1. VRTNT350

   10

   Without a doubt the best WWII air combat ever made for a home console. As a spiritual successor to "IL2 Sturmovik: POB" you can see the strong bones of that game that "BOS" is built upon. It improves on everything that made that game work and then it adds everything else you may have said "If only the game had this" or "if only I could change that." The primary obstacle of this game is the lack of any in depth instruction manual (and it really needed one). while I can not remove any points from the game for this omission, I encourage anyone who is having trouble mapping control settings or using the mission editor to use the developer's forum as a tool to reduce frustration. Developer "Gaijin" pays full tribute to the subject matter and sets a wonderful and respectful tone through its tasteful use of music, archival film and historical narration. if you have any interest in the air combat genre with a little trial and error you will be able to find almost any point between fun arcade to unforgiving simulation to keep you coming back for more. After you play through the robust historical campaign and a vast amount of challenges and single missions...The mission editor is waiting for you. "BOS" will let you play in its sand box just about any way you could want and it will reward you for the time you put into it.… Expand

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2. TheMailman98

   10

   Great WWII flight simulator for the Xbox 360 and probably the best for WWII. With the previous game being IL-2 Birds of Prey, this game is a great successor. If you are used too the even greater realism of the PC IL-2 Sturmovick series then you may or may not like this, but this is the best of it's kind on the Xbox 360 and with a launch price of only $39.99 it is definitely worth the price.… Expand

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3. Xborn74

   9

   "Birds of Steel" is a air combat game, focused in the World War II, and that have a gameplay with its roots oriented to simulation style, and which extends the main theaters of the war period. You have several options for singleplayer, with campaigns in different theaters and factions. The game has extremely detailed graphics for a console version: the effects of weather, ocean and detailing of the scenarios (such as houses, ocean waves, trees, decks of aircraft carriers etc..) are extremely well made and tend to realism, although have a certain pop-up. The highlight in relation to rival games on the Xbox 360 is in the richness of details in the ground, especially in the cities - but the buildings and structures destruction is not very realistic, with very large particles effects. Other graphics highlights are for the effects of sun illumination on the planes and the shadows, beside the design of airplanes, very realistic (of course do not expect the individual rivets witch we can see on the top simulators in PC), with a nice view from inside the **** where you can look around (the game still has other points of view: third person, a virtual HUD and the aircraft gunner, when available, of course). The explosions and the effects of smoke are well done, although these are not as surprising as the other I mentioned (but the effects of the weapons are rather detailed, instead) and in the game we have also options to customize the paint and symbols in you aircraft (in this game, despite its realism, the swastika is censored, and uses the Imperial Germany flag). Among the missions and the briefings, we have narrative events, and period films (a lot of material in fact, well situated and historically narrated). The game features a soundtrack of classical orchestral music, including the theme song for the movie "The King's Speech": the sounds of gunfire, engines, explosions, etc. are realistic, and the game has a main narrator, that depending on the situation (like in the Tutorials) communicates by radio with you - on the eventually radio chat, while you are flying you hear other pilots chatting, but their lines are somewhat repetitive. The gameplay style, I can compare it to another simulator game, with a style mixed with small touches of Arcade: the "Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik 1946" for PC (I know the franchise has a Xbox 360 version, but the PC version is more alike to this game): the game has some difficulty settings, which have different commands and feelings for the controls and commands of the aircraft in the gameplay, being three difficulties: Simplistic, Realistic and Simulator. The combat missions are very varied, with numerous options: recon, fighter air combats, bomber missions, the attack or / and defense of ground structures, landings, etc., all you can expect from a air combat game in the WWII, that mixes action and strategy. The combats sequences has a Zoom view, and ranged weapons in accordance with the model of aircraft that you choose, from among more than 100 models, all realistic and faithful, and from all the major countries of conflict, ranging from fighters, bombers and the first jet / rocket fighters. Your career in the game is monitored, adding experience points, which by their turn, unlocks new planes, and raise your rank. The aiming at enemies is not easy as in games that many people are familiar, such as "Blazing Angels": here you must try to pilot and to target at the same time: the difficulty in doing this varies with the gameplay style you choose in the Menus, and thus allows you to play on your most suited style, either uncommitted or professional oriented. In addition the game singleplayer features, we have extensive online multiplayer modes for up to 16 players on Xbox Live and add to that a mission editor that can be used to play both offline and online missions. The game, as has been commented, is the best air combat simulator, on the WWII period, for the Xbox 360, and I, as a war aviation (and simulator games) enthusiast, agree: the highlights in the game are the gameplay and realism (both in aircraft / scenery graphics), and in the musical score, being the low points of the game the radio chatter, and the eventual pop-ups. Of course, we do not expect the same realism and variety of commands (and realism) that we have in PC simulators (the genre primary platform), but for console versions, this game is a milestone. Also this style of game do not please all the gamers in the domestic consoles (Ps3, Xbox 360, etc.) - in fact just a minority. My score to this game, within the genre and without comparison with other similar games from PC is 9.0 / 10.0.… Expand

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