Rating: 
Summary: Don't Waste Your Money
Review: I agree with those who like the graphics of this game. I also like the idea of flying Soviet WWII aircraft. I looked forwarded receiving this game, boy was I disapointed with the way it ran. Very slow going from one menu to another. Freezing a lot of the time. I spent more time unfreezing, or trying to, than playing the game. I got tired of fighting it when it shut down for no reason. When it ran right, I did have fun with it. For the price it should run smoother. If this the best this company can do, I wouldn't buy stock in it.
Rating: 
Summary: For the motherland, comrades! Buy this game!
Review: I will admit that while I was eagerly awaiting this game I was rather skeptical. I've played a number of World War II flight sims and felt this one had a lot of work to do in order to measure up, but measure up it did. For starters, it is a novelty in that it is set on the often ignored Eastern Front during the Second World War. You can fly either for the Soviets or for the Germans and, if you choose Soviet side, can select from two distinct career paths, bomber pilot or figther pilot (you are restricted to fighter pilot in the German setting). As a bomber pilot you will receive missions that require you to destroy an assortment of ground based targets. These can range from simple vehicle convoys composed of lightly armored trucks that can be taken out in a single good strafing run to panzer formations that will require some good gunnery and a bit of luck to destroy. There will also be times when you will be called upon to blow up bridges to impede the advance of the German forces. For these missions you will be flying variants of the IL-2, namesake of this game. Many times you will find angry AI fighters on your tail and for once the AI pilots (and, for that matter, AI anti-aircraft gunners on the ground) are actually quite competent. The IL-2 is capable of soaking up a tremendous amount of damage but that is little defense against a Bf-109 on your tail. That said, the damage models are outstanding, they range from only a few bullet holes to massive tears in the wings and shredding of one's control surfaces. Also, this damage can affect your cocpit environment, your crosshair may be broken or the glass of the windshield so obsured thanks to cracking that you can barely see out of it. Blackouts, redouts, and the rare lucky shot are also very real dangers, though rare, it is not unheard of for the AI to get lucky and put a shot right through the windscreen and, consequently, the pilot's head. One neat feature I haven't seen in many other combat flight simulators is the ability to take up the position of the rear gunner (once you get to the later IL-2 varients which had a rear gunner). The AI can do a remarkably good job of piloting the plane for you and trying to keep the plane's tail clear of enemy fighters while the AI does this is rather challenging, also, the rear gunner can be wounded or even killed by enemy fire, thus depriving you of that defense.One thing that I feel helps make this game accessible to a wide audience is the variety of options that can be altered, one can go for hard-core realism settings or turn off most settings so that it has an almost arcade-ish feel to it or set it to any range of different combinations. As an example, turning on realistic gunnery means your bullets will drop and be subject to all manner of other interference whereas turning it off doubles the damage your shots do and makes them travel in a straight line. Turning off blackouts and redouts removes those potential hazards from the game whereas leaving them on means that if you are not careful you may well pass out if you push too hard (and hence be easy meat for the enemy). The only complaint I have here is that once you set those options for a particular pilot, they cannot be changed later on. Hopefully this problem will be remedied in a patch some time soon. Although the missions are by no means historically accurate portrails of any missions actually flown by real pilots of the time, they are quite fun in that they take place during historical events (the battles of Stalingrad and Kursk for one) and often give the player a feeling of actually making a difference. Lastly, the graphics. Although I have seen better graphics, this game is still no slouch in that department. All of the aircraft are very well detailed and all of the ground units are as well, one nice touch I haven't before seen is that infantry will run from their vehicles if they see you making a strafing run. The landscape could use a bit of work as the trees look terrible from low altitude, but overall the landscape graphics are actually quite good (particularly water). The clouds are the most realistic looking I have seen in a flight sim. My only real complaint is there seems to be a memory leak somewhere in the game as it will occasionally suffer from a drastic stuttering and slowdown-effect that only worsens with time, this seems to occur after about five missions or so. If one quits and then starts the game back up again this problem seems to disappear for a time, hopefully this will be addressed in a future patch. All things considered, this game is well worth the money and should keep you entertained for hours. Finally, an excellent flight sim that does justice to the so often overlooked Eastern Front.
Rating: 
Summary: IL-2
Review: Game is above average and fun to play. A quality product.
The online capability is a piece of junk and really does not work. I tried to play online for a week and just gave up.
Rating:
Summary: This game sets the standard of excellence for flight sims
Review: Well - I wrote a review of this game over a year ago (shown below). After having played many combat flight simulations and then trying Il2 Sturmovik out, I have to say that it is, hands-down, among the best combat flight sims I've ever played. I received Il2 Sturmovik just about on the day of its release (thanks to the very reliable and expedient service of Amazon.com!!). Since then, this is what I've found: The game designer and his staff are passionately dedicated to Il2 Sturmovik, and have released a number of excellent patches which have corrected the initial problems that this game had. Also, today's computer and graphics technology can more than easily run this game at its full settings - and it runs very smoothly, without any stutter! Because of these patches and the support of a large fan base, I have made Il2 Sturmovik the only PC game that I ever play now. The level of detail, challenge, strategy, and plain old excitement of this game is well-worth the price, and then some. Online gaming is a real treat as well, where you can test your skills against human opponents from all over the world. The graphics are a delight for the eye; the clouds and cockpit are the most detailed and realistic that I've ever had the pleasure to see. The sound - well, I still think some of the sounds could be improved but this is not a major problem at all. In short - if you want to try out a combat flight simulator - get Il2. It's tough for the beginner because it truly attempts to model airplane flight. But once you have the hang of it, the sky's the limit with the amount of fun you can have with this game. ...
