IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover

IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover is a World War II combat flight simulator released in 2011. It was originally developed by the Russian software house 1C:Maddox Games but since 2012 it is under development by Team Fusion Simulations, who in 2017 released an improved version of the game under the name IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover BLITZ. The basic game represents the Battle of Britain during the Summer of 1940 while an add-on released in 2020 represents the air combats during the Western Desert campaign in North Africa in the period 1940-1943.

IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover
Developer(s)1C:Maddox Games
Team Fusion Simulations
Publisher(s)
SeriesIL-2 Sturmovik 
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release
  • EU: March 31, 2011
  • NA: April 26, 2011
  • JP: July 29, 2011
[1]
Genre(s)Combat flight simulator
Mode(s)Single-player, Multiplayer

The game inherits the name IL-2 Sturmovik from the Il-2 Sturmovik classical simulator (originally released in 2001) and is considered as the second generation in the IL-2 Sturmovik series because it runs its own game engine instead of sharing it with the two other generations.

Development and release

During development the game was originally called Storm of War: Battle of Britain and scheduled as a November 2006 release.[2] In January 2011 Ubisoft revealed the current name for the game and release date of 31 March 2011.[3] Upon Russian and EU release, the developers acknowledged a number of serious bugs and performance issues. These were somewhat corrected via patches from 1C:Maddox Games.

In October 2012, it was revealed on the 1C forums that development had fallen short of the original goals and that 1C:Maddox Games was unwilling to continue supporting the title. Cliffs of Dover was planned to be supplemented by a new theater, Moscow, but 1C chose not to continue development with the game engine, instead incorporating a similar, Russian, theatre into the next title in the series with a new game engine, IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad.[4][5][6][7] That latter, the third generation in the IL-2 series, is being developed by 1C Company and 777 Studios, which is the developer of the WWI flight simulator Rise of Flight: The First Great Air War.[8] This makes IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover the second generation in the IL-2 Sturmovik series of air combat simulators.

Team Fusion Simulations modding and official development

Shortly after the announcement of official development ceasing for Cliffs of Dover, a community modding team known as Team Fusion further stabilized and enhanced the game by community patches.

On 21 December 2016, it was announced that 1C Game Studios had come to an agreement with the re-named Team Fusion Simulations to cooperate on future releases of Cliffs of Dover, and grant them access to the game's source code. A patched and improved version, IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover BLITZ, was released in December 2017.[9][10]

On 6 August 2020, Team Fusion Simulations released the first official BLITZ add-on, IL-2 Sturmovik: Desert Wings – Tobruk, which is set in the skies of North Africa during the Western Desert campaign from 1940 to 1943.[11]

Gameplay

The game features singleplayer mode, which can be played in campaigns, single missions, or user-created missions made with the in-game mission editor. It also features a multiplayer mode that can support up to 128 players as well as AI controlled aircraft. It is also possible to play in a co-op mode. As of 2017 the game simply named IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover is abandoned, being definitely replaced by IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover BLITZ. Owners of the old IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover version can upgrade their game to the BLITZ version for free.

Cliffs of Dover is known for its complex and detailed damage modelling system, which models the aircraft's airframe, engine, cooling systems, control systems and more, and accurately applies damage to the correct part of the correct system when hit by a bullet.[12] The cockpits in the game are fully modelled in 3D, and many of the switches can be operated with the mouse.

Back in March 2011 (this is, upon release), the original version of the game featured 12 flyable aircraft with variants and about 25 total aircraft including AI controlled planes.

Basic game and add-ons as of version 5.0 (August 2020)

Reception
Reception
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings51.40%[15]
Metacritic60/100[16]
Review scores
PublicationScore
GameSpot4/10[17]
IGN6/10[18]
PC Gamer (UK)72%[19]
PC Gamer (US)45%[20]

The game was met with very mixed reception upon release, as GameRankings gave it a score of 51.40%,[15] while Metacritic gave it 60 out of 100.[16]

The preliminary critical Metacritic rating for the BLITZ Edition release is 70 out of 100.[21]

References
  1. "Steam 上的 IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover". Steam. Retrieved 2016-10-19.
  2. "Ubisoft Rides Into The Storm of War™: Battle of Britain". Ubisoft. 11 May 2006. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  3. Smith, Quinton (18 January 2011). "IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs Of Dover Announced". RPS. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  4. luthier (1 April 2011). "Il-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover Roadmap - Official 1C Company forum". 1C Company. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  5. luthier (6 April 2011). "Tuesday April 5th Development Update - Official 1C Company forum". 1C Company. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  6. luthier (8 April 2011). "Il-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover: Patch 1.0.13954 - Official 1C Company forum". 1C Company. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  7. New IL-2 Sturmovik Title in Development
  8. Nunneley, Stephany (11 December 2012). "IL-2 Sturmovik sequel Battle of Stalingrad announced by 1C, 777 studios". VG247. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  9. "1C Game Studios to Cooperate with Team Fusion on IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover". IL-2 Sturmovik Forum. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
  10. Luke Plunkett (2018-02-28). "Mods Saved A Game, So They're Now An Official Product". kotaku.com.
  11. "IL-2 Sturmovik: Desert Wings – Tobruk is Out Now, The new addition to the critically acclaimed aerial combat simulation series takes you over the sands of North Africa, August 6, 2020"
  12. "Il-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover interview. We talk to Oleg Maddox and Ilya Shevchenko". pcgamer. Retrieved 2018-10-25.
  13. IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover BLITZ official webpage.
  14. IL-2 Sturmovik: Desert Wings – TOBRUK official webpage.
  15. "IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  16. "IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  17. VanOrd, Kevin (15 April 2011). "IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  18. Goble, Gord (6 September 2011). "IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover Review". IGN. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  19. Stone, Tim (June 2011). "IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover review". PC Gamer UK: 84. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  20. "IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover". PC Gamer: 74. July 2011.
  21. "IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover BLITZ Edition". Metacritic. Retrieved 2018-10-25.
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