Birds of Steel

Konami's announced flight sim Birds of Steel, a new IP set to land on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Developed by Gaijin Entertainment, Birds of Steel is described as "a breath-taking combat simulator featuring some of the most pivotal air battles of World War II", including the battle of Midway, Guadalcanal, Coral Sea, the historic attack on Pearl Harbour, the Mediterranean Maltese island, Germany's Ruhr Valley, and others.

Birds of Steel offers 20 historical and a wealth of fictitious missions, spanning eight campaigns, and players are given access to over 100 planes from the entire axis and allied forces rosters, which are promised to have "faithfully recreated" in terms of handling, capabilities and weaponry.

The classic Spitfire, P-51D Mustangs, and Messerschmidt 109 are all there (thank goodness), and Konami's promising a "breath-taking level of detail", with the weather effects of each war zone "brilliantly brought to life", while battle-scarred planes are susceptible to damage and will suffer in terms of control accordingly.

As for the online component, the flight sim will support both co-op missions and online dogfights.

"Gaijin are busy creating a series of absorbing missions for online users, with team death matches, co-op strike missions, airfield raids, and tournament play all set to throw open the skies for the most intense aerial combat ever to grace the PlayStation3 and Xbox 360 systems," says Konami. "Squadrons can even edit their finest hours to showcase their skills, and share them with their peers."

Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH GM, Martin Schneider said of the game: "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.

"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."