject, the massive air war on the East Front, and everything on it is first rate except the campaigns! If this game had a decent single player campaign it would rank as one of the greatest sims ever! But now it just ranks as a very good one.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Great Flight Sim
Review: This game is a great throwback to the days when dogfights really took place with the planes zipping by one another. However, this is NOT a game for beginners unless you've got enough time to learn the ins and outs of dogfighting in this game. It's awesome, challenging and demanding, a must buy for the Flight-Sim freak you know.
Rating:
Summary: Astounding
Review: One of the greatest flight simulators ever produced. While it is true that some people experience some trouble with the game and you do need a cutting edge system to run it optimally, once you get your system configured properly, it is an extremely stable and smooth game. The atmospheric effects are the best ever produced in a simulator.
As far as tech requirements: I recommend as much RAM as you can afford -- 256 Megs is not enough -- I run it smoothly with all graphics options turned up at the highest resolution and color depth on a P4 1.5GHz with a Kyro II graphics chipset with 64 Megs and 768 Megs of PC133 RAM. Also -- get the patch as soon as you get the game from UBISoft.
The game gets every tiny detail exactly right -- example: the aerodynamically actuated leading edge slats on the Bf-109 deploy correctly at high angles of attack. When you fly over a city that is being bombed, you can actually hear air raid sirens! The feeling of immersion in combat is uncanny. You almost don't have to suspend disbelief. And while I've never flown an FW-190, the flight models appear extremely accurate. Departed flight is modeled in great detail. Also, taking off and landing on the Bf-109's narrow-track landing gear is a high pucker-factor experience the first few times!
All of these high realism features can be turned down for those with less experience -- so don't be intimidated.
This game is a true classic -- it equals every one of the great sims over the past several years (Falcon 4.0, EAW, Janes F-15) in terms of detail, accuracy and comprehensiveness, but raises the "immersion factor" to new heights! If you like planes -- BUY IT!
Rating:
Summary: IL-2 Sturmovik is the best!
Review: If you've got the memory, this is the combat flight simulation. As real as it gets, these planes require skill to fly. I've got a nice computer but weak on memory, the 128MBs of RAM wasn't enough when you're in the hot of it. An extra 512MB RAM (a bit excessive maybe?) turned this game into pure delight. It will be awhile before we see anything top this!
Rating:
Summary: A Big WW2 fighter machine
Review: Il-2 is a BIG game.I like the game for the biggest part because it has above all the best graphics. Im running it on a Nvidia Geforce 2Gts. Enemys could blow your fighter down or blow your bomber up.My computer is a Amd Athlon Xp 1600+ with 512 Mb Ram.The processor is a pentium 4 1.80 Ghz.You dont need your computer that spiced up but has to be at least half.IL-2 is a must have.
Rating:
Summary: 100% realistic.
Review: After playing WWII, with a no-mistakes-AI-enemy pilots, it's refreshing to play against a more "human" AI enemy. The computer makes "mistakes". All this happens in one of the best simulating games that I've ever seen in my life. The grahics are incedible and just beautiful.
Rating:
Summary: Important Pros; Minor Cons
Review: SUMMARY: It would have been my Christmas gift but I couldn't wait the extra 2 weeks once I saw the consistently positive review. I was very pleasantly surprised by how good IL2 is, including features that will be benchmarks for future sims. This is must-have 5-star enjoyment for flight sim enthusiasts but with its customizable features and great tutorials I would recommend it for newer sim players as well, so long as they have a decent system. PRO: Beautiful, smooth as silk, it shines on a P4 with GeForce 3. Keeps surprising me with functionally modelled visual details (detailed damage modeling, ejected shell casings, locking tail wheel, parachutists are a few and there are many more), and having a progressin ground war in progress during a mission is excellent. PRO: They're trying to make both the purists and casual players happy by allowing customized flight model and interface elements. Includes a wide variety of effective padlock/view alternatives to let you find the best combination. CON would be that there are so many things I can do that I have to pick and choose on my stick. PRO: Flight model realism, tactical AI, terrain modeling, the list goes on. Other sims have great features too, but this wraps them into a package. PRO: They seem determine to keep patching this and adding new planes to give it longevity (looking forward to I-16 Rata and the Stuka) are being added as the correct cockpit/exterior graphics and flight models are built. Ongoing support for a sim is very important. With commercial success, I look forward to the same engine covering other theatres. CON: CAMPAIGNS: No Red Baron . . . linear canned campaigns with semi-randomized scenarios, but campaign generators are available. CON: MANUAL: Relatively thin, falls below recent standards in sim manuals, and key game/historical data is only partially available in the game (e.g., they offer climb/turn rate data points but not the ammo loadout for each weapon). CON: LANGUAGE: This may be an unfair criticism, but I would like an English voice option for the in-flight messages. WISH: Retrofit much of this engine and features on period classics such as MiG Alley, Pacific Air War/EAW and Red Baron.
Rating:
Summary: IL-2 Sturmovik
Review: Give it a 5*. Great sound, Game play, video, Quick editor, Mission editor and Graphics. Buy it. Worth every penny. Many, many hours of playing. THE NEW EAW!!!! And that says alot.
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