Birds of Steel: All the details behind Konami’s latest foray into the aerial combat genre
Konami seem to have caused quite a stir with their impressive ‘reveal’ trailer for their latest title, Birds of Steel.
The game is set in the World War II era, which to be honest, was pretty much done to death by the first person shooter genre. The Medal of Honour series and the Activision’s Call of Duty franchise are by far the biggest culprits behind that crime.
It seems however, that the developers at Gaijin Entertainment think there is still life left in that era as they take the fighting from the ground to the skies.
The studio is well known for their critically acclaimed previous foray into the aerial combat genre with IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey which earned them a solid fan base. Critics gave the Birds of Prey positive reviews, calling the game ‘atmospheric’ and
‘one of the best choices for console-based flight combat’ by none other than IGN.
Konami seemed impressed enough with the potential of another nose dive into the genre as they signed the developer to follow up Birds of Prey up with the freshly teased Birds of Steel.
The trailer itself is not that long, clocking in at just over a minute, but it does reveal plenty and shows off some impressive visuals as well. Take-off sequences from aircraft carriers are seen, bombing missions seem intriguing and aerial dogfights seem
tense as well with an impressive amount of aircraft on screen.
As for the planes, well according to the developer there will be a selection of over a 100 aircraft for the player to choose from, ranging from those used by the Allies as well as the Axis.
One can expect to see World War II classics such as the German Messerschmitt 109 as well as the infamous P-51D Mustangs and the Spitfire, as they have all been confirmed to be in the game and can be seen in the trailer in glorious detail.
A damage mechanic is also reported to be in the game that will affect a player’s handling and control over their aircraft depending on the level of damage taken, as well varying weather effects.
The 20 missions on offer range from ones completely made up as well as real historic battles which make the title all the more enticing.
If that was not enough, Konami went on to reveal two distinct online modes: Dog Fights and the new fan favourite, Co-op. According to the developer, there will be various modes ranging from the standard team death matches to full fledged tournaments along
with the co-op.
If the mouth watering trailer and the flood of details were not enough, the General Manager of Konami Digital Entertainment, Martin Schneider went on to state, “Birds of Steel pushes the throttle of realism by giving fans what they’ve been missing when it
comes to co-operative online gameplay, incredibly realistic visuals and game dynamics, while spanning the entirety of the war’s air campaigns.”
While it is still early days, the anticipation levels are fairly high as one can only hope Gaijin Entertainment can emulate what they did with IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Steel. Based on the trailer at least, it seems to be the case.
The game is set for an early 2012 release across the two major consoles, namely the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360.
Tags: