IL-2 Korea is working very well for an early access

[streakeagle]

I have tried the "exams" for the P-51D, F-84G, F-86A, and MiG-15bis. Once I got my controls mapped correctly, I had no problem taking off, dogfighting, and landing. The flight models and controls are so similar between IL-2 Korea and DCS World that experience in one will largely make you proficient in the other. I have not tried multiplayer.

The graphics are comparable to DCS World, but that comes at the price of performance. Unlike the older IL-2 titles, the frame rates in VR are the same or lower than in DCS World. However, even with lower frame rates, the game looks smooth: I don't really see any stuttering. As some YouTube reviews have cited, the 0.50 caliber guns seem to be somewhat more effective than most other games. The only problem I have had so far is that the F-86 wings would snap off easily. But the 0.2 patch appears to have solved that problem despite not being listed in the patch notes.

Besides having period correct aircraft and ground objects, the big advantage over DCS World is having a proper Korea map. It generally looks as good as the best DCS World maps without the performance penalty down low that some DCS maps have. I will say that after flying the Caucasus map as a substitute for Korea in DCS for so many years, that I see quite a bit of similarity between some parts of the IL-2 Korea map and the DCS Caucasus map. But I still wish DCS had a Korea map.

As IL-2 Korea has turned out to be very well done, I suspect that this level of competition will guarantee that DCS will never focus on Korea. Someone interested in the Korean air war will be much better off buying IL-2 Korea. I hope IL-2 Korea is successful enough to justify continued development to further expand the flyable aircraft set as well as adding aircraft carrier operations. I still have Rowan's MiG Alley in the original box. I loved that game, but it was never fully patched up and was quickly rendered obsolete by newer games... especially SFP1 with the Korea map and mods. IL-2 Korea has taken the crown for best Korean air war combat simulator, leaving Rowan's MiG Alley and SFP1/SF2 Korea mods far behind. SF2 Korea is not totally obsolete: it still has a much more diverse flyable aircraft set and supports aircraft carrier operations. But IL-2 Korea's support for VR and multiplayer and its modern graphics quality make it the better choice if you can live with the current flyable aircraft set.