IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad

 PC
User Score
6.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 279 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 147 out of 279
  2. Mixed: 35 out of 279
  3. Negative: 97 out of 279
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  1. trident_109
    Oct 27, 2014
    7
    I've been an early access member of the IL2:BoS flight sim since the beginning. I wholeheartedly jumped in based upon my previous experience with 777 Studios' Rise of Flight game. It was a product I greatly enjoyed and despite some short falls they weren't anything that affected my enjoyment of the game. Eventually a decent campaign system was released and I was a relatively happy camper.I've been an early access member of the IL2:BoS flight sim since the beginning. I wholeheartedly jumped in based upon my previous experience with 777 Studios' Rise of Flight game. It was a product I greatly enjoyed and despite some short falls they weren't anything that affected my enjoyment of the game. Eventually a decent campaign system was released and I was a relatively happy camper. So when 777 Studios was tasked with creating the next iteration of the venerable IL2 I was confident I'd get a quality product that would provide years of entertainment.

    Where do I begin with this game? Well the obvious is the graphics. It's the first thing you notice and for the most part they look satisfactory to very good. I'm not fond of the cockpits but find that the atmosphere effects and ground details are pretty nice.

    Flight models? They are very functional and remove my disbelief enough so that I CAN imagine I'm flying a LaGG 3 on the western front. Most of the sounds are excellent, but as has been noted on several posts, the hit sounds of bullets striking your craft are inconsistent. Plane engines all sound realistic. Subtle things like the sounds of brake pistons and canopy hatches add to the realism.

    AI is a mixed bag. I don't consider my talent to be expert flyer/marksmen so I do get a challenge from the fighters, but not so much the bombers. Take it for what you will. AI is subjective and one man's hard may be another's easy.

    Where I fault the game (and it is a big fault because I'm a single player) is the campaign. I feel the game is Head and Shoulders above others because the it feels like the campaign has me applying, lathering, rinsing, and repeating over and over again. The campaign generator is just that, but instead of in-depth, living, breathing missions I get quick missions with three access points and minimal enemy interaction. The runways are thread bare and lifeless. I lead a flight of four and intercept two 111s and maybe one or two 109. Go home, land, and do it all over again.

    I can live with the unlocks, though I hope they don't continue this trend on further releases.

    There have been numerous ideas on the IL2:BoS forum where improvements can be made and I hope 1C/777 look into them.

    There is no mission editor yet and I hope that when it's released the community will get the plethora of user made campaigns we enjoyed in the original IL2. We'll see. Originally 777 wasn't going to release it at all but after community uproar they changed their mind. We'll see.

    My personal and final grade would be a 6. The campaign really does affect my desire to play and as it is I only fire up IL2:BoS a few times a week. I longingly look at my Track IR and CH Products HOTAS and just say, "Naw. I'm not interested." So much is good to very good, and my SIX is a subjective grade, so I rate it based on my likes and how they affect my desire to play.

    My NUMBERED Metacritic grade is 7. I'd like to see if 777 takes the opinions and desires of the community and improves on the good solid base of this game to the status of the original IL2.    … Expand
  2. Smurfy1967
    Oct 23, 2014
    6
    Everythings there for this title to be a future classic. The externals are very very well done, the landscape and general scenary are what you`d expect of a snow covered Stalingrad area. The little extras like the cylinder firing flashes etc etc are all very well done.

    The cockpits imo are not that great, definitley not as good as CloD or DCS and that`s a shame, they are dull bland and    Everythings there for this title to be a future classic. The externals are very very well done, the landscape and general scenary are what you`d expect of a snow covered Stalingrad area. The little extras like the cylinder firing flashes etc etc are all very well done.

    The cockpits imo are not that great, definitley not as good as CloD or DCS and that`s a shame, they are dull bland and lifeless almost as if someone has thrown a veil over them, possibly the SSAO but without full access to all the graphics options you are left with how they think you should see the game whereas a lot of us want to be able to tweak as we like, bad decision number 1 that one.

    I can`t comment of the FM or DM as I don`t spend hours analysing such stuff on the internet, the planes feel as though you`re flying them which is good enough for me. Again though the community threw a lot of info into the ring and were met with a less than welcoming response. They sent a project manager with poor English and a sarcastic bias to answer questions and then post responses usually comically negative to claims that were made. When you refuse to listen to someone who has flown all the recently built Yak 3 and 9`s you have serious self importance issues.

