IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946
IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946
Game
Game2017
IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover Blitz Edition
Developer Team Fusion Simulations, 1C: Maddox Games
Scramble to intercept in your RAF Spitfire or Hurricane. Or join huge formations of German or Italian Fighters and Bombers as they roar across the Channel towards London. Decide the fate of Britain! From the Steam store page
208 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy) · newest Oct 25, 2026 · last updated Nov 4, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
62
Fresh
115 positive · 70 negative
95% range 55–69%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 115 | 70 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 5 | 0 | 9 |
| Lemmy * | 1 | 0 | 8 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
795 of 1,134 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
64% recommend · 119 yes, 68 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 187 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (1,258 of 1,783 positive).
Many players praise the flight and damage models as superior to other sims. [1][2][3] Several reviewers complain about terrible control setup and key binding issues. [4][5][6] Some players note the lack of VR support as a major drawback. [7][8]
Liked
Representative posts
- [7]
Bought this because I read a dev post from mid 2022 that they were introducing VR in an upcoming patch. Unfortunately as of September 2024 there is still no VR compatibility, although they do say they plan on introducing it but the last communication was 6 months ago.
- [6]
keybinds get randomly deleted, probably the SINGLE worse key-bind and UI out of any flight sim i've ever played man
- [1]
A far better sim to IL2 Battle of Stalingrad (AKA Great Battles) and DCS, I would say this is almost as good as IL2 1946. It has its problems, the mission builder is not easy to use, sometimes it forgets the controls (but if you save the control scheme you can reload it. On the one occasion it didn't work for me, a PC restart fixed it) but I've had the same problem with DCS and IL2 BoS. The UI is a bit meh. But the …
- [13]
Has probably the worst UI ever put in a "real" video game, it looks like it belongs to an asset flip phone game and frequently breaks. Pretty cool, immersive and detailed sim though, the one thing it's missing for me personally would be a dynamic career mode (like the other IL-2 has) to enhance replay value for single players, there are mods for that though.
- [2]
Hidden gem - Older than Great Battles but its almost a deeper sim. Revived by Team Fusion and there extensive mod is now part of the default game. Better physics, flight model Full fidelity cockpits The true sequel to 1946. Looks good for its age, plays even better Still being worked on, about to release a multicrew 4 engine Bomber the B-17 which will be a first for WW2 flight sims. Prequel timeline to Great Battles …
Summarised from 34 of the 211 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 10, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover Blitz Edition sits at 62% positive across 185 opinionated reactions from 3 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Reactions
60 of 208 · most liked firstHuh.. I am genuinely surprised that War Thunder is adding infantry. The end result kinda looks like serious milsim Battlefield? Wild considering that War Thunder started out as an IL-2 Sturmovik spinoff and was retrofit into a F2P game. You can still find some of the old campaign missions in there!
neutral · AI labelView post →Bought this because I read a dev post from mid 2022 that they were introducing VR in an upcoming patch. Unfortunately as of September 2024 there is still no VR compatibility, although they do say they plan on introducing it but the last communication was 6 months ago.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Weekend PC Game Deals: Award winners, VR festivals, new choices and more. - Cyberpunk 2077 – $29.99 on Steam - No Man's Sky – $29.99 on Steam - Resident Evil 4 – $29.99 on Steam - HITMAN World of Assassination – $27.99 on Steam - Medieval Dynasty – $26.24 on Steam - BONEWORKS – $23.99 on Steam - GTFO – $23.99 on Steam - VTOL VR – $20.99 on Steam - Tetris Effect: Connected – $19.99 on Steam - Automobilista 2 – $19.99 on Steam - Red Dead Redemption 2 – $19.79 on Steam - Hi-Fi RUSH – $19.12 on…
neutral · AI labelView post →I just got the game (at a major discount, it was only 10 euros for this and the Africa DLC). I already played IL2 GB Bodenplatte and Moscow so I can compare this to the GB series. I use TRack IR5 and a VKB Gladiator NXT and of course the keyboard. To be honest I was put off at first by the UI too, but after fiddiling with it for 15 minutes I think its actually okay and seems to get the job done. The UI and the Mixed reviews are what put me off from buying it innitially, but many of the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →> Gorelkin said that Russian consoles aren't being designed only to play ports of hundreds of old, less-demanding games. He added that they should primarily serve the purpose of promoting and popularizing domestic video game products. The fundamental problem here is that software is an example of a product that has high [fixed costs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed_cost), low [variable costs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_cost). For products like that, scale matters a lot,…
