Customer Reviews

IL 2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I made a serious effort with the original (i.e., IL-2) when it was released; since my system is kept current in terms of memory and video there were no problems running the sim and the interface and graphic's were the best ever produced at the time.
I gave up due to the overly complicated joystick tuning routine (I use a Logitech Wingman Extreme Digital 3-D) and the constant patches released by the manufacturer.

I purchased FB realizing it was a standalone sim - not an expansion of IL-2. FB has the same interface and the default joystick routines are the same but now I have no problems with flight and obviously UBI have responded to feedback from consumers on this issue.

The AI has been critically reviewed by many; I agree that it is extremely tough but the designers goal is to create a simulation - not a game.

This is not a product for the casual gamer. If you are looking for a serious, detailed simulation of air combat on the Eastern Front than FB is the ideal platform. To be blunt, if you're not willing to invest the time required to overcome the learning curve then you will be extremely frustrated. The rewards for your investment will be rich as the sim provides the most detailed atmosphere for air combat ever produced.

You will need a 'current' system to run the sim at full detail levels. FB gets 4 stars instead of 5 because I agree with other reviewer's that the dynamic campaign interface is 'cold'; there hasn't been a good atmospheric campaign interface since Micropose's EAW.

System: OS: XP Home. Intel Pent. 4 2.80 GHz. 15" XGA TFT with Radeon IGP 345M Video Card. 40 GB 2 Hard Drive. 512 MB DDR SDRAM.

Now that the IL-2: FB Ace Expansion Pack is out -- an expansion, not a stand-alone -- the original IL-2 FB continues to be worth getting. I've been able to get FB to work well on a late-model Pentium, with an ordinary Logitech Wingman joystick, combined with CH Pedals. The pedals simulate real-life rudder pedals and make the controls more responsive -- and as a trained pilot I can appreciate the sim better. This sim is very realistic, and more flyable than, say, MiG Alley.

The FB scenery is gorgeous, with very great detail around Stalingrad and Leningrad. Indeed, a low flight over Leningrad will be a virtual tour of what is now the St. Petersburg skyline. Only the German lines are almost in sight of the city.

As for the complaints about difficulty, it helps if you toggle off the complicated engine management when you create a pilot in a campaign, and your gunnery will be helped if you slow the time-speed to the minimum (1/4) and tighten the view. If this sim seems difficult, remember that many Soviet pilots went into combat with all of 10 hours' flight training, total. You have the Quick Missions to train on your favorite aircraft and even those of the enemy, which is more than the original pilots did.

I strongly recommend FB for sim aficionados. The Ace Expansion Pack will complement your FB copy nicely, and even the AEP exotica aircraft (Spitfire V, YP-80, Me163, etc.) will possibly save you the cost of the recent Normandy flight sims. However, I keep returning to the Soviet and Finnish sectors, in a time when the flying was desperate and the enemy was at the door.

Forgotten Battles is IL-2 souped up and really ready for serious action. The new dynamic campaigns generate heart-stopping missions that have me sweating when - or if - I get back to the airfield alive. The AI is smarter and way tougher than any I have ever experienced in a flight sim, and you have to be on your toes as never before when enemy aircraft are near. The graphics are fabulous - stunning on 'perfect' with the most realistic looking water I've ever seen. All the new aircraft are a treat. The new scenarios are almost unknown in the west - Finland, Hungary - and provide massive thrills as well as a history lesson.

I have never had so much fun with a combat flight simulator as I am having with this one. It runs flawlessy and smoothly on my AMD XP2100, GeForce 4400, 1.5GB RAM system (a big contrast to CFS3). There are few bugs - P-40's that explode when going fast, a few flight model quibbles, perhaps over-accurate ship flak, and some phasing effects with the sound on some settings - but these are minor, and perhaps more importantly, given the track record of Mr. Maddox, will doubtless be fixed quickly. I recommend this game 100%!

