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Gaijin really could not have done much more to enable you to play indefinitely. The exceedingly powerful mission editor means the lifespan of this game is entirely up to you … 

The makers of IL-2 Sturmovik return with not only the best combat flight simulator on consoles, but also the best Second World War game for years … 

If you've dedicated the past three years to IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey, your next purchase has arrived. Birds of Steel picks up directly where Birds of Prey left off; instantly accessible and yet hugely challenging, depending on how you tune it. The environments are huge, the plane list is long plus it looks gorgeous and sounds great. The action is thick and visceral; aerial stoushes can go from tense, one-on-one affairs to grand, epic encounters against swarms of enemy fighters and bombers. For three years Gaijin's Birds of Prey remained the best and most nuanced flight game on consoles. Birds of Steel builds on the excellent Birds of Prey and refines Gaijin's formula further. Birds of Steel is an exceedingly confident and robust game that will reward fans with its depth and detail. It's easily the best flight game on today's consoles.

Even at this stage it feels like the Forza of flight; a love-letter to antique aircraft that doesn't want you to stop playing it … 

When «Forza Motorsport 4» came out last October, it took a unique approach to driving games by being both a realistic racing sim and an arcade-esque driving game. Now the World War II aerial dogfighting game «Birds of Steel» — which is slated to be released on the 360 and PS3 in March — is similarly attempting to have it both ways.

Despite taking place in World War II and having a title styled as ____ of ____, Birds of Steel has one powerful and unique boast; when it calls itself «realistic» it actually means it. This is — or can be, depending on how you configure it — a simulation in the strictest sense of the term. I’m talking your plane will handle differently as you consume through your fuel. This is the sort of game that doesn’t use an arbitrary number of hit points to represent your plane’s health. Each bullet is modeled in its placement and damage to the plane. You can get shot in the fuselage all day, but one bullet through the cockpit and you’re out.

Looking for another chance to be World War II fighter pilot during the campaign in the Pacific? Flight sim enthusiasts and history buffs will want to check out Birds of Steel, an air combat sim that puts players in the cockpits of fighter pilots flying actual missions during WWII. Flight sims may be a dime a dozen these days, but Gaijin Entertainment is attempting to add to the genre to make an even more engaging experience than other simulators.