    The decision to force everyone to play the Sigle Player Campaign which is nothing more than some QMB style missions arranged into a campaign with childish Experience Points and Weapons unlocks is baffling to even the most ardent fan.

    For 80 weeks we were predominantly onboard with the direction BoS was taking, then the unlocks and XP bomb was dropped and hell broke loose on the forums, threats, forum tantrums between major devs and punters, threads locked , posts deleted, all left a bad taste in the mouth. The general feeling for myself is that they want control over everything and the paying customers opinion matters not if it doesn`t fall into line with their philosophy. 80 good PR weeks tainted by 3 spectacularly bad ones.

    Despite 90+ % expressing a less than favourable response to the unlocks poll, they still implemented it!!!! approx 1000 total voters over all btw. That says a lot to me, a real **** you attitude regards players wishes cannot be good for relations, the poll was a sham btw, never had a hope of anything being done.

    Anyway I personally won`t let three bad weeks ruin my enjoyment, it`s a good quality product that will only get better if the Devs wake up and realise a lot of us have been playing these games for years , we know what we want, we know what we like and some even know what they`re talking about. Get rid of the unlock farce, give us FMB and DS and the majority will be back fully behind you.

    Anyone voting less than 4 probably has issues beyond the game imo.    … Expand
  3. Gammelpreusse
    Oct 24, 2014
    6
    This is not a SIM! I'ts an aircraft "game", as said by the developers themselves. So just that you know what you get here. I will review this sim from a simmers perspective flying IL2: CloD and DCS, who wants "more" depth in a Sim, not less. IL2 1946 players though will feel right at home here.

    + Very nice graphics, all optimized to create a huge feeling of immersion of winter in    This is not a SIM! I'ts an aircraft "game", as said by the developers themselves. So just that you know what you get here. I will review this sim from a simmers perspective flying IL2: CloD and DCS, who wants "more" depth in a Sim, not less. IL2 1946 players though will feel right at home here.

    + Very nice graphics, all optimized to create a huge feeling of immersion of winter in Stalingrad 1942
    + Stable release, most bugs worked out
    + very nice aircraft models, just a bit too reflective skins

    +/- solid, but not exceptional FM, gives the feeling of flying a much lighter plane then what a WW2 warbird (loaded 3-7 tons, depending on the ftype of fighter plane) actually was, has some quirks still to be worked out (landing bounce, low speed stall characteristics, roll rates of several aircraft, max speed in all aircraft etc.) Feels more like flying an ultralight, but is still a lot better then War Thunder.

    - no campaign deserving that name
    - unlock system/level system, giving the impression of an arcade game
    - simplified damage model/Hollywood feel -> quick successes
    - simplified CEM (same level as old IL2)
    - no mission builder (yet)
    - no user made skins (yet)

    So far, a 6 with a tendency to 7, though with lots of potential for better ratings. Will check the game again in a year and see what changed. As that, I can recommend this sim for beginners, or people coming over from War Thunder seeking more of a challenge and immersive expirience. It's solid in it's core, needs some optimisation. But in it's complexity a step back from IL2 CloD and a huge step away from DCS. I'd personally call it a transition sim on the way to more challenges.    … Expand
  4. Arealsimmer
    Nov 1, 2014
    5
    This game is an Arcade with a dash of simulation. The unlocks IMO are a joke and a ploy to target a certain audience. I think this game could have been better and its a shame it has the IL2 stamp on it.
  5. Jaklar
    Oct 23, 2014
    6
    Been playing simulators since "Jet" on the Atari 400, RoF fanatic (with all planes owned)...so I was really looking forward to the devs getting a hold of this franchise and hopefully moving this long-troubled franchise in the right direction. Such is not the case, I fear. Game feels half-assed, hampered with deeply questionable design choices, an intrusive and inelegant interface, datedBeen playing simulators since "Jet" on the Atari 400, RoF fanatic (with all planes owned)...so I was really looking forward to the devs getting a hold of this franchise and hopefully moving this long-troubled franchise in the right direction. Such is not the case, I fear. Game feels half-assed, hampered with deeply questionable design choices, an intrusive and inelegant interface, dated graphics and an uninspiring campaign system.