IL2:FB will include all original IL2Sturmovik aircraft and it will add following flyable aircraft.

Ju-87D-3 Two seat dive bomber / ground attack aircraft
Ju-87G-1 Two seat tank buster / ground attack aircraft
Bf-109G-14 Fighter
Bf-109G-10 Fighter
Bf-109K-4 Fighter
FW-190D-9 Fighter. 1944 model
FW-190D-9 Fighter. 1945 model with MW50
FW-190F-8 Fighter-bomber
FW-190A-9 Fighter
He-111H-2 Multi-crewed bomber
He-111H-6 Multi-crewed bomber / torpedo bomber
Me-262A-1a Jet fighter
Me-262A-2a Jet fighter-bomber
B-239 (Brewster Buffalo F2A) Fighter.
Hurricane Mk I Fighter
TB-3 Multi-crewed bomber
La-5 Fighter
La-5F Fighter
La-7 2x20mm ShVAK cannons Fighter
La-7 3x20mm B-20 cannons Fighter
I-153 M-62 Fighter
I-153P Fighter
Hurricane Mk IIB Fighter
Hurricane Mk IIC Fighter
Hurricane Mk II with Russian cannons and MGs Fighter
P-47D-10 Fighter / fighter-bomber
P-47D-27 Fighter / fighter-bomber
P-40E Fighter
P-40M Fighter P-40 field mode with Soviet M-105P engine Fighter
In total with IL-2:FB and IL-2 installation you'll get 129 aircraft, at least 80 of which are flyable!
This is a must get flight simulator to any aviation enthusiast.

Highly recommended, the preview copy I have ... is solid, stable and looks good. It takes the strong points of IL2 and improves on them. The game looks better, flies better and the campaign is much improved.

A definate must if you want to play the most realistic WW2 Combat flight simulation in existance. Heck, I consider it the best flight simulation ever made.

A must have game for all flight simulator enthusiasts. It is as close to reality as you can get without spending millions on buying your own Bf-109 or Hurricane. But probably it is "too real" for anyone who does not have at least some basic knowledge of theory of flight. Of course, the game has big range of settings which can switch off most physics effects and turn it into an arcade style shooting, but it's a shame to use the game this way.
I do not agree with complains about "godlike" AI flying and gunnery. If you do not get you perception of aerial combat from the "Pearl Harbor" movie, you will be all right in the realm of "Sturmovik". I have my own complain however. I flew numerous missions on both sides, and it looks like game logic favors Russians - even in early stages of war missions playing a Luftwaffe pilot was more difficult for me. Russian planes, even outdated models, seem to have superior performance, fire power and survivability, and all their pilots are very hard to outfly and shot down. Which, given historical data about losses and victories on both sides, seems inaccurate.

The best combat flight simulator yet! Obviously not done for the sole purpose of selling new computers (like the microsoft games). Il2 sturmovic was the best and this is the same thing taken further. Fly multi-engine bombers and the stuka. At first I thought there were insufficient single missions--but that is because it is so blindingly easy to knock them together yourself of Ouick Mission Builder. This game has infinite difficulty and complexity for the simulator fanatic and yet when set on easy is just fine for the total beginner. Manual is inadequate, as was the Il 2 manual--but that is no big deal, you can puzzle it all out easily enough. You can save the tracks of your missions and watch them afterwards like a movie--except that you have the ability to pan the camera around the battle zone as you watch. Also it is possible to watch yourself in action from outside the plane. Highly recommended all round. Also very good historicaly. Now if they would just bring out a World War One game--Red Baron, but with all this games graphics and modeling--I would be in heaven.

This is the best combat flight simulator ever made!

I agree it does make the Microsoft Flight simulators and any other flight sim look like high school science projects!!

This game builds upon the previous champ of the combat flight sim market the IL2-Sturmovik..

The programmers of this game and a gentleman by the name of Oleg Maddox (u will become quite familiar with this name soon!) have put their life and soul into this product.. This is not just a vehicle to make money like Combat Flight Simulator 3 this is a work of art to put it simply..

