To have the audacity to call your game a historical flight simulator, you’d better know your stuff. Fortunately for Gaijin Entertainment, Birds of Steel is a clear example of a game made by folks who are passionate about the time period they’re working in.

A World War II simulator, Birds sports more than 100 playable planes, ranging from fighters to bombers to transport craft. Each of them is authentic in just about every way possible. Full cockpits, plane-specific handling, and period appropriate decals are all lovingly recreated so that hardcore history buffs can take the skies in their favorite aircraft.

Such accuracy would be kind of worthless without hyper-realistic places to take it. Fortunately, each mission in the main campaign is based on a real-life air battle. Those looking to have the authentic experience of flying a plane during WWII will be able to run the recreated missions from takeoff to landing, with all the long flights in between intact. Obviously, only the most dedicated will want to take the long way to their mission objectives, but it’s pretty awesome that the option is there.

For those who aren’t necessarily interested in how the torque of a particular propeller affects the whatever blah blah blah airplane talk, Birds of Steel certainly has a place for them. The lower difficulties throw in a lot of video gamey stuff, like easier steering, enhanced UI options, and easy targeting. If you just want to get out there and blow apart some enemy planes without having to worry about stalls and nosedives, the Simplified mode is for you.

Of course, there’s only so much history out there – only so many missions on the books. So what happens when you run out? Well, you start creating your own. In the Mission Editor, players can write their own history through a series of extensive options. Every area in the main game is available for customization, with a ton of objectives and situations to choose from. From time to time, Gaijin will be releasing their own online events that players can participate in, mostly created with the same tools. 

But perhaps the coolest mode of them all is Dynamic Campaign. Rather than just take on specific missions, it challenges players to complete a series of them in order to gain control of a particular theater of war. If you fail a mission, the territory you were fighting for is lost to the other side. Enough successful runs will result in victory, but letting too much territory slide into enemy hands will surely lose you the war. Just like the rest of Birds of Steel, it’s ambitious, sweeping, and enjoyable for both the hardcore flight sim player and the more casual dogfighter.

--

PUBLISHER: Konami  •  DEVELOPER: Gaijin Entertainment  •  MULTIPLAYER: Yes (specifics TBD)  • RELEASE DATE: TBD 2012  •  FOR FANS OF: History, planes, long flights