Hi all,
Battle of Stalingrad, where to start? Maybe I was doing things wrong, but I could not get it to work, consistently, straight out of the box and some of the aspects of the game irritate me.
However, once working it is very good. The aircraft fly well, the graphics are impressive in some areas, the water looks impressive and the trees are a lot better than earlier IL2 instalments. The cockpits are not clickable, unlike in Cliffs of Dover, but they look ok. However, Cliffs of Dover has better cockpits, as well as being clickable they look more impressive.
There is a good range of aircraft, though there are no Western European Allied aircraft this should be not a surprise – it is set on the Eastern Front. There are more instalments coming, and this appears to be the fulfilling the plan the was meant for Cliffs of Dover, quite why they abandoned it I don’t know. Team Fusion have been able to make something very impressive out of it. There are rumours that 777 Studios could be looking to take over Cliffs of Dover, I sincerely hope that they don’t unless they are able to incorporate the improvements that Team Fusion have made.
The biggest bug-bear of mine is the unlocks system. So you have to complete the campaign to be able to have full access to all the facets of multiplayer aircraft, so weapons and skins. It’s irritating that you buy a game and you can not use it to it’s full potential without jumping through some hoops. The single player campaigns are not dynamic, they are a series of mission string together. It’s not an appealing prospect.
The way around this is to buy the premium version, or to buy the standard version and then purchase the extra two aircraft – the Fw190 and the La-5. I understand that Flight Sims are not the most appealing genre for developers but to keep charging through the nose you’re not going to attract new players. Having to play a disappointing campaign also puts people off further.
However, after all is set and done, this is a good simulator, it is enjoyable and the additional aircraft are worth the purchase. I don’t mind DLC being made and additional aircraft being there to buy as that is an option that is then up to you. Overall I would recommend the sim, and I hope that the development continues to encompass Western Europe and the Pacific theatres.
79vRAF 