IL 2 Bugs and General Review

[LA Smack]

Review


First off, let me say that I think this game is beautiful!!!….I am happy that I spent the money to play the best realistic flight sim ever to be on a console….but I feel I must put some things in perspective….I thank the developers for a great game, and I curse the publishers for forcing them to push this game out the door before it was ready because clearly that is what happened….I am in no way calling out anybody in this forum who is a customer of the game….I am not trying to ruin the game for you or call out parts of the game you may in fact enjoy….The following is just my review of the game….Thanks for reading

What this game offers that is great

1. Graphics! This game is absolutely beautiful graphically. The 3d detail on the maps and the planes themselves is amazing….very nice job!
2. The general physics of the game from crash, belly landing, explosions in mid air, how the planes fly….seems to be very good….(let me just say…for all of you out there that b*tch about the P-51D not being represented well…take it up to 25k ft and it flies very well!....same with the Fw-190 series and the jets…..they are high altitude fighters people…thank you ) ….of course the reason for people complaining is actually pretty legitimate in that most dogfights in mp or in single player are below 10k ft, and with no option to change starting altitude in mp (more on this later) how would you guys know!
3. I had fun playing through the campaign…it seems well done although your wingman are useless and the AI in general is kinda goofy with the same tactics on both sides being played out….(I mean come on….no hurricane pilot in their right mind flies directly behind a heinkel bomber!)

What the game does poorly that will be fixed in the patch

1. Flak effectiveness….okay it’s not horrible…play the game enough and you can eventually get shot down by it….anyways more effective enemy flak should be fun
2. The Crash system in multiplayer….OMG….seriously glad this is getting addressed in the update although it begs one question….Don’t game companies have game testers to find these problems??? I mean come on!!! As my esteemed friend, who happens to be a goat says, “I could’ve figured out this was a problem in like five matches!” Which leads me to conclude that the developers/publishers either didn’t find it…which makes them stupid, or they just didn’t put effort into fixing it, which hurts my feelings….oh well, at least they are correcting their wrong
3. Red outs and black outs…This should be a cool fix as it has the potential to greatly affect online dogfights…instead of always getting into turn fights maybe boom and zoom will be effective combined with the new kill system
4. No breaks for the flight stick and a lack of customization of buttons…Ya…this blows my mind that the game shipped without this being fixed…I mean seriously???? I guess the fact that landing and take-offs aren’t that big in the game might give them an excuse to miss it the first time…might…..nah, that’s just dumb guys! Oh well x2, at least they’re fixing it 

