IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey is based around the large-scale aerial combat and ground military operations of World War II. Players can participate in some of the war’s most famous battles piloting fighters, battle planes and heavy bombers across a range of thrilling missions. There are five theatres of war to engage in – The Battle of Britain, Stalingrad, Berlin, Sicily and Korsun' representing the main airborne battles of World War II in Europe.

IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey also boasts an all new damage effects engine as well as advanced environmental visuals enriching the game play. Players can see real time damage to the aircraft such as holes in the wings and trail lines during dog fights. IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey features hundreds of airplanes taking part in air battles. The unique environmental engine also produces highly detailed, realistic landscapes that allow players to see breathtaking ground support actions.

IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds Of Prey's visuals are produced with the use of satellite photography. STRM database pictures, renowned for their uttermost precision, have been used to recreate the landscapes of war-torn Europe in remarkable detail.

The IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds Of Prey demo (July 29th) will give players a taste of two of the game's memorable conflict scenarios, The Battle of Britain and The Battle of the Bulge.

In Battle of Britain: Red Skies Over Dover, players are given the role of a RAF pilot commanding the legendary Mk. II Spitfire with B wing armament (two canons, four machine guns). What starts off as a routine "mopping up" mission on a few stray He-111 German bombers soon develops into a fracas in which the RAF faced their finest hour. The mission demonstrates the skills required to intercept larger bombers as well as the more nimble Stuka bombers. The effective use of wingmen will become apparent as the mission unfolds and survivors will have the opportunity to land on a home airstrip.

In Battle of the Bulge: Tiger Hunt, the US Air Force P-51D Mustang is the weapon of choice as players are invited to pick off some German armour ploughing through the Ardennes. Defending FW-190 fighters will also have to be dispatched; although the Tigers are the primary target as US forces aim to stem the German advance and defend the front line. The mission will allow players to try rocket attacks on ground targets as well as sample the snow capped vistas of the December Belgian landscape.

DiP Interactive's Nintendo DS version of IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey has sought to employ innovative use of the DS' unique touch screen format by way of counter measure. Players will be able to take hand draw notes on the in game flight card into battle, to physically record key information such as enemy positions and bombing coordinates. DiP Interactive has made use of the lower screen for flight instruments with the top screen used for gameplay and have managed to cram over 25 planes across 42 missions into a single DS cart. The DS has been tested to its limits by producing maps that can comprise an area of up to 100 x 100 km, providing ample room for aerial manoeuvre.

SME Dynamic Systems Limited is able to take advantage of the PSP's considerable graphical capabilities and produce a handheld format that bears notable familiarity to the home console versions of IL-2. The PSP campaign unveils 30 thrilling missions across six major WWII battlefields with over 30 aircraft recreated in stunning detail (14 available for the player to pilot). The non-linear campaign allows players to pick any mission and unlock new ones as they are completed. There are 16 achievements to gain as well as multiplayer support for two player head to head dogfights on the move.

Building accurate 1940’s environments using the latest in cutting edge satellite technology comes with a set of immediate problems, most obviously the 50 year time gap in buildings, foliage and other features, many of which did not exist at the time of the game’s setting and others which are now long gone from the real word and need to be added. To combat this, the development team have collated and pored over hundreds of wartime photos, documents and maps, painstakingly removing unwanted additions and recreating missing landscape features.

Whenever possible, locations have been remodelled according to genuine, historically accurate photos from archives around the world. These were laboriously compared with modern images to ensure all significant features were included or removed as appropriate. Where documented evidence was unavailable, the team took the time to create unique buildings in keeping with the style of the era, often imitating structures from other cites of the era and transposing them into the created landscapes. In total, over two million buildings and around 35 million trees were put in place using these processes to produce a level of realism hitherto unseen on current generation consoles.

Features

• Authentic World War II atmosphere
• Engage in more than 50 thrilling missions from famous historical battles over Eastern and Western Europe and fly historically accurate aircraft
• Flexible difficulty level system: from arcade to realistic simulation
• Thrilling multiplayer mode support customization - choose the color scheme of your plane and install your choice of weapons
• Cutting edge, highly-detailed visuals, realistic sound and original music from Jeremy Soule

IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey, developed by Gaijin Entertainment, is in development for X360, PS3, PSP (SME Dynamic Systems Limited), NDS (DiP Interactive), scheduled for release in North America on Sept. 15, 2009 (Sept. 4 in Europe).

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