Game review: Birds Of Steel

Flight sims are a peculiarly old-fashioned gaming experience.

Birds Of Steel isn’t an all-singing all-dancing arcade shooter but a more thoughtful flying simulator that puts you directly into recreations of various Second World War air battles. A lengthy (and very necessary) tutorial process and some rather bland opening exercises take you through the basics before you engage in any dogfights. The graphics are nothing to shout about but the feeling of immersion in bombing campaigns and large-scale aerial skirmishes can be immensely satisfying, particularly once you’ve mastered the complex controls. It’s a little dry, but there’s a lot of depth if you are willing to put in the man hours.

• Birds Of Steel

PS3/Xbox 360, Konami, £29.99