What the game does poorly that hopefully DLC addresses

1. Lack of Customizable multiplayer options: Okay 505, that’s wonderful that you made the P-51D and Fw-190 series great at altitude, but how the hell do you leave out a starting altitude option in the match choices??? You gave it to us in training mode….why not multiplayer, and while we’re at it how come we can’t have games where we can change the respawns….like to none, so we can get really realistic…You gave us the chance to limit our fuel and ammo….but we can’t change the altitude, respawns…and oh yeah…how about strike….??? You should of let us set the tickets to even lower…like 100, because it hugely hinders the effectiveness of fighter bomber tactics in the game…you literally have to bomb the same target over and over to even make a dent with a fighter bomber and the IL 2 series as well…one more thing that should be fixed is the respawn timer should have a higher option…like a minute …and how about an option combined with that that lets us spawn farther away from combat so the matches feel like a real sorty
2. Lack of cockpits for all fighters: I understand they didn’t and couldn’t do this because the game was only meant to ship with 12 planes….glad apparently they’re fixing at least some of the German cockpits…but how about an option to force people to use only planes with cockpit mode….that would sure feel more real…and I simply can’t competitively use cockpit mode when other people are on virtual giving them much more vision and location ability…which is what this game is all about…
3. Bomber aimer on simulator mode??? Really guys, Really???? Simulator gets a dumb assist mode while arcade and realistic don’t….the modes this feature belongs…I’ll tell you why this is pointless in sim mode….the heavy bombers….I can’t use the aimer because when I’m at 10k ft plus the aimer is directly under the 3rd person view of the bomber which makes it pointless to try to aim it….obviously you don’t get targeting locks on sim so it really hinders the heavy bombers from being able to be flown like real bombers….I can’t stand dropping a B-17G to the deck just so I can aim better….why not in the DLC give us a bomber cockpit, even if its generic so we can have an actual bombardier sight!
4. Armament accuracies: Hurricane MK II never had 12 machine guns thank you very much, nor is the Blenheim bombers armament correct and a few others are off…apparently there are a lot of “typos” according to the developers??? The weapon load outs on the PC version are all right….do you guys use editors or experts before you ship? Apparently not?
5. UNLOCKABLE WEAPONS: lol, this one really makes me laugh….all the IL 2 series planes including some other fighter bombers…start out with no bomb loadouts…you have to earn them…fine, that’s cool….except for the freaking fact, IL 2, case in point…the requirement to unlock bomb and rocket loadouts, is to play game types that require it for the IL 2, other wise the planes a waste of time…..you really think I’m going to play 10-20 legitimate strike matches with the IL 2 to unlock bombs that it doesn’t have….why would I pick a plane that has no way of destroying ground targets, and sure as hell can’t hold its own against fighters….other than it takes longer to kill me???? Seriously should’ve thought through the unlocks for weapons better…..there’s just no logical progression to a lot of it, mostly with the fighter bombers.
6. P-51D cockpit and DLC planes: hmm, not sure how to approach this one, cause its so lame….The fact that the only way to unlock the P-47 was a downloadable code only receivable through some obscure European company (same with the 152 FW plane TH mode)…I understand having planes that will later be released in DLC…but how do you choose one of the most popular American planes in WWII as the plane you make immediately available to a select few….I would understand if you made it like one of the German jets or something less numerous during the European theatre of war during WWII….and just to rub it in….the P-51D cockpit is actually a P-47D cockpit….what, you think us aviation buffs wouldn’t notice that???? Now that’s just lazy! Hopefully both the TH 152 and P-47 will be available in DLC…
7. Strike targets: Since you don’t let us choose a lower ticket counter for strike…would’ve been cool to see different strike targets like tanks and trucks, or airfields full of planes….something, anything to make the fighter bomber worth something in multiplayer….maybe even large buildings (factories)…for heavy bombers…..the ships are fun to blow up….but seems like better land target options would have given variety along with some targets being accessible as able to be killed by small bombs, so the fighter bombers would feel relevant in strike matches.
8. Campaign AI: Wingman are useless….and the enemy AI consistently does the same thing over and over again….woulda been nice to see more variety here…

Stuff that should be included in the Sequel

1. Just one thing really, aside from fixing all of the above problems….add a movie recording system for multiplayer and single player missions….along with a better mission editor than training mode…..can’t tell you how many times I wish I could analyze a dogfight or just watch something beautiful in this graphically stunning game….but I can’t…and I understand why you didn’t this time…..Publishers….just do us a favor…and I say us because apparently a lot of the customer base agrees…put in a recording system…..and hopefully a training mode that lets you do something other than dogfight…like strike missions…


Dear Anton we’re your customer base…we care…and we want this title to succeed…despite what might appear to be a lot of b*tching…I play this game every night and will buy any DLC that comes out for it….I realize this your guys’ first console sim….just trying to point out improvements that I’ve noticed myself and others seem to be looking for….Anyways…this game is still a blast and I think after the patch comes out it will be amazing…thanks again guys

LA Smack
-with narrative assistance from the Goat

[FilthyPrick]

Thanks for taking the time to sum-up the blog, which I think all BoP fans will agree with. HOWEVER, this game rocks and this release should be considered as extended BETA testing and our purchase is our investment in the game - we are shareholders in the genre

[King Jareth]

Amen to all of this.
I love this game and with a little tweaking it could be awesome. I know the game has to be made for all abilities and interests otherwise its just not feasable but some of the things the sim hardcore minority (sim in the console sense) would like are not difficult to implement (starting altitude, locking cockpit view) and others would benefit all the realism settings.

Thanks for the great post Smack.

[PedroTheGoat]

I of course agree with all of this.

Then again, we ranted on the phone for hours about how much it stinks being beta testers.

The patch can't come soon enough.

[Anton Yudintsev]

Originally Posted by PedroTheGoat

I of course agree with all of this.

Then again, we ranted on the phone for hours about how much it stinks being beta testers.

The patch can't come soon enough.

