Before I start rolling with the real meat and potatoes of this blog (i.e. the “fan fiction” of IL-2 and Wings of Prey), I need to address a query from a friend of mine.
“What’s your opinion of Wings of Prey?”
This friend is a very dear friend, for starters. So, I take his questions seriously. Further background illuminates that we are both very tech-savvy (I work in marketing, managing and editing a 350+ page corporate web site and all its email blasts single-handedly; he’s an I.T. director). We both love our PC gaming time. We generally have the same taste in music, movies and gaming genres. We play EvE Online together (plug for my blog about Eve Online here!) We also happen to work for the same company.
So when he asks me “what’s your opinion of Wings of Prey,” I’m not going to knee-jerk respond with “It’s great. Go buy it.” He trusts my judgement, and he trusts me to relay the good, bad and ugly. He knows I used to be a newspaper editor, so he knows I have the skillset to be unbiased (as much as any carbon-based life form with emotions can be).
He also knows $50 is a lot of knuckle-busting at work for disposable income. We both appreciate the value of a dollar in any circumstance, not just when the economy is on the down-side of a cycle. When he mentions he’s considering cancelling his preorder of Star Trek Online to purchase Wings of Prey, if it’s any good, I know he’s looking for a straight answer.
So, what is my opinion?
My first response was that he needed to buy IL-2 Sturmovik 1946. “Need,” not “should.” He and I own every Microsoft Flight Simulator to date, and I know he would get lost for hours (or is that months?) on end in IL-2. And, at a paltry $10 on Steam it’s a very easy recommendation. That, and it’s the greatest combat flight sim evah. But more to the point of WoP…
The graphics are beautiful. I was blown away by the graphics. Still am, in fact. It’s not just the best-looking flight sim I’ve seen in a while, it’s one of the best-looking games I’ve seen in a while.
Gaijin Entertainment uses a good bit of code from Oleg and IL-2 to power WoP, so my expectation of the physics obviously leans to sim versus arcade styles. The devs are very active in their community and forums (the recent patch to allow swastikas in legal countries for free is one example). The campaign is non-dynamic, and while we already have our first DLC in the form of one plane I have concerns about only a promise of a mission editor from the devs currently.
So my opinion, or rather verdict, is still outstanding. I’ve not had enough flight time, nor gotten a chance to prowl multiplayer, to make a determination of its value versus $50. Community support (which can only really happen with a mission editor) will really define the longevity of this game to me.
