Developer:1C:Maddox Games
Publisher: Blue Byte Software (Excluding Russia; 1C will publish there.)
Previewed by Cat91 on 2/23/01

First Impressions:

Well, fans, back in September I promised you a first look at this title once it approached beta stage. With the release delayed until Summer 2001 due to the AI programmer's illness (Get well soon, Yuri! Our prayers are with you.), beta is nearly upon us and I came home recently to a tidy little present in my mailbox.

Samantha Hertzler, PR director of Blue Byte, is familiar with WomenGamers.Com from our review of their Settlers series, but she was interested to learn that there are indeed women out there who love to fly virtual combat birds. So I got included in the distribution of their press kit on this game, and therein was a copy of the October 2000 alpha build! It's not 100% complete: it lacks the campaign and quick-mission editor, and the full mission editor is feature-locked, but there are four missions and three gloriously flyable aircraft. Let's look at the sim and its history, and see what's up with this thing!

About two years ago I started seeing references to a WWII sim that was being developed in Russia. Oleg Maddox, founder and lead designer for Maddox Games in Russia, was making some pretty outrageous claims. His sim was to be based on the Ilyushin IL-2, Russia's premier ground attack plane during the Second World War, and emulated today with America's own A-10A Thunderbolt II. It was supposed to offer intensely realistic flight models, awesome damage modeling, total historical accuracy, state-of-the-art graphics, and more immersion than getting dunked in the Black Sea at high velocity, along with the never-done-in-a-sim east front theater of WWII. Yeah, right, we all sneered. How's a company in Russia that no one's ever heard of gonna pull that off? Then screenshots started popping up, and we began to take notice. I still was a skeptic. A WWII sim? Puh-leeze. I'm into jets. Propheads are too dogfighting-machismo for me. Then I saw more shots of strafing tanks. Close air support, Oleg promised. All sorts of different bombs. Every aircraft gun in the WWII arsenals of Germany and Russia, he swore.

Still, we weren't convinced. Who's gonna publish the game? Some big toy company will snap it up and ruin it anyway, we groused. And then, there was Blue Byte (Cue angelic music here). It seems that BB CEO Thomas Hertzler is -tah dah! - a frustrated combat simmer himself! A frustrated simmer who saw the potential in a little Russian company no one had heard of besides the salivating flight sim masses out there. He heard, believed, and bought the rights. So here we are, just a few short months from the release. Is it gonna be all that, or is the man just talking smack? Let's find out.

Graphics:

In alpha state, OpenGL powers IL-2. As anyone who's played Quake knows, OpenGL is an architecture that can get a lot done, particularly in the wide wonderful world of 32-bit graphics. DX8 support is also planned for the final release. Know this: The game is visually stunning for an early alpha. On my machine I was able to play it at 1600x1200 resolution in 32-bit mode, and experienced frame rates that I estimate were in the low to mid-20s. This was with a total of twelve aircraft in visual range and all details cranked to max. I did notice that descending from roughly 3000 meters to near ground level causes terrain features to pop up and fill in a manner reminiscent of B-17 II or Flanker 2.0. However, the fill rate was far faster and the terrain boasts greater detail. There are far more terrain features than any other low level sim I've seen, and I actually saw forests of trees, not just blocks of tiles, but real trees, at low level in several spots.

I also flew an intercept mission in the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3, one of the flyable aircraft included, and noted that descending below certain levels, or flying across map borders results in spontaneous destruction of the aircraft. I attribute this to the fact that this was an early build of the game. I was able to fly over a well-rendered town of real (not bitmapped) 3D buildings in the included IL-2 ground attack mission, and noted very little frame rate hit from the buildings. Flame and smoke effects in this early version are very well done. In the aforementioned intercept mission, the objective was to take out a flight of Heinkel He-111s. I was able to track them by their contrails! At a certain altitude, aircraft stream white water vapor trails for miles, which is an excellent way of tracking them down. Fire looks like the leaping, realistic flame seen in Jane's F/A-18, while smoke trails are equally convincing and well done.

Cockpits are all three dimensional, but they were not clickable in the version tested. The mouse is used for panning the pilot's head in the cockpit. I have asked Oleg Maddox whether thumb-hatting in-cockpit views will be an option, and will post his response in the discussion forum. The thumb-hat, also known as the "coolie hat" or "eight-way switch," resides on top of the virtual pilot's joystick. This switch is shaped like a hat, and is operated by the thumb, so the lingo is "thumb hat." It is generally used to pan the pilot's view. Get this: flying low, where it's cold, will cause your windscreen to fog up when it's a hazy day out! That is impressive attention to detail. Check out the screenshots for a good look at the MiG-3's cockpit, as an example.

The German Messerschmitt Bf-109 G-6/R-6 is also flyable in a mission included with this release, and its cockpit looks even better. Purists will rant about the fact that German planes lack the Nazi hakenkreuz (a.k.a. swastika) on their tails. This is because the publisher is, well, German, and they've got laws prohibiting that sort of symbolism. A small price to pay for what we do get, in my mind.

