WarBirds 2016 – 20th Anniversary Update

By Atlas on September 30, 2015 in Air Combat, Daily News

iEntertainment Network is celebrating WarBird’s 20^th anniversary with WarBirds 2016, now available on steam. For those of you familiar with WarBirds, you’ll find the same solid, classic gameplay of the original packaged with a plethora of new updates in the 2016 version.

For the uninitiated, WarBirds was originally developed by Interactive Creations in 1995. The popularity of the game went on to spawn a large fan following, conventions, multiple sequels and updates, and even a book (WarBirds: The Story So Far). The game is easily one of the longest running online combat flight sims around, and definitely one of the most popular World War II combat flight sims in existence. That said, if you’re a graphics junky and simply can’t stand dated aesthetics then WarBirds 2016 probably won’t be for you.

Key Features

Huge historic terrains with a ridiculously long viewing distance. (I’m talking being able to see the Normandy coast after a London take off)
Realistic flight modeling. (Naturally, all craft are from the WWII era – also, you’ll probably need some real flying skills to take full advantage of the game)
Ballistic modeling of all weapons is accurate for the time period.
Monthly events that pit online players against one another in historic combat.
Constant updates – WarBirds has been going since 1995.

WarBirds 2016 – What’s New?

This update to the long running series brings a lot of new content to the table. For starters, there are 11 new competitive terrains, including:

Pearl Harbor, Japan Islands, Korea, Solomon Islands, Greece, North Sea, New Guinea, Truk, Sicily, and Marstown.

On top of that, you’ll be exploring these new arenas in 6 new aircraft:

P36, MC200, P-38G, Japanese N1K1-J fighter, Nakajima L2d Troop Transport, and British Spitfire 9b

Or maybe one of your favorite aircraft has had its flight model improved, as there are 22 new improved models in 2016. The flight experience, overall, is getting some love with new updates, such as:

Better torque effects, realistic fuel burn modeling, engine overheat damage models, adjusted turn, roll, and climb rates, better gun ballistics, and a better autopilot feature.

The online gameplay is getting some attention too:

Combined Arms Events (air and ground tanks and bombers get up to three wingmen that can be sent on separate missions; players can jump to wingmen at any time!)
Advanced Fight Arena (Fighter Vs. Fighter — including Thursday Night Fight nights broadcast on Twitch TV)
Fighter Pilot Ladders (1v1, 2v2 for WGFP awards — World’s Greatest Fighter Pilot)
New AI drone options
“Operation Lost” (navigate or die!)
“KILL BILL” events where players can get free t-shirts and a free month of online play if they manage to shoot down “Wild Bill” Stealey

Finally, the S3 Events (Squadron Select Series) will be held five Sunday nights per quarter and are one death disqualification events. Meaning, if you die, you’re out for the rest of that night’s combat. If you’re interested in the high stakes combat and tension, you can learn more about the S3 Events and the upcoming October 4^th event, right here.