    The flight-models are good...but that's about it. Doesn't merit the price tag and ultimately feels like a huge step backwards for both the dev and the IL-2 franchise.    … Expand
  6. Beebaboo
    Oct 22, 2014
    6
    A good core is hampered by poor design choices in IL-2: Battle of Stalingrad. As I play the game, more and more it feels like a shinier version of Wings of Prey or Birds of Steel for the xbox 360.

    Yes, this game has one of the best physics engines in flight simulator history. All the aircraft have their own unique "feeling" that make learning each one's nuances very satisfying and    A good core is hampered by poor design choices in IL-2: Battle of Stalingrad. As I play the game, more and more it feels like a shinier version of Wings of Prey or Birds of Steel for the xbox 360.

    Yes, this game has one of the best physics engines in flight simulator history. All the aircraft have their own unique "feeling" that make learning each one's nuances very satisfying and fun. The Engine-related systems are all modeled as you would expect in a simulator like this, although the lack of clickable cockpits is very disappointing.

    The graphics are very good in this game, with reflections on the planes/glass, realistic smoke and fire, excellent lighting effects, and clouds that look almost real. The sound engine is a work of beauty as well, when it works properly.

    Unfortunately, there are some big problems with this game. First, and most obvious is the lack of any type of campaign or career mode. The built in "campaign" is only there to serve as a mission generator for the main focus of this game: Unlocking equipment for your planes by earning experience points in the campaign. The missions in the campaign are what can only be referred to as boring. Autopilot is disabled and time compression is limited, so there will be significant stretches of time where you sit idly and do nothing. Doing nothing is not fun.

    The unlock system and the random mission generator would be interesting components if they were not so tied together with the profile system. Instead of medals, there are achievements, of which there are many to earn and some that are pretty challenging. Unfortunately your pilot profile also is tied to the unlocks system, so even for multiplayer and quick missions, you will have to play the campaign to unlock equipment.

    The multiplayer component runs well and has a very simple server browser that anyone can use. When there are people playing, multiplayer is very fun in this game, however the plane set for this game has shown to be chosen very poorly.

    First, the German fighters are the best planes by a wide margin. Superior to Russian planes in most performance measure with the exception of turn radius vs the Yak, these planes have next to ruined the online atmosphere. Russian pilots are outnumbered 2 to 1 by better aircraft nearly every single game. That is not an exaggeration. While this situation is easily overcome by an experienced pilot, for new players this is extremely off-putting and for early access players like me has become a very frustrating feature of this game.

    Also in the multiplayer you will notice that more often than not, you will not hear when your plane gets shot. This is a bug in the sound engine that causes your plane to outrun the sounds of it being damaged, essentially.

    Avoid this game if you do not like to grind for exp, and also avoid it if you are looking for a deep, involved single-player campaign: there is not one here. As there is no way to get out of grinding for unlockable airplane components, the game's experience will be severely hampered even if you are a MP exclusive pilot.

    On the other side, if you can stand to play the same missions over and over again so you can unlock the rear turrent on your IL-2, then buy this game. If you want to fly one of the most graphically and technically impressive flight sims of all time, and can stand to play or ignore the horrible unlock system, then get this game.

    Pros: Excellent graphics, Excellent Sound (mostly), Excellent physics, Excellent Server Browser for MP
    Cons: Terrible forced grind, shallow and boring campaign, no career mode, no advanced graphics options

    One more thing: There is a screenshot and movie recording functions built into this game that are very easy to use and work very well.    … Expand
  7. mudcat
    Oct 24, 2014
    7
    Really has a great core to it and should honestly be rated higher, game looks amazing, although you may go snowblind, pretty good DM, FM's seem fine to me. But the problem as probably noted in plenty of other reviews is some poor decisions regarding SP and unlocks. Unlocks can only be done in the SP campaign. So if you want those field modifications you are going to have to spend aReally has a great core to it and should honestly be rated higher, game looks amazing, although you may go snowblind, pretty good DM, FM's seem fine to me. But the problem as probably noted in plenty of other reviews is some poor decisions regarding SP and unlocks. Unlocks can only be done in the SP campaign. So if you want those field modifications you are going to have to spend a considerable amount of time in the campaign.

    As for the campaign, you have choices based on what aircraft you choose, between things like ground attack, intercept and escort etc. The missions are then randomly generated and difficulty of said missions will vary and increase based on your "pilot level".