These gentlemen have enriched my life with their product. I am now part of a Canadian squadron the RCAF 401... and fly online with my squadron mates on Hyperlobby.. To say we have fun is an understatement.. The competition online is fantastic as is the gameplay of this product.. I've been playing the predecessor to this game (IL2 Sturmovik) online for almost 2 years now almost every chance I get.. My wife is ready to throw me out of the house!

It's difficult to express how well the game looks and feels when you are playing it. The only way to compare it would be to go back to 1944 and jump into an ME262 Schwalbe and take a spin.. Then you could compare!

If you don't believe me hop over to the development site and take a look at the screenshots from the game...Even novices can learn this game when the difficulty level is taken down. U can even go invincible! You can also slow down the time down too! When you get good enough to compete with live opponents jump online and gove me a try.. My callsign is:

#401Cdn.GATOR

The best joystick to play this game (IMHO) is Microsoft Force Feedback 2.. (see? I am not biased when Microsoft does something good I'll tout it..).. I also have purchased USB rudder pedals from ChPro to add to the realism and enhance my online competitiveness..

With 3rd party voice communications software you and your squadron mates can fly together as a team and cover each other's sixes..

There doesn't pass a day that I learn something new about this game and how to fly my fav plane (Me109) better.. That's what's amazing is the depth of this game.. You can play it for a year and still find new things to explore and better ways to improve ur flying..

This is a game for teenagers and adults. In fact most of the people you'll find online are in their thirties and forties..

This is not a game.... This is a way of life...

Best Regards,

#401Cdn.GATOR

P.S. Buy this game and check your six!!

If you're looking for a realistic WW2 flight simulator - look no further, this is it. Every other sim is inferior (except niche products like dedicated online simulators - and this only because this sim is not a dedicated online one).

Many planes flyable, even more flown by AI. Fantastic attention to detail, flight models getting refined in subsequent patches. More planes are expected as add-ons, while user made skins (vast resurce of both historical and fictional are available) make the sim even better.

there are few negatives though. Somehow certain planes seem to be favored and given a somewhat unrealistic advantages. Others suffer from non-realistic disadvantages. This in no way spoils the big picture, but sometimes makes a hard core sim fanatic angry.

Special mention should go to the Fw 190 forward view. It is rather limiting, to say the least. A thorough study about this has been brought up with real Fw 190 from museum, but developers simply don't care. With Fw 190 being one of the two mainstay German fighters throughout the war, this flaw gets even more pronounced.

Still, the best WW2 flight sim out there. 4 stars only because of Fw 190 forward view.

Three versions of the Ju-87 Stuka. Three versions of the P-47 Thunderbolt. P-51 Mustang. Two versions of the He-111 bomber with pilot, bombardier and five gunner positions. Soviet TB-3 four-engine bomber with pilot, bombardier and three gunners. Two versions of the Me-262 jet. Whole new airforce - Finnish - with virtually all its planes modeled. Many more new planes.

Dynamic campaign for Russian, German, Hungarian and Finnish pilots in fighter, ground attack and bomber roles. Squadron rosters, with faces from pilot photos also appearing inside their cockpits in the game engine. Famous aces flying with and against you in the campaign, with historical unique camo schemes.

Complex engine management with prop pitch, mixture, superchargers and more.

Incredible new maps, larger and more complex than anything you've ever seen before. Whole cities of Leningrad and Helsinki modeled on the same map with many landmarks in the way MS Flight Simulator series never approached even remotely. More realistic navigation - you can actually fly from Leningrad to Helsinki in a single flight using a real world map. And all this smoothly playable on a mid-range machine in the way MS never thought possible.

1C:Maddox Games flight sims actually ARE as real - and as good - as it gets.

P.S. Rob Orwin: maybe the people reviewing the game before it was out have still somehow played it. Ever heard of a beta test?