It may have a name straight out of the “random aggression” wordbox, but Gaijin’s flight sim War Thunder is sounding all sorts of interesting. Coming from the developer behind the exceptionally-good IL-2 Sturmovik series of flight sims, this successor isn’t just parachuting into next-generation consoles, but is also going to be one of the first F2P games on the PS4.The team is led by the industry-leading Oleg Maddox and is promising “powerful graphics and speed, intelligent personalization, deeply integrated social capabilities, and innovative cloud options”. We’re assuming the latter is do with cloud gaming and not actual clouds, though Mr Maddox’s boys do make some delightfully curly strato-cirrus.The game features PvP modes, multiple settings for experienced pilots and newbies, tons of PvE content (including campaigns and a mission editor), co-op gameplay, and more authentic planes than you can shake a WREN at. As you can see from the trailer at the bottom, it’s not half bad to look at.It remains to be seen whether the team can make a game that bridges the gap between console and PC audiences, between the hardcore simulator fans who panic at a loose bolt and the arcade fans who expect the plane to bounce off the ground intact. But going free-to-play and on PS4 at launch shows that they’re totally fearless. The game is already available in Open Beta for PC gamers here.“We’re convinced that our cooperation with Sony will not only make the War Thunder franchise better, but it will give our fans a new level of gaming experience that will figuratively blown their mind.” said Gaijin Entertainment’s Creative Director Kirill Yudintsev. “Partnering with Sony Computer Entertainment is the most natural progression for the War Thunder brand, from our hugely successful beginnings on PC with more than 1.5 million players, to our recent announcement that War Thunder is under development for mobile devices. We are excited to bring War Thunder to the leading next-generation platform, the PS4.”

http://www.edge-online.com/features/war-thunder/