    The missions aren't exactly the worst thing in the world, but I wouldn't exactly call them enjoyable either. It's a decision to have them work this way that has angered a lot of MP focused folks, essentially being forced to play SP. For the SP oriented folks it seems to miss the mark as there is nothing exactly imersive about it. No real coherent story to it, just a collection of randomly generated missions.

    There really is a lot of good stuff in the game, but the decision of unlocks tied to a SP randomly generated mission campaign really drags it down, this game should be an 8 or 9, but instead gets drug down by the stinker or an idea that in their unlocks system. I gave it a 7 because while that unlock business is indeed silly, it still does a lot of things really well, that and I can't give it a 7.5 :)    … Expand
  8. Hooves_McG
    Oct 23, 2014
    7
    The sim aspects of this product excell! The feeling of flight, the faithful recreation of the period Fighters and bombers is excellent, the FM/DM all top notch.

    Where this GAME goes off the rails is its design decisions. A War Thunder-esque XP unlock system that, left in Single player would make sense (though its wrapped up in a sub-par campaign system). 1CGS has elected to force the    The sim aspects of this product excell! The feeling of flight, the faithful recreation of the period Fighters and bombers is excellent, the FM/DM all top notch.

    Where this GAME goes off the rails is its design decisions. A War Thunder-esque XP unlock system that, left in Single player would make sense (though its wrapped up in a sub-par campaign system). 1CGS has elected to force the sims content (weapons, mods, and paint jobs) to be unlocked before it can be used in Multi-player. Which seems completely backwards. It has dragged the MP community kicking and screaming into an environment they would rather not be in, and indeed many have just forgone the purchase of the sim/game to avoid the grind style of play of an MMO in a game that has admittedly rebuked (by the devs) that they are not an MMO. This design decision leaves a very schizophrenic taste in many a consumers mouths. Worst yet, is that up to this point they had all the ingriedients of a blockbuster return of the "legendary series", but muffed the ball on the 2 yard line. Leaving me no choice but to give it a disappointed 7 of 10, of what otherwise would have been a 9.    … Expand
  9. EiToro
    Oct 23, 2014
    5
    i think this game a huge back step from a simulator for example CloD. They want to meet both the casual and the pro pilots requirements. Everyone know its impossible to achieve. Some FM model awful, like 109s negative G. And a russians planes originally was much harder to keep on the air than this game.

    Noting more just a fair Arcade game in this stage, but far from a sim. It has named    i think this game a huge back step from a simulator for example CloD. They want to meet both the casual and the pro pilots requirements. Everyone know its impossible to achieve. Some FM model awful, like 109s negative G. And a russians planes originally was much harder to keep on the air than this game.

    Noting more just a fair Arcade game in this stage, but far from a sim. It has named sim just because you have a cockpit. Push the throttle then soot em' all thats of the content, the fan made mission better than the built-in. Available combat tactics so limited, litte mainstream and childish. Maybe the bombers has proper engine management (so-so).

    First look the game eye-candy, but you have to have a high end comp to run it well when you facing the crowds. The devs have promised 100/server, now 75/server barely can maintain. And about the campaign. Random generated stuff without conception. Few chapter, but dont try to find logic in it.

    I think they want to compete with War Thunder, but originally was IL-2 the game of sophisticated pilots not the casual ones.

    Conclusion:
    1. Casual player wont buy it because the controlling devices.
    2. For a Hardcore players it a weak game.    … Expand
  10. Bongodriver
    Oct 23, 2014
    5
    So IL-2 Battle of Stalingrad has finally arrived, many people praising it's realistic feeling of flight, sadly none of them have ever experienced the real feeling, this game has some of the strangest flight modelling I ever experienced, damage modelling has some nice touches but is very simplistic visually, the game looks nice enough, the DX9 game engine hasn't done too bad but it is waySo IL-2 Battle of Stalingrad has finally arrived, many people praising it's realistic feeling of flight, sadly none of them have ever experienced the real feeling, this game has some of the strangest flight modelling I ever experienced, damage modelling has some nice touches but is very simplistic visually, the game looks nice enough, the DX9 game engine hasn't done too bad but it is way behind some of it's contemporaries, it is still a game with arcade style features despite a huge community protest, it is still missing many key components like a full mission builder and Oculus rift support.… Expand
  11. The_truth_2014
    Oct 27, 2014
    6
    This game is not worth to call it a simulation. The sovjet planes are so overmodelled, Stalin had won the war within days with just a few of them :-) Seriously, the German planes, which were famous for their topnotch engineering and quality fly like crap, whereas the sovjet planes fly like on rails. And all evidence brought to the developers during early access phase didn't better theThis game is not worth to call it a simulation. The sovjet planes are so overmodelled, Stalin had won the war within days with just a few of them :-) Seriously, the German planes, which were famous for their topnotch engineering and quality fly like crap, whereas the sovjet planes fly like on rails. And all evidence brought to the developers during early access phase didn't better the situation at all. Quite the contrary was the case. They demanded documents for each single bit the community claimed (although it is common knowledge), but never proved themselves with supporting documents for their phantasy flight models.