neutral · AI labelView post →I've been waiting to write a review of this sim for awhile. After Team Fusion took over, they began a long journey to improve upon an abandoned game. What they have done is nothing short of a masterpiece. The flight control, engine management, AI improvements, damage models all there in it's glory. ngl the cannon sounds alone are amazing. I know many people are waiting for the VR support that is being worked on but they are missing out on a fantastic sim. New aircraft are planned in a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have had IL2 since the very first version came out, so I really should love it. However, the handling of the aircraft has just got worse and worse (it was never good). The planes seem to twitch and skid all over the sky, and constantly bump around...very unrealistic. Is it really too much to ask for a smooth flight model with precision control, just like the real aircraft? For reference, I am a qualified pilot and have flown piston trainers like the T-28 and P-2, and have flown in numerous…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →wsp al for anyone with a steamdeck this is the perfect flightsim ,good interactive cockpits amazing planes,the best ramage model.i recomend this game for flight sim enjoyers especiely on steam deck,its only around 11 gb
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A diamond in the rough. Il-2 Cliffs of Dover (Il-2 CloD) has a lot going for it and the potential is there for something really excellent. But, at the moment, it's very much a flight sim for dedicated enthusiasts. For the base game, you can't go wrong for £8.49 but if you're a beginner you might find more immediate fun with DCS World or Il-2 Great Battles. For the more dedicated types and by this I mean more tolerant of rough edges, this sim offers a lot that others don't. It offers…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I can't recommend this game mainly because the controls are horrible. Every time I assign keys, they either get deleted or just don't work at all. I highly recommend getting IL 2 1946 and/or IL to Battle of Stalingrad.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I stopped playing IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946 in 2008. As a result, I completely missed the game’s release, which was buggy upon release. In 2019, I returned to flying, bought this game, tried it out, and uninstalled it. I’m still waiting for the wing control surfaces to move smoothly, and I’m patiently awaiting VR support—which, according to promises, should have been here long ago—or the Dieppe DLC promised until recently for the end of 2024, which was two years ago. I do not recommend buying this…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hidden gem - Older than Great Battles but its almost a deeper sim. Revived by Team Fusion and there extensive mod is now part of the default game. Better physics, flight model Full fidelity cockpits The true sequel to 1946. Looks good for its age, plays even better Still being worked on, about to release a multicrew 4 engine Bomber the B-17 which will be a first for WW2 flight sims. Prequel timeline to Great Battles - We can enjoy both.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A far better sim to IL2 Battle of Stalingrad (AKA Great Battles) and DCS, I would say this is almost as good as IL2 1946. It has its problems, the mission builder is not easy to use, sometimes it forgets the controls (but if you save the control scheme you can reload it. On the one occasion it didn't work for me, a PC restart fixed it) but I've had the same problem with DCS and IL2 BoS. The UI is a bit meh. But the actual flying is so, so much better than DCS or IL2 BoS. The AI fighters are…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →keybinds get randomly deleted, probably the SINGLE worse key-bind and UI out of any flight sim i've ever played man
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I’ve played most flight simulators since 2001. From time to time I play IL-2: Great Battles, and I play DCS regularly. Compared to them, IL-2: Cliffs of Dover feels both morally and technically outdated — it still lacks VR support and has a very small player community. But every time I return to IL-2: CloD, I truly enjoy it. No other game captures the atmosphere of the Battle of Britain so well — and soon we’ll even have the 1942 period with the Allison powered Mustang! The AI aircaft is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good Game (Canvas To Add To) Horrible UI/Systems with very limited ingame information telling you what to do and how to do it???? Yes Forums can help but alot of the issues could easily be sorted out/addressed within the game if the devs did it right.... Not everyone has the time to set it up. Its a real shame because they only made it half way there in terms of development. The controls just simple are terrible and even with thrustmaster or a joypad (Xbox or Playstation, Logitech) it is simple…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Have had this one for years and just cannot get the flight controls to work. The Joystick Wizard does nothing and the key bindings options screen never fully works.