| IL-2 Sturmovik | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | 1C: Maddox Games |
| Publisher(s) | 1C, Ubisoft |
| Version | 4.10.1 [1] |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Combat flight simulator |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | |
| Media/distribution | CD, DVD, |
IL-2 Sturmovik (Ил-2 Штурмовик) is a World War II combat flight simulator video game, focused on the air battles of the Eastern Front.[2][3] It is named after the Soviet Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack fighter, which played a prominent role in this theatre and is the single most produced military aircraft design to date.[4] Along with its sequels, IL-2 Sturmovik is considered one of the leading World War II flight simulators.[5]
The original version of the game featured 31 flyable Soviet, German, American, British, French and Polish planes and an additional 40 non-flyable planes (available as opponents).
The game was developed by 1C: Maddox Games and published by 1C in Russia and Ubisoft in the rest of the world, for PCs on November 18, 2001. The latest edition that includes all sequels and patches is version 4.10. The game has been updated frequently, and is the flight simulator video game longest supported by its developer with the demo released in 2001 and the latest patch including new planes released in 2011.
IL-2 Sturmovik and the sequels Forgotten Battles, Forgotten Battles Ace Expansion Pack, Pacific Fighters, Pe-2 add-on, Manchuria and 1946 now contain 347 aircraft, with 256 being flyable. The featured aircraft cover most major aircraft deployed during World War II as well as some which did not leave the prototype stage.
The game includes a multi-player feature which supports up to 100 players online over the free internet matching service Hyperlobby. The All-Seeing Eye also previously allowed members to host multiplayer games.
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A sequel was released in March 2003, entitled IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles, which greatly expanded the number of simulated planes and battlefields. The Forgotten Battles Ace Expansion Pack followed in March 2004.
In October 2004 Pacific Fighters was released, which can be installed on top of the earlier releases or as a stand-alone game. It expands the action to the Pacific, adding many Japanese and United States planes as well as aircraft carriers and battleships.
Many users of the first three games in the IL-2 series took the option of merging them on their hardware. This was essential to be able to access the majority of IL-2 servers for online gaming. Later a Complete Edition was released, combining the three in one installation.
In May 2006, the PE-2 add-on was released in Europe and North America. This added 95 campaigns, five single missions and five multi-player cooperative missions. Two new flyable aircraft, the Petlyakov Pe-2 (four variants) and the Petlyakov Pe-3 (two variants), as well as a large number of new ground vehicles and artillery were also included. When installed, PE-2 is merged with previous games in the series.
Ubisoft released the IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946 compilation pack in stores in December 2006 in Europe and Australia; North American release was on March 13, 2007. In addition to all of the above games, it includes two new games: Sturmoviks over Manchuria and 46. This raised the total number of aircraft to over 300 with 32 new flyable aircraft, such as Soviet and Japanese aircraft that served during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in 1945, as well as some which never went beyond the design stage in reality. Among others, the package introduced the Yak-15, MiG-9, Focke-Wulf Ta-183, MiG-13, Arado Ar-234, Kawanishi N1K-J, Mitsubishi J2M, Mitsubishi Ki-21, Douglas A-20C, Ilyushin Il-10 and many others. It also features nearly 200 new missions and new maps featuring the Kiev region, new parts of the USSR, China, Korea and Burma. The package is now patched up to version 4.10.
In 2009, IL-2 was available for handheld consoles using the PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, as well as the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 under the title IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey. The theatres of war are the Battle of Britain, the Battle of Stalingrad, the Allied Invasion of Sicily, the Battle of Korsun Pocket and the Battle of Berlin.
The next game from Oleg Maddox, IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover is a sequel to the IL-2 series.
The following games have been released so far:
| Title | Year | System | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| IL-2 Sturmovik | 2001 | Windows | Ubisoft |
| IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles | 2003 | Windows | Ubisoft |
| IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles: Ace Expansion Pack | 2004 | Windows | Ubisoft |
| IL-2 Forgotten Battles: Gold Pack | 2004 | Windows | Ubisoft |
| Pacific Fighters | 2004 | Windows | Ubisoft |
| IL-2 Sturmovik Series: Complete Edition | 2006 | Windows | Ubisoft |
| PE-2 | 2006 | Windows | Ubisoft |
| IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946 (includes Sturmoviks over Manchuria and 46) | 2007 | Windows | Ubisoft |
| IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey | 2009 | 360, PS3, PSP, NDS | 1C Company |
| IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover | 2011 | Windows | Ubisoft |
IL-2 Sturmovik and subsequent games in the series have received overall good reviews. The review aggregator Metacritic gives IL-2 Sturmovik a score of 91 out of 100,[6] while GameRankings, another review aggregator, gives a score of 91.31%.[7]
The lists includes only flyable aircraft. Due to intellectual property issues, several important US planes — such as the TBF Avenger — could not be included in the game as flyables.[12] This list is correct for version 4.10 IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946. Several model variants of the aircraft in the list are not included (such as all the flyable variants of the Supermarine Spitfire).
The original "IL-2 Sturmovik" came with several maps depicting the main battle areas of the Eastern Front, including
The sequel "Forgotten Battles" provided some further maps:
The "Ace Expansion Pack" add-on for Forgotten Battles added the following maps:
"Pacific Fighters" came with a plethora of maps for the Pacific Theater of Operations, such as:
The last add-on "1946" brought four more maps:
Later, some patches came with user-generated maps:
Also, a lot of imaginary or generic landscapes were designed, such as "Northwest Europe", "Pacific Island", "Mountains", several "Deserts" and "Italy", mostly on smaller maps.
During the years many 3rd party addons have arisen from several publishers. The most known companies were :
Together with another group of companies they have released a huge list of expansions for the game. Adding many campaigns and single player missions and skins.
A number of addons to mention:
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