The reflector gunsight reticles look like real glass, and the reflected sight moves with the aircraft's motions. The pilot's head moves around with the changes in g-forces, and also gets pressed back while executing a high-g turn. Damage effects are reminiscent of Eurofighter 2000; I blew off a wingtip in the MiG-3, in a high-speed pass over a burning He-111, and it really looked good: effects included scorched paint, bullet holes from the 111's guns, and parts of the wing structure sticking out. And the clouds! Though the canned missions I flew didn't have much in the way of clouds, I messed with the mission editor (Can't save missions in the preview build, darnit.) and saw gorgeous 3D clouds that looked tactically useful to me. I can't wait to buy this game and see if it really works like that. Tracers are the best yet: both red 23mm and green 12.7mm and 7.62mm tracers are modeled, and no one save the developers of Longbow 2 and of all things, Gunship!, ever got that peculiarly Soviet thing down right.

I was particularly struck by the sim's rendering of the feeling of speed in flight. Even at 2500 meters, an overtaking pass in the MiG-3 over a fleeing He-111 happens fast. You close, he fills your windscreen, you've a split second to make a decision to go high or low, and a foul-up is the end of you and him. When doing a head-on pass with another fighter, the effect is even more pronounced. My very first air kill in IL-2 occurred while I was at the controls of my trusty MiG-3, pretending to be Lilya Litvak (the top-scoring Russian female fighter ace, though she didn't fly MiG-3s), in a head-on with a Bf-109 labeled "White 6." (Yes, the game has Falcon 4-style labels. More on this later.) The merge happened almost in the blink of an eye. I pulled the triggers (you need two in the MiG) and my view was blanked by the muzzle flashes of the twin 7.62mm ShKAS guns in the MiG's cowling. That really happened to Soviet pilots, and is a really cool detail. I popped to an outside view, and the Bf-109 was way past me, smoking as it went down. I really got the feeling of one of those old History Channel newsreels of gun camera footage when in the 6 position behind an enemy aircraft and letting my opponent have it. See the screenshots for an example. No other sim has given me that feeling, other than Falcon 4.0 and Jane's F/A-18. EAW and Jane's WWII Fighters don't even come close, gang.

Sound/Music:

This may sound strange to some of you, but the sounds in this early alpha were almost stylized in a neo-classic way. It sounded more like a WWII movie than real life, but I really liked it. One thing that Oleg Maddox's team has got right on the money is the sound of guns. These sound like guns sounded when I was in the Army. The engine sounds are useful indicators of the engine's stress level. You can also hear wings creaking when you turn too fast, and hits on your bird sound appropriately ominous. On one flight I heard a "TUMP!" while merging with a 109 and thought nothing of it, then looked out the left side of the cockpit to see my MiG's whole left wing burning. That'll leave a mark! Overall, I liked the sounds.

There's no radio chatter in my copy. I understand that women will not be represented in the release's radio voices, as Oleg Maddox is going for maximum historical detail and has not yet brought in the squadrons and aircraft that had female pilots in the VVS (Soviet air force) during the war. By the time he and the team realized this was going to be an issue the sound architecture was finalized, and it was looking pretty dim for us. But never fear: Maddox plans to release a utility for users to customize radio chatter! We can represent ourselves in that fashion. Also, to accommodate Game Commander users, the character's pilot may not have his/her own radio chatter, much like Flanker 2.0, Longbow 2, or Jane's F-15 (where the only one talking was the back-seater). I'd consider this a good compromise.

Gameplay:

On the surface, IL-2 is standard combat flight fare. You fly; you fight. But wait, there's more. I've already touched on what is to me the only irritating thing in this early version: the inability to choose whether we want mouse-look or thumb-hat for changing pilot views. I prefer the thumb hat, but there are others who would hotly dispute me on that. The planes have, in some instances, up to three primary weapons systems that are default-hooked to three buttons on the joystick. I like that: it allows the user to shoot what he or she wants to shoot, and with joystick profiles one could rig up combinations. The MiG-3, for example, has two: the two 7.62mm guns in the nose and two larger cannon in the wings. You hit two trigger buttons to fire them all at once. The effect is awesome. The IL-2 has another button to fire air-to-ground ordnance other than the cannons. I don't think one can set ripple modes or timing for rockets or bombs, nor do I know if the actual IL-2 aircraft had that option. Frankly, I think that if the real bird had it the game would or will: it's that detailed. In the air-to-air game, the aircraft all have interesting Falcon 4-esque labels. Red for Russian, Blue for German. First, they show a number, which tells you how close you are to the aircraft. I don't know the unit of measurement. Also, as you get close enough to what would be visual identification range in real time, the type and also the identification numbers/letters ("White 6" or equivalent) become visible on the aircraft. I found this very handy in compensating for the confines of the monitor. Ground units, however, don't seem to have this option. Though one can see them pretty clearly against the ground (depending on terrain type and presence of snow), one needs to be careful of fragging a friendly. Very realistic. There are all the standard padlock views and a panning outside view, again using the mouse.

