Considering when it was first conceived, I believe it can. The problem was that the developers never moved on from that initial concept and kept developing to the original specifications so, in turn, it became more and more arcadish(?) with each patch. Don't get me wrong, I am not putting it on the same level as DCS, obviously, but I believe it deservers more credit than most people give it now. IL-2 is still a hugely popular game which is why it comes under such scrutiny. Most other sims of the same age died away one by one a long time ago.