Fight the Air War on the Eastern Front.

• Author: Silbergeld, David LL.
• Position: IL-2 Sturmovik - Brief Article - Evaluation

A new sim gives us an insight to the conflict between the German Luftwaffe and the Soviet Union's Red Air Force (VVS) on the Eastern Front of World War II. The sim, named IL-2 Sturmovik, was designed by a Russian-based software development company-1C:Maddox Games, in conjunction with Blue Byte Soft ware, Inc., of Austin, Texas. The Ilyushin-2 Sturmovik (Stormer) was a famous tank busting aircraft, called the "Flying Tank" by the Russians and the "Schwarzer Tod" (Black Death) by the Germans.

Luftwaffe pilots referred to it as a "Beton-flugzeug" (concrete plane), because it was so hard to bring down. Think of it as a fore runner to the Soviet SU-25 Frogfoot or the U.S. Air Force's A-10 Warthog.

Blue Byte Software gave us an inside look to this historical flight sim, even though it was still under final development at the time. The game includes 17 different types of Russian, German and even American aircraft (the U.S. Lend Lease P-39 Aircobra), which you can fly as the pilot or rear gunner (IL-2 only) in six historical campaigns. You fly both air-to-air missions and air-to-ground missions.

Want originality? Design your own nose art, seasonal camouflage patterns or national markings for your chosen aircraft. Play with up to 32 different dogfight players via the Internet or 16 players in cooperative mode. You can even get voice capability via network or Internet.

Options include the ability to create new single- or multi-play missions and scenarios with an easy-to-use mission builder. You can select missions such as air attack, escort duty, ground attack or over-sea attacks, as a wing leader or part of a squadron.

Some of the aircraft, beside model variations in the IL-2 series, include the LaGG-3, MiG-3, P-39 (N & Q series) and as a change of pace, the Bf-109 (F & G series). There are even encounters with rare birds, such as the HE-111-Z (German Tow Plane) and Fiesler Storch (German STOL craft). Among these models, you get a choice of the weapons load-out for your aircraft, including drop tanks. This puts this flight sim in a unique category, including aircraft types never seen in other games.

Since the IL-2 was a close ground-support aircraft, Maddox has done a fantastic job...