Meaty aircraft in VR. Great sense of height, freedom & danger.

With over 5500 hours of flying time on this thing it’s probably only fair to write a review!

TLDR: This is probably the best World War 2 flight simulator on the market at the moment. It has its downsides but overall, I would recommend this. It also has modules for World War 1 and even includes a built-in tank simulator! If you are in no rush, then add the game to your wish list and pick it up in the a sale - several times a year you can get each main map/plane set for 75-90% off!


This game sits somewhere between DCS and War Thunder in complexity but at the fraction of the price of either. Each 'Battle of...' in the series gets you a detailed map and between 8-12 aircraft to fly (depending on if you opt for the premium version).

The flight model in this game is a mix of play-ability vs reality but the variation between the different aircraft is not huge. Pro players will definitely be able to get the best out of their favourite planes, but casual players won't notice too much difference ie all the fighters feel like nimble fighters, all the bombers like heavy planes. The external models are nicely done, and the sound is good. Fog, snow, rain and day & night missions are all possible.
Each 'Battle of...' also comes with a handful of single player missions, a quick action mode and a quick mission builder option. For those who like to make their brains hurt there is also in-depth mission creation tools (but these are way more complicated to use than the DCS mission editor). The ‘Battles of…’ also include huge single player campaigns where you can join a squadron at the beginning of the war and over time fight your way to 1945. The AI generated missions in these campaigns are constantly being improved and updated.

If you are looking for something different you can try one of the World War 1 modules and zip around the skies in a biplane. If you are old enough to remember the Rise of Flight sim then you'll be right at home here as many of the models and dynamics from that game were upgraded and ported into this engine. The WW1 community is really small but are some of the nicest people you will meet online!

The game also has a tank simulator. It’s quite detailed and there are a choice of about 20 different vehicles to buy. The game comes with 2 free tanks, and these have a set of single player missions to try out. Beware though, online play for vehicles is very, very limited as virtually no servers include ground vehicle slots. If you do find a server though its great fun to jump in to a Flak Wagon and try and shoot down other players!

You have the option to buy collectors planes. Unlike most games these are definitely not 'pay to win'. Instead, they just tend to add something different to try rather than something OP. If you are after something fun to fly, then the Po2/U2V as flown by the Night Witches or the Hs129 tank buster are definitely something 'different'!

Online game play brings the main game to life but there are, literally, only about 5 'main' servers these days and each has a capacity of up to 84 players at a time. Each of the main servers is slightly different. For example, Berloga is aimed at quick dogfights, Wings of Liberty is a great place for new players to start as it has map markers to help you find your way around and short missions. TAW and Combat Box are for more advanced players who are happy navigating without markers. These last two servers frequently run campaigns that can last weeks, with players battling to slowly push the front lines towards victory. The online community is generally friendly, and it isn't too hard to find someone to help if you have any questions.

This leads us on to the 'bad'. The game really throws you in the deep end. There are no built-in tutorials, and you may have to watch a few videos on youtube to get started. The cockpits are not clickable (all the buttons move automatically but you can’t interact with them). Setting up VR can be a real pain in the butt. TrackIR works really well but if you haven't got VR/TrackIR and a half decent joystick you are going to get shot down a lot. There are a lot of potential buttons to bind and very few tips on hat you actually need to worry about. The mission editor is too complex, and this means that there are only a few people who create missions.

The game itself is also near the end of the development cycle, but it is over 10 years old now! New planes and modules are spreading further apart (but, as of Nov 24, we are expecting two exciting new major maps/modules in the coming months).

Much of the original development team has moved over to the Korea game that will hopefully be released in a few years. That said what we do have in the IL2 Great Battles series is huge in variety of aircraft and scope of the maps. If you wait for a sale, you can have thousands of hours of fun for very little cost. With over 5500 hours of game play so far, the game has given me great value for money.

Cool game, wish addons were cheaper but they’re amazing quality