Sorry to say but IL2 graphics does beat the pants off AH2. But it should... All of the coding and scripting is alot more complex, they are working with Ubisoft etc etc. They have alot more people on the dev team aswell. Are they both fun? Yeah. But I would vote IL2FB/PF to be alot more realistic and have alot more eye candy than AH2 does.
Considering the fact that the game uses 2 CDs for initial installation and another CD for expansion, AH2 isn't really all that shabby.
The quality of the terrain is a big minus for AH2, but considering that the AH system takes a different approach its not bad at all.
The AH terrain is created by a utility that allows the players to mold and shape every aspect to their own taste. If HTC gave up on this approach and made a non-player accessible terrain, I'm pretty sure they could have made a much more prettier looking one.
The quality of the 3D models were never too far apart, and whatever difference there was, the 'new standard' HT has commented on, seems to be quickly catching up whatever difference there was in the first place.
So then, why is it AH looks 'gamey' and IL2 series looks so better?
Because, the 'cockpit experience' of IL2 feels much more real than AH.
In flight sim games more than 90% of playing time is spent inside cockpits. However, it was this part that AH was so weak.
1. The 'generic cockpit layout' made it easy for players to access the guages, but it sacrificed the historical feel of the planes totally. The end result is the 'gamey', 'generic' feeling.
2. Another problem is that combat effects are still way too much lacking.
Ofcourse, AH2 has made huge progress in implementation of the tracer smoke and etc.. but there is a room for a lot of improvement. The bullet holes only show on the wings, the damaged/broken areas are clean-cut, the hit sprites are still crudely texture based, and etc etc.
Il-2 has a huge amount of eye-candy in various situations.... like, the flowing fuel that drips out of the hole when a fuel-leaking plane lands.. the hit effects... cannon-hit explosions.. API flashes... metallic particles trailing the plane upon bullet impact... temporary flames/fires ignited due to hydraulics that die out over time... etc etc..
While most of these might seem too graphic intense, there are some small things which could have been implemented in AH2 but that are left neglected. For instance, having the camera shake slightly when a plane enters flak zones.. a close impact of the flak throwing off a big vibration.. GVs experiencing vibration of the camera as bombs land nearby.. and etc etc..
3. The third and most important aspect, is what Mando nailed down - the lighting effects. AH2 feels very different from AH1 visually, since the lighting effects were strengthened. But compared to IL2, the lightings are still too weak.