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I got this for $2 off a key site. I think it's better than Il-2 GB in every way. If you review this negatively you should be lynched with a bungee cord around your neck off a skyscraper. Pros: - best damage model of any WW2 sim - tons of planes, a few obscure ones no other sim has - best sound design, or at least on par with DCS Cons: - you gotta really like BoB / early war cuz that's all you get - no VR support, so this is only played by head tracker chads. a lot of flight simmers use VR so…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Absolutely atrocious setup problems if you're trying to get a joystick or any other devices to work with this simulator. I've tried setting up using both the recommended joysticwizard program and the internal setup and neither works. The issue with the latter is that the screen changes to a different resolution and I suspect that there is a save button that's completely invisible as it doesn't fit on the screen. This looks to be a really good sim and I had the very first in the series as a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hello, I am a frequent flyer! Neglect pre 2024 comments! Cliffs of Dover Blitz is not perfect, but with a little Batlle of Brittain determination there is a world of Flight Sim enjoyment to discover. The Community is helpful!, suporting, funny and flight experienced. Conquer the game like the BOB pilots had to concquer the planes and their qualities. Curiosity requierd! Buy the Bundle!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Has probably the worst UI ever put in a "real" video game, it looks like it belongs to an asset flip phone game and frequently breaks. Pretty cool, immersive and detailed sim though, the one thing it's missing for me personally would be a dynamic career mode (like the other IL-2 has) to enhance replay value for single players, there are mods for that though.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My game time is literally 85% trying to sort the controls out both on joystick and game pad and the other 15% flying around bouncing about with the most unstable flight control i've ever seen or used. My controls are still not sorted and i'm finally giving up. Do not waste your money.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The graphics are dated and the controls and flight model are GODAWFUL. There is no default mapping; even loading the mapping script in my joystick's configuration editor, it doesn't work. Tried manually mapping the controls in the terrible in-game interface, and the airplane is still UNCONTROLLABLE. For reference, I am a professional pilot with plenty of flight sim experience, and I can't even take a plane off without crashing in this game. They simply do not respond to the controls properly,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Right now this is my most favourite WWII flying sim! I Have flown in IL-2 Forgottenbattles 1946, IL-2 Bos now Box and Warthunder. Cliffs of Dover has a bit higher learning curve than other titles but it is the most realistic representation of WWII Aircombat that I have experienced. Flight and damage modes are much better than in other games. The overall immersion is stronger as well. Game got lot of negative critisism from its realy sloppy start back in the 2011. But in actual Blitz-fromat…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Its a good game. i bought it at full price (you shouldnt cus there is a sale almost every month), because i didnt want to spend 40 bucks on the BOS. Its good, ww2 and battle of britian themed. good physic, good sounds, friendly for beginners although i would buy it without a joystick. if you really like it you should consider buying the IL-2 GREAT BATTLES too. but good for spending 20 minutes of your free time. One more thing. Binding the keys for the controls is very easy but make sure to save…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I’m sure this is a great game, no criticism of the wider game. Just more of a PSA for prospective purchasers. There is no “easy” inbuilt controller support in the game. It all has to be painstakingly mapped yourself. If you are a sim person, have the time and patience then all good.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I like the gameseries and there is not really nothing wrong with this game per said or Team Fusion Simulations who have kept the game alive for years but Fulqrum Publishing who is the publisher decided to go full nuclear with this statement. If your mod uses anything from a game that has "Faces of War/Men of War" in the name, we need your mods to be updated by the end of the week to remove any copyright-infringing content. Great so since you ♥♥♥♥♥♥ over MOW 2 and Bestway and legally fought…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I think if this game had more simplistic options for plane controls like the newer IL-2 Battle of Stalingrad game then this would be a wonderful game. If you are a flying expert then you are lucky. You have the knowledge. If you are like me and more of a arcade like Ace Combat like player then this would strongly not be for you. The control settings is just so overwhelming that I don't know where to look for what is most important and most simplistic to just let me do what I want to do, which…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An absolutely fantastic WW1/WW2 flight sim! Looks great, plays great and the sounds are superb. And all for under £10! If VR arrives it will be complete!