    So if you want to have a gamey game, get it. But if you are looking for a proper flight simulation which reflects the true history, then you better wait for another try of a development studio. DCS has a big potential in terms of honest flight models, and has probably a better chance to be sincere and honest, because the development isn’t Russian…    … Expand
  12. SYN_Ricky
    Oct 24, 2014
    7
    I find it to be the best and more consistent WWII combat sim at present time.

    Graphics are very nice, from the exterior 3D models to the cockpits. Lighting and atmospheric effects are amazing. It also runs very well on my 5+ years old machine. I only experience a problem with clouds, as some other people do. Quite annoying ATM but I'm confident we'll see a fix for this. FM give a    I find it to be the best and more consistent WWII combat sim at present time.

    Graphics are very nice, from the exterior 3D models to the cockpits. Lighting and atmospheric effects are amazing. It also runs very well on my 5+ years old machine. I only experience a problem with clouds, as some other people do. Quite annoying ATM but I'm confident we'll see a fix for this.

    FM give a very good sense of flying and are quite demanding, I don't see how anyone could label them as arcade. Even if not every single switch and instrument can be activated in the cockpit, all systems are simulated and the most important ones are to be controlled by the pilot in flight and kept within the correct envelope.

    Netcode is good, MP is still limited to a few servers, as the both the dserver software and the full mission builder haven't been officially released yet, but they will be released soon. Given the previous experience with ROF and the bigger WWII community I'm pretty confident that MP will be allow for a great experience, whether you a re into pure dogfight or more into complex historical scenarios.

    SP is a bit lacking at the moment, the campaign is more like a glorified quick mission generator with not much historical immersion. Still missions are mostly pretty fun and filled with action. There's word that this mode will evolve in the future, I have no reasons so far to think it will not change.

    As for unlocks I'm not a fan of them, but they're not a game breaker for me. It seems that the unlocking process is quite quick. Still I would prefer that at leat MP was free of unlocks.

    All in all this a very convincing simulator with a clear aim at realism. There's room for criticism and for improvements, some things really need to be fixed, but it clearly doesn't deserve some of the amazingly bad reviews I see here. It might not be the absolute best in every aspect, but it does everything very good and in a convincing manner.    … Expand
  13. LuseKofte
    Oct 23, 2014
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Excelent Game physics, very good models, FM is from mediocre to excellent, Cockpits are not in the same league as cod , but quite adequate, Personally I like the russian planes best.
    Damage model is adequate but wish for a little more complex one -1 . Singel player unlocks are to me not positive , and the single player campaign is a disappointment -1
    Some strange maneuvering can be provoked -1

    I can recommend this simulator for all skill levels, it is great fun and the dedicated servers are filled with dedicated pilots    … Expand
  14. Tektolnes
    Dec 4, 2014
    6
    Have to revise my score down from 8 to 6. Looks like the Devs just don't want to listen to people and make some quick common sense decision to improve this game's reception. Unlocks shouldn't apply to those who pay full price. Custom graphic options not being present and with no plans to change this policy is ludicrous. Badly implemented SSAO ruining the game's looks at high / ultraHave to revise my score down from 8 to 6. Looks like the Devs just don't want to listen to people and make some quick common sense decision to improve this game's reception. Unlocks shouldn't apply to those who pay full price. Custom graphic options not being present and with no plans to change this policy is ludicrous. Badly implemented SSAO ruining the game's looks at high / ultra settings. Autopilot stuck to 2x time compression so the cheaper Russian buyers can't blaze through the dull campaign unlocks.

