According to Steam I’ve spent sixteen hours with Korea IL-2 so far. During that time I believe I’ve downed just three swept-wing interceptors. This meagre tally of MiG-15s and F-86s is partly a consequence of play choices (Much of my time has been spent flying the history-smothered Mustang and Shooting Star-focused ‘Home by Christmas’ scripted campaign) and partly down to a lack of practice (it’s a while since I last combat flightsimmed in earnest), but it also reflects just how difficult it is to kill small, swift, nimble jets using nothing but nose-mounted MGs and autocannons.
If Korea IL-2’s entertainment value was wholly dependent on its appropriately demanding, missile-free* jet versus jet dogfights then it would be a difficult game to recommend to the inexperienced and easily frustrated, or to armchair aviators with calcifying reflexes, rusty skills, or suboptimal controllers. Fortunately, if you struggle to slay the two sleek bill toppers, that’s not a reason to uninstall. There’s plenty of fun to be had dishing-out destruction in other ways.
* The Sidewinder was used in anger for the first time during the 1958 Second Taiwan Strait Crisis.
Any idiot can clobber one of the game’s plodding B-29s, Tu-2s, or Li-2s, and ravishing scenery, extremely detailed targets, and a cast of flyables dominated by early Fifties ground attack aircraft mean Korea IL-2 is a paradise for PC pilots partial to a spot of tactical bombing, rocket slinging, and strafing.
Tearing down some snow-mantled, tracer-laced valley near Pyongyang in a napalm-toting Shooting Star? Marvellous. Glancing over your shoulder in a flak-ravaged Mustang to see water surging through the dam you’ve just breached? Glorious. Peering through the armoured cockpit glass of a plunging, rocket-armed IL-10 at a steam train hurrying for the safety of the next tunnel? Thrilling.
There’s little point in me describing how well 1CGS’s new engine captures the look of their Chosin chosen theatre when a panoply of screenshots will make the point far better…
And bear in mind that none of the above were snapped with maxed-out graphics options. Discovering early on that these settings produced both stunning vistas and fast, fluent frame-rates on my not-exactly-cutting-edge rig, I’ve not visited the visuals section since. I wish achieving beauty and fluency in other sims was equally easy.
One area where I think Korea could and should do better is instruction. Not only is there no manual and no tutorials explaining flight and GUI basics, interactive type-specific tutelage is non-existent. Presently, if you can’t find the help you need in the aircraft’s virtual handbook, then your only option seems to be a forum search.
After multiple failed attempts to get heavily-laden F-80s off the ground safely, bruised and baffled I ceased fiddling with JATO boosters, water injection, flaps, and throttle, and handed control to the autopilot during Shooting Star take-offs.
Always a key press away, said autopilot is adept at spin recovery and will happily fly entire sorties for you if you fancy a break. Used judiciously in conjunction with time deceleration, target icons, the new quick control panel (see above), and realism reducers such as unlimited ammo, it de-intimidates most activities in Korea IL-2 pretty effectively.
In the light of the ongoing price debate (‘Is this game actually worth $80?’) I reckon it’s worth remembering that there hasn’t been a serious Korean War flight sim since 1999, and on release that sim cost roughly £50 in today’s money.
MiG Alley had a cracking printed manual and a more sophisticated dynamic campaign engine, it’s true. However it was inferior in terms of steed choice, cockpit verisimilitude, and flight and damage modelling.
The standard £71 edition of Korea IL-2 comes with six mounts (F-86A-5 Sabre, F-80C Shooting Star, F-51D Mustang, MiG-15bis, IL-10, and Yak-9P*) reproduced convincingly rather than obsessively/wearyingly. Rowan’s effort only came with a cockpit-equipped Sabre, Shooting Star, Thunderjet, Mustang, and MiG-15.
* You need to spend an additional £17 in order to get the F-84E Thunderjet and LA-11.
How does IL-2 Korea’s AI compare to MiG Alley’s? As I’ve gravitated towards ground attack and haven’t flown Rowan’s relic in yonks, I think it’s best I hold my tongue on that subject for the time-being. While it’s not hard to find accounts of disobedient and accident-prone wingmen in the forums, I confess I’ve noticed nothing especially jarring during Week #1 except somewhat nonchalant/steadfast bombers, and a familiar tendency for dogfighting prop fighters to carousel.
Pleasingly, enemy MiGs seem to grasp some period tactics. On the few occasions I’ve crossed contrails with them, they’ve made good use of their speed advantage, and employed vertical manoeuvres to good effect.
Launching with just two sorties in the single mission folder was an odd decision by 1CGS. Creating varied standalone action with the task editor (aka the Quick Mission Builder) is a piece of cake, but all the same, more outings inspired by actual events would have been nice.
During my second week with the sim I plan to try my hand at leading a squadron in career mode. Where campaigns simply ask you to fly a sequence of scripted sorties, this option has you attempting to fulfil a daily goal by tasking sorties, organising pilots, requesting resources, and dealing with unforeseen distractions. There are 19 mission types available to squadron leaders at present…
- Intercept bombers (daytime or nighttime)
- Intercept heavy bombers (daytime or nighttime)
- Airfield defence
- Patrol of a designated area
- Combat air patrol
- Escort transports
- Escort heavy bombers
- Attack vehicle column
- Attack armored column
- Attack artillery
- Attack frontline
- Attack railway junction
- Attack airfield
- Attack troops
- Traffic interdiction
- Close air support
- Transfer to a new airfield
…and this list is set to double in size by the end of the year.
Sadly, Korea’s most complex module is, right now, one of its worst documented. Will I end up confused, overwhelmed, or bored? I’ll let you know next Friday. I’m already resigned to the fact that my bombers won’t cause persistent damage (that’s coming in a future update) and aircraft involved in career action may sometimes exhibit odd behaviours. 1CGS admit that they’re still teaching their AI to adapt to the myriad situations possible in this mode.
Even if I don’t gel with the sim’s semi-dynamic long game, I doubt the disappointment will be potent enough to dissipate the affection that has built up over the past seven days. Unsurprisingly perhaps, the people that gave us Rise of Flight and IL-2 Great Battles, seem to have delivered another gorgeous, gripping, approachable warbird sim. The fact that Korea IL-2 explores a conflict that few studios have touched before, and stars some of history’s shiniest warbirds, scores it extra brownie points in my book.
I’d love to get this but I’m still put off by the developer’s support for the invasion of Ukraine.