The flight model feels good: g-effects will rip off wings if you're not careful, and time-to-altitude for the MiG at least feels like a small, fast, wooden fighter. The turning radius feels good, and spins in aircraft such as the Bf-109 are deadly. I don't like the 109: it's a little squirrely (so was the real deal) and a flat spin is a cast-iron mother to get out of once you're in it. There is a pronounced difference between aircraft. For example, the 109 is very agile. The MiG-3, on the other hand, is not as maneuverable but is faster than the 109, and requires the use of energy tactics against the 109 one on one. Handling characteristics change with altitude, which I'll bet will have a big effect on aircraft such as the Bell P-39 Airacobra, which will also be flyable in the final release. These were known to be pigs at altitudes over 10,000 feet but dangerous low down. I believe that Oleg Maddox was once a TsAGI (the Russian aerospace institute) engineer, and this would explain the accurate flight-feel in the game. In the IL-2M, a dive will point you into the ground if you pull out too late.

Fog is for real and you will need to be able to fly on instruments if you encounter it. In the IL-2 ground strike mission I always get lost in the fog, get vertigo and fly into the ground. With snow on the ground, it is easy to get totally lost in the white stuff, and you really develop an appreciation for the well-modeled cockpit instruments.

The IL-2 lives up to its reputation as a gun platform when strafing tanks with the heavy cannon: it is stable in shallow dives and feels like a lumbering, heavy ground attack aircraft should feel. Hardcore enthusiasts and first-timers alike should find things to crow about in this game's flight modeling. Furthermore, the game is widely scalable for both the hardcore and casual user. Control is the name of the game in IL-2 and the user is treated like royalty. Users of all different genres and all different realism preferences will find at least one reason to love IL-2.

A dynamic single player campaign, a quick-mission generator, and a full mission editor for making and distributing user created missions are planned, but were not available in this early alpha release. I did get a look at the full editor (It's in my copy of the game but you can't save created missions), and it looks promising. The player will have the ability to place buildings, static objects, and aircraft, and one can look at one's work in 3D by using the game engine. A wide variety of targets, including moving trains, can be placed, which will prove to be one of the most popular features of the game. Generally, great features come at the expense of stability; at least that's been the rule in the past. However, if this build is any indication, IL-2 will be one of the most stable releases of recent years. I've flown this build on and off for about a week, some 30 hours over all, and had not one crash or freeze of any kind. That's shocking, considering the fact that this build is a three-month-old alpha. It's about time.

Enjoyment:

I like it. I'll buy it. I'll buy all the planned add-on packs. I may fly nothing else once this game gets out. It's really that good.

Multiplayer:

Not represented in this build. However, Maddox Games plans to implement a wide range of Internet and LAN capable multiplay options. These include the ability to import user-created artwork, camouflage schemes, and unit flashes to differentiate user aircraft from one another. Furthermore, the multiplayer community is driving the push for post-release add-on packs of user flyable aircraft such as the Polikarpov I-16, Yakovlev YAK-9, Focke-Wulf FW-190, and Lavochkin La-5. IL-2 has the potential to surpass most of the other non-dedicated online games.

Overall Impression:

It leaves all the competition in the distant dust.

Marketing Efforts Towards Women:

Blue Byte and Oleg Maddox both are more interested in getting women on board the combat flight bandwagon than almost any other sim manufacturer. I myself heard from Oleg Maddox out of the clear blue sky several months ago after one of my reviews was published on WG, asking me what I thought women wanted in sims. They want to provide a way to make this release accessible to us, and to me, that speaks volumes. And I'm not the only one who feels like that. Maddox is the most user-friendly developer out there: he and members of his team hang out personally on Blue Byte's forums, soliciting user input and trying their best to incorporate requested features into IL-2. They want to add accessibility for the casual gamer without sacrificing historical accuracy, hardcore systems, or flight modeling. The result is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated sims since the release of Falcon 4.0, with features we've all been dreaming about for years. Maddox looks set to put the fun back in simming with IL-2, and the concept he's pioneering could well revitalize a stagnant flight-sim market. This is the one we've all been waiting for, ladies and gentlemen. If you don't buy this one when it's released, you're gonna be missing a hot one. It got the Cat out of her F/A-18E and into a MiG-3, y'all. Who'da ever thunk it?

Minimum Hardware
P-II 300; 64 MB RAM, 3D accelerator

Recommended Hardware
P-III 600 or better, 128 MB RAM, 32 bit 3D accelerator

Tested Hardware
Athlon Thunderbird 900, ABIT KT-7 RAID motherboard, 256 MB PC-100 SDRAM, 20 GB hard drive, Guillemot/Hercules Prophet 3D DDR/DVI (nVidia GeForce 256) AGP, nVidia Detonator III version 6.49, Microsoft DirectX version 8.0, Creative SoundBlaster Live! Value with Live! Ware 3.0 and updated drivers

ESRB
Pending

Product Availability
Second quarter of 2001