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →> I will try to add every single thing suggested here I wouldn't, if you want the game to do well. And I'd rather not constrain you to do so, because I don't want to negatively-impact your game. But I think that the discussion is an interesting one to have. Let's see. What are some of the things that I've missed or wanted? **Stale Genres** There are some genres that were once bigger, haven't had a lot going on for a while. I kind of miss these. * **Space-based fighter combat**.…
neutral · AI labelView post →A revamped, old-school game that is the best for what it is: the best as has been made true to life sim for ww2 air combat in the battle of britain. One will need to know more about controllers, modification of keyboard and controller layouts, about the planes themselves and be an aero/ww2 geek on top of all of the rest. I've seen some complaints from the warthunder crowd... Yah, this is a true to life sim: you'll have to manage things just like they did in the day! and it's all there: every…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not only did this ♥♥♥♥ not have VR but it also doesn't have controller support, I tried all of my controllers that work on every other game and none of them do anything in menus or ingame.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Stupid interface, its a good game, but it is such a pain to multi-crew
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I think this game is superior to GB series, but the UI is horrible, and multiplayer is hard to use. Does not help that the game is dead. Sadly I cannot recommend it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The sim was actually much better than I expected. As a longtime user of DCS and Great Battles, I wasn't expecting too much, and I was pleasantly surprised by what I've found. In fact, in some cases, I've even found the flight model to be the best of the three. As much as I love DCS, it's damn-near impossible to kick the Bf.109 into departure, and the penalty for not coordinating a turn is minimal ... if it exists at all. Cliffs of Dover, on the other hand, rewards skilled flying, while…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bad user interface, unstable fps . Dont waste your time on this game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →it is a solid, good game with great potential. but be aware: if you are playing with a joystick, you may have to bind controls in game. maybe unlike other flight sims, you'll be constantly trimming your aircraft. development may seem slow, since the developers work more as hobbyists (since they have to work on the project part-time or in their free time) but checking on their discord, it's constantly active. overall, it has great flight models, greatly modelled aircraft, and great potential,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After 30 min trying to configure my mainstream flying stick I give up. Control surfaces work well, but the game will absolutely not accept a "firing" button in my HOTAS Xbox/PC flying sticks. Very frustrating.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i really enjoyed doing a cold start in a spitfire during an attack and taking off to claim two stukas
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really nice, immerssive early war sim, AI can be funky, like most sims, UI could use an overhaul and a mission generator like IL-2 GB would be nice, really looking forward to the next DLC.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game does not do what it says on the Tin ! There is only a Luftwaffe campaign No RAF Campaign at all . And no help available either
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You know, I used to really like this game. Looked kind of good for the time, and still not so bad. It has loads of aircraft I liked, Beaufighter, Blenheim, Wellington, and also North Africa as a threatre. Thing is, I love playing as a gunner. but just wasted a couple of hours of my life trying to set up a turret to fire. IL2 Forgotten Battles is complex, with multiple inputs, but you get there in the end. Unfortunately, IL2, Cliffs of Dover, while offering lots of planes with turrets, doesn't…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You would think a flight simulator would have 1. A joystick wizard that works. 2. Some support for track IR or VR. Getting this thing to work is a headache. Just get DCS
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →removed a bunch of stuff I WANT but I could play earlier games in the series first or they're IL-2 Sturmovik DLC also removed that Star Trek Voyager game and its DLC, which I want a lot b/c Voyager was my first Star Trek and the game is apparently good, but no :(
neutral · AI labelView post →This game a nightmare . Every time I turn on the game to play using the Configs I saved on my thrustmaster 16000m for some reason does not save .. fed up absolute fed up 😠😠
