Birds of Steel is a combat flight simulator set during World War II. It contains over 100 licensed airplanes from the different sides, including planes from Australia, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Japan, USA, and the USSR. Next to well famous aircraft it also includes for instance the much lesser known Australian CAC Boomerang of which only 250 were made.

In singleplayer there is a historical campaign for both the American and Japanese side. Overall the different missions include Attack on Pearl Harbor, Battle of Wake Island, Guadalcanal Campaign, Battle of Midway, Battle of the Coral Sea, Siege of Malta, Battle for the Kuban, Port Moresby, and Ruhr. There are also single missions in locations such as the Pacific, Germany, the Mediterranean and the Eastern Front where aircraft from Britain, Italy, Australia and Germany are controlled. Players can pilot both fighters and bombers depending on the objectives. These consist of patrols, dogfights, bombers escorts, or protecting ally carriers and airfields.

It is also possible to change history by designing a custom military campaign with parameters such as the theater of war, the year, and the side of the conflict to play. There are different difficulty settings with Arcade making planes very easy to control with the ability to enable unlimited ammo and fuel. Realistic on the other hands demands a lot of control from the player to keep the aircraft in the air. There are three main difficulty levels.

Multiplayer includes a 4-player co-operative or online war mode to rival against up to 16 aviators across world. Players can compete in dogfights or capturing and holding vital air zones and airports. There are unlockable extras such as historical paint jobs, roundels, nose art, and kill markers.