Rating:
Summary: don't believe the hype
Review: if you thought rowans battle of britain was a stinker wait till you play this one. it's a cross between janes and rowan, the worst of both. the only thing it has going for it is that it takes place on the eastern front.the multiplayer level is a joke, i was able to play only once due to my computer freezing up and trust me i'm running a great system. if you ask me microsoft cfs2 and cfs1 are still the best out there. but,overall it kept my interest for about a day.
completly boring.
Rating:
Summary: best combat flight sim on the market
Review: I could talk about the great graphics or game play, but I think a testimonial will suffice:
A band mate of mine brought this game over last night... this morning I went out and bought 2 copies (1 for myself and 1 for my brother in Colorado).
My other band mate (the one in the group who has the luxery of living off his wife's income) exclaimed, "I'm going to do anything it takes to get this game... even if it means getting a job!" Enough said? My only disappointment is that I bought MS Combat Flight Sim (Pacific Front) about a month ago (a waste of money when compared to IL-2)!
Rating:
Summary: Best combat flight sim ever!
Review: I am a pilot and a World War II buff. This game is the most beautiful flight sim ever - including civilian titles (yes, I have FS 2002). For the first hour of flying I stared in awe at the incredible graphics while getting used to the aircraft - not even engaging in combat! It only gets better from there. IL-2 web sites for players reveal that there are many new add-on aircraft, missions and campaigns under development - incredible for such a new title. All of that graphic beauty and combat detail require a fairly powerful computer to really make it come alive. I have a PIII 1GHz machine with 384MB of RAM and a GeForce3 Ti 500 - and have plenty of power to run the program with all image and realism settings maxed out. You may not need that much, but your system needs to be in the major leagues with a fully updated set of drivers to hold its own. Happy hunting!
Rating:
Summary: Awesome - Believe the Hype!
Review: As a long-time simmer I've seen alot of buggy, mediocre and half-finished products. Il-2 therefore comes as a wonderful new addition to World War prop sims. Ran very smoothly on my midrange 900MHz/Voodoo 5 machine at medium details after playing with the settings. No significant bugs or technical issues running it. Graphics are awesome and in fact are beautiful. A wide range of aircraft is available many of which have never been properly modeled in a sim before, including the P-39 which was quite a high-performer on the Eastern Front where it's low-level capabilities came into play. The enemy AI is quite good and includes "super-ace" mode in which you can actually fly against aces like Erich Hartmann in his tulip-nosed Bf-109. Ground pounding is superb and offers a wide-range of targets. It is sophisticated in that to destroy a tank, for example, you have to strike it in the thinner armor areas of the top and rear. There is a sophisticated mission builder in which you can put together your own missions and include tanks and ships which will actually fight one another. There is also the ability to save your missions as tracks and review them later from various viewpoints and send them back and forth to friends. Multiplayer is good and virtually lag free, as long as you are using a good online lobby, the one packaged with Il-2 seems to cause some problems but other gaming sites are setting up servers to run it. Hyperlobby is an alternative that works great. It is also highly configurable so that newbies can start out easy and activate more advanced features. It also includes helpful training missions to show you the ropes. Only downside is that the interface is a little bland and there is not a dynamic campaign included out of the box. If you consider yourself a flight sim fanatic or are interested in the air war on the Eastern Front this is one you shouldn't miss.
Rating:
Summary: IL-2 Sturmovik -- A Definite Winner!!!!
Review: I'm a WWII buff and a flight sim fanatic, so it was only natural that I was waiting for IL-2 Sturmovik since it was announced. And, it turns out, I was not disappointed at all. The graphics of the game are no less than astounding, each screenshot is fit for framing in a fine arts museum. The flight model, since the game was created by two aeronautical engineers, is relentless; it's definitely for the pros but provides for hours of entertainment while you learn how to fight in the sulky IL-2 Sturmovik. The explosions are terrifyingly real and the wingman messages are even entertaining. This is definitely a $50.00 game masquerading for $39.99. If you know anyone who is even remotely interested in war or flight, this is definitely a great game for them to have.
Rating:
Summary: Go Oleg!
Review: Well what can I say... it is about the best dang flight sim ever made. (...) It seems to have all of the options from all previous flight sims combined... combat or not. It comes from flight enthusiasts from Russia and has been in the works for many years and includes individual developement from many parts of the world. Oleg Maddox himself is an aeronautic engineer by trade in Russia and is an avid fan of virtual flying. There is already a vast following from all flight sim venues and once you try it, I believe you will also become an avid fan if you are new to virtual flying or not. The game is well thought out from all aspects and this review is only of the demo although I know many beta testers and have seen many screen shots as developement increased. No, I am not a salesman for Ubisoft...hehe, just a southern boy that knows a good thing when he sees one. Let alone the 18+ yrs. I have been flyin computer sims. This sim will be THE benchmark for all further flight sim development. Mark my words...
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