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Touches on the technical side of flying, Charts, Dead Reckoning, Engine Management. The sim shows it's age but there's nothing else that delves into these topics in detail in the same way. In the game menus, you can visit "Manuals" which opens a file directory with hundreds to thousands of pages of technical information about maps, systems and aircraft. Small dev team that really have something unique. What other game/sim can you multi-crew a bomber (Full crew of Pilot, Bombardier and Multiple…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Its a beautiful game. Before Il2 Great battles came out this was THE WW2 Flight sim. We had huge MP servers and it was a lot of fun. Just needs some damage modeling and gameplay tweaks IMO. The devs are small group that works on this still. They need more resources but are pecking away at updates.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This one is niche. Il-2: Cliffs of Dover Blitz Edition optimises and sometimes entirely revamps an ever-aging title. The latter is best exemplified by clickable cockpits. This game is an enduring passion project for the developers who took the helm of this title, and it shows. Admittedly, the UI and menus retain their clunk, but they are still intuitive (far more so than, say, Il-2 1946). The game comes with an external joystick configurator in the root directory, which can bypass the clunk…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If I could paly the game it would be enjoyable but the setting up of the controls is a never ending struggle with set ups getting corrupted. The "Joystick Wizard" is useless. Sorry I spent money on the game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I had to give up War Thunder and the newer Il-2 Sturmovik because of their ties to Russia, because I can't in good consience give any more money to Russian game developers. Which sucks even though it's a small sacrifice. I really liked those games!
positive · AI labelView post →This product works 'most' of the time. But I still have the same problem as everyone else. Cant assign certain stick and throttle function and assignments just drop out occasionally. But this happens with Cliffs of Dover, Battle of Stalingrad (Apparently this has been going on for years) and MFS 2024.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Information overload and not well explained. hard to even map controls.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The joystick wizard simply does not work. Shame as I've played this game for years. Upgraded PC and reinstalled. Three hours of attempting to set up the joystick then eventually gave up.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE?!!!!!!!.... BUT IN VR THIS WILL RULE THE SKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Looking for most realistic WW2 dog fight? This flight sim is one of the best and will not disappoint you. Set all the parameters to max realism and enjoy the experience. Build your own scripted campaign. It will take some time to develop your skills but the satisfaction is definitely worth the investment.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The is unplayable and too complicated to understand for new player. The joystick settings setup is not even working at all. Very disappointed.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Like many others my hotas x cant setup Way too much trouble to continue to try.Not even worth the $ 2.99 I paid on sale- refunded.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Since I got this on sale for next to nothing, I would recommend it. Otherwise, buy with caution. Getting in to the game things feel a bit lazy, the UI looks like something out of a unity game, and the music is terrible compared to the original IL-2 Sturmovik. The actual gameplay is pretty much identical to the original with some improvements. It's clear this was intended as a new campaign for players of the original game, plus an upgrade to the visuals. To be honest, everything looks great…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →>you have to start by creating a witcher 1 before you can dream I mean, there are good Russian games out there (at least in my opinion). Off-the-cuff, *Il-2 Sturmovik* is one of the better flight sims, though the 1946 game, while greatly-extended and possessing a real dynamic campaign, is elderly. I brought it up a while back, because I was concerned about the fact that if someone has the game installed and Steam can push out updates to the thing, then it's basically a non-isolated binary…
neutral · AI labelView post →I havent played it a lot but im going to give my pros and cons Pros 1. The ai is actually competent and puts up quite a bit of fight compared to great battles ai which is basically a turkey shoot 2. Supports large battles and you can have dozens of aircraft at once in the air creating a really impressive fight 3. Damage model and physics are really good, not as good as great battles but in my opinion the better ai and larger battles make up for it. 4. The game runs really well on my pc at…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
Posts are quoted from public profiles with links to the original. Want yours removed? Contact us.