I have never made a secret of my love for air combat games. There's just something about taking to the skies, pushing the Gs, and shooting the hell out of anything that moves (and a bunch of ground targets that don't) that just touches a special part inside of me. Just last night I took time out of being Batman to download the demo for Il2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey, just because it's been so damn long since I've been in the cockpit. I mean, sure, World War II flight combat doesn't match the speed or intensity of, say, H.A.W.X. or Ace Combat, but it'll do in a pinch. And I have to say, it's pretty damn good. And today, 505 Games has released the launch trailer for the game, which lands stores next week.

And here it is:

While I'm psyched to play Birds of Prey, I'm a little bothered by the timing. It's not as though there's any shortage of amazing games backing up on my shelf right now (Arkham Asylum, Madden, Trials HD, et al). But I'm pretty sure that, even though it has possibly the worst game name ever, this one is going to end up in my collection. Anyone else excited by this?