Birds of Steel Review: WWII Flying At Its Best

Birds of Steel Review: WWII Flying At Its Best

Birds of Steel
PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Konami
Flight

Birds of Steel is a World War II flight sim that gives you the type of gameplay everyone wants. If you like true sims when it comes to your flight games then this game is for you. However, if you are someone who likes the experience to be a little more helpful and less sim like, this game also has the option of making it easier to handle and more fun for that type of player. For example, if you try a hard right turn and pull up on the true sim, you could find yourself in an uncontrollable spin. However, on the simplified mode you can turn and pull with ease and not have to worry about entering a spin.

The gameplay handles very well no matter what setting you decide to play the game on. Once you get the buttons down you will be heading right into a fun-filled action title with dogfights and bombing runs. You will also get to experience a lot of take-off and landings, and that includes on aircraft carriers which will take patience as you learn to do that correctly. They certainly didn’t make that part easy on you, but once you get it down you will have a lot of fun in your attempts. There are many different aircraft and each handle well. You can sense the different speeds with each aircraft and how well each handles. I should also mention that at first I had a difficult time lining up enemy aircraft to shoot down. It will take you some time to get good at it. It’s nice that they didn’t make it overly easy or that would have been problematic, especially when it comes to online play.

One of the first things you will notice is the long tutorial process that you need to go through to start the historical campaign. It goes over every detail with you on the controls which is very useful and that makes the length of the tutorial worth it. Not only is there the historical campaign, but there is also a dynamic campaign with more missions for you to complete. You can also choose single missions, and a mission editor which allows you to set the conditions to your liking as you create your own mission. You are treated to a plethora of missions in this title making it worth it on that account alone. The missions are well done, though some are a little too short. For the most part, the lengths of the missions are about right.

The other great thing is the online multiplayer modes that are available to choose from. You can play versus combat where you go head-to-head in dogfights online against others in rooms of up to 16 people. You can also choose to play co-op missions with up to 4 players. Both add even more depth and fun for gameplay options that you will surely enjoy. The only issue I had was with the versus mode. Sometimes in a full room of 16 players I experienced moments where it dropped the entire room or had a room full of “skippy” planes where it makes it hard to track them down and shoot. Other than that I’ve had a heck of a good time playing online against others.

Overall, this is a must own title for anyone who is a fan of flying and likes the old World War II aircraft. I would say that this is my favorite World War II flight title because you have so many different aircraft options. Plus, you can also choose mission editor and just do a free flight if you want to simply just fly one of the aircraft around. Another one of the fun features is the ability to customize each aircraft by placing decals on them. There are a number of decals to choose from, some you will have to unlock. As you play the game you will unlock a number of items and that includes aircraft. You will also gather points for you to purchase these aircraft once they are unlocked. All in all, this is a very good game and one that will keep you entertained for quite some time.

Score: 9/10