Guys, that's not true.
What we are fixing in the game - is not bugs (most of it).
Flak effectiveness, custom layouts, redouts/balckouts etc - are actually FEATURES that were added (with the exception of blackouts - there were in the game but thresholds were made ten times higher BECAUSE of beta-test).

So, the fact that we are listening to community feedback, doesn't mean tat the game was released not finished or not polished.
Moreover, in some questions (flak, blackouts) it was overpolished.

Of course, we can pretend that we know better and simply ignore your feedback - most of our audience is arcade players, who are more concerned about the game is being too hard to play - but do you really want that kind proof that you are not Beta-testers? I doubt it.

So that's offending, and untrue, and useless.

[King Jareth]

Are settings like blackout sensitivity universal or linked to the realism level Anton?

[Riceball]

Originally Posted by Anton Yudintsev

Guys, that's not true.
What we are fixing in the game - is not bugs (most of it).
Flak effectiveness, custom layouts, redouts/balckouts etc - are actually FEATURES that were added (with the exception of blackouts - there were in the game but thresholds were made ten times higher BECAUSE of beta-test).

So, the fact that we are listening to community feedback, doesn't mean tat the game was released not finished or not polished.
Moreover, in some questions (flak, blackouts) it was overpolished.

Of course, we can pretend that we know better and simply ignore your feedback - most of our audience is arcade players, who are more concerned about the game is being too hard to play - but do you really want that kind proof that you are not Beta-testers? I doubt it.

So that's offending, and untrue, and useless.

Im sorry you were led to believe that effective flack and blackouts were "over the top". That is just something to expect from a great game. And with different difficulty levels you can always tone it down for the lower diffs. Heroes of the Pacific is arcade and it is pretty damn hard on "Ace" (even with being able to see each target).

You have found a good medium for all players with the three difficulty levels. And a fourth may not be a bad idea. As long as there is a better matchmaking system for multi-player.

It sounds to me that testers thought sim was too hard. The easy way to fix that is some sort of visual ID system for Sim mode. If you look at, or are close enough to a target, you should see it's target info unless it/you move a large distance.

[sod16]

Originally Posted by Anton Yudintsev

Guys, that's not true.
What we are fixing in the game - is not bugs (most of it).
Flak effectiveness, custom layouts, redouts/balckouts etc - are actually FEATURES that were added (with the exception of blackouts - there were in the game but thresholds were made ten times higher BECAUSE of beta-test).

So, the fact that we are listening to community feedback, doesn't mean tat the game was released not finished or not polished.
Moreover, in some questions (flak, blackouts) it was overpolished.

Of course, we can pretend that we know better and simply ignore your feedback - most of our audience is arcade players, who are more concerned about the game is being too hard to play - but do you really want that kind proof that you are not Beta-testers? I doubt it.

So that's offending, and untrue, and useless.

IM sorry but most of your players dont even exist? Have you tried playing it online, thats if you can get into a game? Most people are ages 30 and above and play realistic or simulation... So it looks like your publisher is a bit retarded.

[Mr.Blonde]

How could be the FW-190 series (not counting Doras and TA-152s) high altitude fighters? Germany keep the Bf-109 on production because the performance of the 190 decreased at high altitudes very badly.

Not every plane performs like it's real counterpart. For example, the fake P-51Bs (if they are performing like As) aren't very great even at low altitudes, and if they are supposed to perform like Bs it's even worse.

[moozicmon]

I agree with pretty much everything said in the OP. MP needs a lifeline ASAP. I have have been having a blast playing with different gents from the forum, but how many casual gamers are going to come here? How many casual gamers are aware there is a patch coming soon to fix the major flaws? How many casual gamers are as loyal to this game as this community?

I understand the BS developers run into with publishers, but however this game was tested, it was done poorly

I can't tell you how frustrated knowing all these awesome planes are in the game BUT I CAN'T PLAY THEM BECAUSE THE UNLOCK REQUIREMENTS ARE A JOKE!

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this game. I just don't want to see it fail, and If I am this frustrated, how frustrated is the casual gamer?

NOTE: I'm not asking for more cockpits, improved flight dynamics, special interest requests, historical accuracy, replay option, etc. (although I would LOVE all of those improvements) I am asking for a game that is playable in multiplayer and obtainable unlocks for the casual gamer
This is elementary stuff guys...