Konami Announces World War II Air Simulation Birds of Steel

Konami Digital Entertainment has announced a new game called Birds of Steel, which mixes flight simulation and combat, in development at Gaijin Entertainment and set to be launched on the Xbox 360 and on the PlayStation 3, with the release date in early 2012.

Birds of Steel will simulate some of the most important air power battles of World War II, including well-known attacks in the Pacific, like Midway, Guadalcanal, Coral Sea, but also engagements in Europe like the battle over Malta and the raids over the Ruhr valley in Germany.

Players will also be able to fight in the surprise attack at Pearl Harbour, maybe the most famous air attack of the war.

There are 20 missions for players to enjoy, some of them based on history and some on alternate situations, and gamers will get access to no less than 100 planes that were used by the World War II nations.

Highlights include the well-known Battle of Britain winner, the Spitfire, the P-51D Mustang and the Messerschmidt 109.

The developers are promising that Birds of Steel simulates the effects of weather and battle location and each weapon hit will be accurately simulated in terms of damage deals.

A number of control schemes will be offered, ranging from those suited for arcade players to some designed for those who want full on simulation.

Martin Schneider, who is the general manager at Konami Digital Entertainment, stated when the announcement was made, “For far too long, first-person shooter fans have been tied to the foot soldier point of view, but we aim to bring the seat-of-their-pants skill and daring of dogfighting and aerial combat to a wider audience.”

He added, “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.”