    There's a good core game here but Loft has made some very bad calls about some major aspects of the game design. It would be easy for the devs to remedy these decisions with virtually no work on their side but Loft appears to be digging his heels in as he knows better than everybody voicing their complaints apparently. Hopefully somebody can make him come to his senses and things can turn around but I'm not overly hopeful at this point. If they keep these same policies I won't be buying any future releases and with DCS WW2 and CloD TF 5.0 on the way there's plenty of other quality choices in the market.    … Expand
  15. b45t4rd0
    Oct 26, 2014
    6
    The good: Graphics are really good for being directX 9. The crash landings are done really well. The sounds are also really well done. The Flight Models are pretty good. Flying the campaign in full real can be pretty intense. The bad: MP only via their test servers, no mission builder, SP campaign could be better. Overall synopsis, this still runs way smoother and has less bugs than CLOD.The good: Graphics are really good for being directX 9. The crash landings are done really well. The sounds are also really well done. The Flight Models are pretty good. Flying the campaign in full real can be pretty intense. The bad: MP only via their test servers, no mission builder, SP campaign could be better. Overall synopsis, this still runs way smoother and has less bugs than CLOD. The flight models and difficulties almost get to the CLOD level and this can be played in full real. If they add a dynamic campaign that I can play online with friends, add a mission builder, forget the points and unlocks, then this could easily be a 9. Until then I think a 6 is fair.… Expand
  16. Osis
    Nov 24, 2014
    5
    Initially I thought I was getting a updated version of the classic version of il-2 Sturmovik and it appeared during development that we were on the right track. But at the 11th hour the developers added an unlock system that has completely killed my interest, safe to say that if you are a Multiplayer only type then this is not the game for you.

    I do see potential, but frankly I am just    Initially I thought I was getting a updated version of the classic version of il-2 Sturmovik and it appeared during development that we were on the right track. But at the 11th hour the developers added an unlock system that has completely killed my interest, safe to say that if you are a Multiplayer only type then this is not the game for you.

    I do see potential, but frankly I am just not playing the game and the reaction to the playerbase by the developers is troubling. Overall it is probably the best game I will not play and I think at least has had a positive effect of moving people to Cliffs of Dover. Keep in mind I have flown in excess of 1500 organized Multiplayer missions in the original il-2 as pilot Lipfert.

    If they are going to force a single player unlock system on you, then they really should had made it a very interesting experience. The word on the street is it is frustratingly boring in it's present form and I have basically been in a holding pattern.

    I am giving this a 5, because of the reaction from the development team during the release to the playbase in question. Will give an updated review in one month and see if anything interesting develops.    … Expand
  17. mjbroot
    Dec 2, 2014
    5
    --GRAPHICS-- 8.5/10

    Very good with the exception of forced SSAO and other postprocessing. There are NO custom settings. Just 3 console like presets. Workarounds to switch off SSAO's and other PP have been actively stopped and patched by Devs. --SINGLE PLAYER-- 2/10 Game features unlockable field modifications for your aircraft. These apply in SP & MP. You need to grind your way    --GRAPHICS-- 8.5/10

    Very good with the exception of forced SSAO and other postprocessing. There are NO custom settings. Just 3 console like presets. Workarounds to switch off SSAO's and other PP have been actively stopped and patched by Devs.

    --SINGLE PLAYER-- 2/10

    Game features unlockable field modifications for your aircraft. These apply in SP & MP. You need to grind your way through them if you want to use them in MP which is not much fun at all.

    There is NO traditional campaign with a backstory, continual career progress or medals. Only a quick mission builder and "campaign".

    The "campaign" is a simplified quick mission builder. A series of disjointed, generated missions. You choose your side, airplane, airfield, mission type & duration for each mission. The only purpose of this is so you can grind through to earn XP to unlock aforementioned unlockable field mods. Without exception, every mission has 4 waypoints.

    1. Start at Airfield (or in air)
    2. Enter "Mission"
    3. Target Area
    4 . Exit "Mission"

    The waypoint system enforces the XP grinding system - you need to fly through waypoints to earn XP. You earn XP only on easy or realistic difficulty. The custom setting doesn't give you any XP points.

    Many people didn't like this fun killing feature that was introduced at release (not being there during early access). So they set their plane at autopilot and 16x time compression and let the pc do the grind for them.

