Others say...

"Worth Every Penny!"
Whether you are a pro or a beginner, the object of any game is to have fun and to enjoy the experience. UBISOFT has created an environment to allow you to do this the Il-2 series. With a little help, [...], the Full Mission Builder opens a world of user created scenarios that expands the field of play well beyond the average flight simulator. This is the culmination of a great series...it's worth every penny.

"best WW2 sim to date"
this is the best WW2 sim that you can buy. It can be as arcade as you like or as realistic as you like. The flight models arent perfect, but they are amazing compared to the competition. Graphics are top of the line. Multiplay is excellent with hyperlobby (search hyperlobby in google or something) installed.

"Worth every penny"
Well, I've been flying on the PC since the monochrome days and I haven't seen a simulator with AI as smart as those seen in IL-2 Sturmovik 1946.

The little buggers are harder to shoot down then any other simulator I have owned. As soon as one of the rounds from your plane fly past them they take evasive action. They just don't jink either !! !

I have TRACKIR 4 Pro/Track Clip Pro and IL 2 works perfectly with it/them.

I have owned and still own quite a few sims:

ATF Gold (Jane's)
Fighters Anthology (Jane's)
World War II Fighters (Jane's)
Longbow 2 (Jane's)
F15 (Jane's)
F/A-18 (Jane's)
FS2004 (with every add-on you can think of)
FSX (A huge disappointment)
Falcon 4.0 Allied Force

I will also agree, Sturmovik is a simulator and not a game.
The physics are awesome! ( pretty convincing)
ATF Gold and Fighters Anthology are games as far as I am concerned simply because their flight physics are much to be desired.

I will enjoy Sturmovik for years to come. :D
And I am sure you will too.

I am 40 y/o btw. Does it matter? Yes.
You can answer the "Why?"

See yuh, Gotta Fly!


"Best combat flight sim"
This is the top gun fighting simulation, at least of any I have tried, with the possible exception of DERA's Joust. I like to actually fly the aircraft myself and use my skill, rather than a missile, to shoot down my opponents. So for me this is a wonderful game. The realism seems to have been stepped up a notch since the previous version, the harmonization of the guns seems to be better.

One of the few unrealistic elements is the gun sight, early WWII fighters had lead calculating gun sights, with this you have to estimate the lead yourself, which can make moderately long turning shots quite challenging. Weapon effects aren't perfect, but they are good for a game. In the real world, if you put a one second burst of 20mm canon shells in to a plane at short range then it's over; one of my friends did it in the pacific war, he said that the moment he started firing the Betty came apart.

I've always liked the sounds in IL2 and this continues to be satisfactory, both the engine and gunfire sounds are realistic.

The choice of aircraft is excellent, with many marks of the world's best WWII fighters and bombers. Each is very well implemented with good flight dynamics and weapon effects. This game does a very good job of showing the performance variation between the different aircraft, this lets you explore the different fighting styles that were employed by their pilots. For example the canon armed Hurricane is my favorite gun platform, it turns well and is heavily armed with accurate canon, it can take anything it can get close to. The P47 is fast in a straight line and adequately armed, but in a turning fight it bleeds energy and the 50s aren't enough for a decisive 'lucky shot'. The late model Me262s can scrap a B25 in a moment, but if they take a couple of rounds in the engines then their day is over. The Russian aircraft are built like tanks, so a machine gun armed early version of the Spitfire or Hurricane can blaze away at an IL2 all day and never cause important damage.

This is a wonderful and highly addictive game.

"This is a fun game!"
After reading so many great reviews, I decided to purchase this game. It is very well done! What I like most is that you can set it to whatever level you want. Don't want to deal with stalls or blackouts or whatever and just shoot down planes? Turn them off. Want to deal with the whole enchilada involved in flying? Leave them on. The graphics and sound are great. You can set up your own missions- I just set up one where I have an "Allies v Axis" fantasy situation, where Russian, British, Polish and American planes are on a mission to destroy an airfield, and we're opposed by German, Italian, Romanian and Japanese fliers. What I really like is the "1946" options where you can fly experimental aircraft that never actually flew during the real war, but were in development. My only complaint is the lack of a manual. Yes, there's a file on the disk, but I would really, really prefer to have a hold-it-in-your-hands indexed manual. I have a feeling this game has abilities that I don't know about, and might never find, without a manual. I'd pay a few bucks more to have one. Which leads to the price- you cannot beat it for the price!