    At the same time the devs decided to reduce time compression to 2x maximum(!). These 2 events are apparently unrelated. However this made auto-grinding unfeasible and also makes the flight through waypoints on longer missions (more XP) boring.

    A "Autopilot off when enemy is near" feature would have made more sense.

    All of the above makes singleplayer in it's current form an utterly boring experience.

    --THE COMING MISSION EDITOR-- ?

    There is light at the end of the tunnel however as a proper Mission Editor is in the works. It will allow players to script, place objectives, waypoints, etc. When this tool is released, new and complex missions are expected to be released by members of the community, with one already in existence.

    It is a sad new paradigm where the players have to do the devs job to bring about a creative campaign. And don't have the tools to do it at release none the less.

    --MULTI PLAYER-- 7/10

    Multiplayer can be good solid fun, especially on a good server and with friends. There is no dedicated server tool for all players yet(will be in future) to host their own server so current choice is limited.

    BoS can host a limited number of players on a server. Originaly 64, then reduced to 32 and now again lifted to a slightly larger number of 48. Don't expect 100 player servers any time soon.

    --FLIGHT MODEL-- 6.5/10

    The flight model received a lot of praise and part of it is justified. The game recreates a feeling of flight like no other. Visual and audio clues give you a feeling like you're in the air. Alas - you're in the wrong aircraft. The feeling of flight is based on the dev's previous work on Rise of Flight and it does show. The airplanes feel like they are 500KG and not 2500KG. Your airplane rarely stays still. It's constantly jittering as if it had partially and asymmetrically deployed flaps (or indeed was a light airplane) The planes from WW2 were more then capable to fly in a straight line without jittering, the thrust to weight of these planes,and their design and construction allowed for it. Watch a POV flight video that had a properly mounted camera (no vibration) and you'll see what I mean.

    In short you always feel like you're in turbulence, which is appealing to some people but doesn't reflect reality of what it was like to fly a metal plane at 400kmh. The actual turbulence and wind is however nicely modeled, it's just that it never completely goes away for one second.

    There are squabbles over roll rates, turn circles and climbing performance of various planes, but that's the way it is with every sim.

    --DAMAGE MODEL-- 6/10

    Eye candy. Lots of smoke, lots of explosions, fire, etc. But it is effects for the sake of physical/historical accuracy. Machine gun fire lights up fuesalages. Single cannon round hits cause critical damage where they wouldn't and every other hit results in some sort of smoke coming of the enemy a/c. It's nice to look at, but not very accurate.
    --SUMMARY-- I've played the original IL2 Sturmovik. I was hoping for this to be a continuation of the IL2 spirit. It's not. I'm disillusioned. A lot of good features have been forcibly taken out and fun killing features introduced for no reason. If you've been expecting a new il2 sturmovik then this is not the game for you. If you're new to the genre and want a good place to start or coming from WT then yes this is a good game to get started.    … Expand
  18. mrcelsius
    Oct 27, 2014
    6
    Game is great. Multiplayer is full of players if the time is right, but those servers not suitable for US/Asian users due to high ping problem.
    Downside of this game is campaign and unlock system.
    Campaign looks pretty on the outside, but it's inside is ugly. Due to engine's limitation, there's no large scale battle between you and AI, only small sized missions. About the AI, they are    Game is great. Multiplayer is full of players if the time is right, but those servers not suitable for US/Asian users due to high ping problem.
    Downside of this game is campaign and unlock system.
    Campaign looks pretty on the outside, but it's inside is ugly.
    Due to engine's limitation, there's no large scale battle between you and AI, only small sized missions.
    About the AI, they are not that challenging. But difficulty is not what I want to criticize.
    There's no communication between you and the AI.
    Of course you can order them to attack or cover, but to do that, first you need to memorize all the shortcuts.
    Also it seems like AI don't know how to attack ground targets. They use guns rather than drop bombs.
    This game force you to play campaign to unlock things(which is ridiculous), but the campaign is boring.

    This game has potential, but for now, I can only give 6.    … Expand
  19. Chumbuster
    Sep 15, 2015
    7
    The only thing stopping me giving this a 9 or 10 is the lack of planes. People should note that this game still has the coolest flight model, far above all other simulators for the feeling of flight. I have played them all
  20. Buddeye
    Jan 24, 2015
    5
    IL2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad (BoS) in 10 words or less

    It’s a PC flight game being released November 2014. OK, I'll tell you more: BoS in 100 words or less It’s set in WW2, 1942, in Russia, with planes from Germany flying against planes from Russia. You can buy a version with 8 planes for 50 bucks/Euros, or with ten planes for 90 bucks/Euros. You can play in either ‘normal’    IL2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad (BoS) in 10 words or less

    It’s a PC flight game being released November 2014.

    OK, I'll tell you more: BoS in 100 words or less

    It’s set in WW2, 1942, in Russia, with planes from Germany flying against planes from Russia. You can buy a version with 8 planes for 50 bucks/Euros, or with ten planes for 90 bucks/Euros. You can play in either ‘normal’ or expert mode. Normal mode is like War Thunder Arcade mode, and Expert mode is like Realistic mode, just even more realistic.

    The Stalingrad map is flat, white, and snowy, with flat, white snowy bits, and icy rivers. And snow. Great for framerates on older PCs, a bit boring after you have flown over it a few times.

    You love War Thunder/World of Warplanes, so why would you buy this?

    If you have a gaming PC, mouse and a joystick (needs programmable joystick), you have 50+ bucks burning a hole in your pocket, and are looking for a more ‘realistic’ flight game than WT/WOW, this could be worth a look.

    But buy it on sale. For what you get, it is overpriced: 8-10 aircraft and you are forced to play the crappy offline campaign in order to be able to get all the aircraft options in multiplayer. Seriously dumb idea, ruins an otherwise good flight game.    … Expand
  21. SirBenn21
    Mar 4, 2015
    6
    It's okay, but it could have been so much more.
    I can't understand why they could not have made click-able cockpits and why oh why no proper support for triple screens! The viewing system is just plain poor and had me pulling my hair out in frustration.
    Then the story is acceptable but it just does not draw you in, Like the whole staff were just developers and story tellers. You have to    It's okay, but it could have been so much more.
    I can't understand why they could not have made click-able cockpits and why oh why no proper support for triple screens! The viewing system is just plain poor and had me pulling my hair out in frustration.
    Then the story is acceptable but it just does not draw you in, Like the whole staff were just developers and story tellers. You have to draw your gamers in like a good book or a movie.
    Sorry 1C all that effort for just an okay simulator. :(    … Expand
  22. DonKojote
    Dec 28, 2014
    5
    It's a decent effort , unfortunately there are design decisions that are truly unexplainable. First of all there are unlocks here that you can only achieve through playing rather dull single player campaign.

    There is no custom graphics options or a way to customise HUD. There is no mission editor yet , and there is no way to host your own servers. Both of these features are on the    It's a decent effort , unfortunately there are design decisions that are truly unexplainable. First of all there are unlocks here that you can only achieve through playing rather dull single player campaign.

    There is no custom graphics options or a way to customise HUD.

    There is no mission editor yet , and there is no way to host your own servers. Both of these features are on the way sometime in 2015 and will hopefully revitalise online experience.

    Oculus Rift support was promised but there is just excuses currently.    … Expand
  23. Toxin1
    Feb 4, 2015
    5
    Good looking planes, weather, tracers, flight and damage models. Released without mission builder or ability to host multiplayer games unless you have a Dedicated server (still pending release to rest of the customers). No Oculus support and limited Single player content as mentioned already.

Awards & Rankings

36
#36 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014
53
#53 Most Shared PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
74

Mixed or average reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Jun 14, 2015
    74
    Il-2: Battle of Stalingrad boldly seeks to renew the genre by adding modern game design elements to the admittedly often sterile genre of flight simulators. Unfortunately not only does the bold attempt fail spectacularly, the developers also seem to have completely forgotten what made the original Il-2 a legend. The Rise of Flight legacy shows in the rather impressive visuals and physics modeling, but strangely a lot of its nice features didn't make the cut either and the “sequel” falls short of its predecessor in many ways. [June 2015]
  2. GameOver.gr
    Feb 10, 2015
    70
    The excellent handling and the immense realism that Battle of Stalingrad offers, manages to balance out the poor single player campaign and some of its design flaws.
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  3. PC PowerPlay
    Feb 8, 2015
    70
    The lack of content and generous helping of bugs can be easily forgiven thanks to the developer's high reputation. [Feb 2015, p.16]
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