New flight sims are few and far between, with developers long ago ditching this once crowded genre in pursuit of more lucrative, mass-market titles. It’s a far cry from the early days of the PC, where every second game involved shooting down bogeys or landing on an inaccessible airfield. Don’t let the lack of new titles fool you though – there’s still a healthy community of virtual fighter jocks and airline pilots around the globe, spending their weekends studying manuals so massive they’d scare a librarian. These folk have spent the last few years making do with a smattering of re-releases of older titles and modifications to the handful of sims that are still alive. But thanks to a small group of crazy Russians, virtual pilots have been handed a sim which will keep them busy for many years to come. Even better news is the fact that this is just the beginning, with a healthy future for the flight sim scene as a result of one developer’s unique approach to releasing this game.

The title in question is Digital Combat Simulator: Black Shark (or DCS:BS). The DCS part of the title refers to the engine that the game is built on. It’s envisioned to be an organic, ever-improving base that will grow and develop over the coming years. The Black Shark part of the title refers to the KA-50 attack helicopter, the first of many aircraft which “plugs into” the DCS engine. The plan is for a new aircraft to be released every nine months or so, which will then plug into the DCS universe and operate alongside the other, existing aircraft – both online and in singleplayer. At the same time as the new aircraft are released, the DCS engine will be continually upgraded and enhanced. It’s a unique way of releasing a game, but after spending the last month playing DCS:BS, we’re convinced that it’s going to work. Let’s explain why.

The Russians behind this game, Eagle Dynamics and The Fighter Collection, are no strangers to the simming world. Creators of the acclaimed Flanker series, followed by LOMAC, and with the producer of IL2 on board, they’ve also worked on official military grade simulators for the US Air Force. This makes DCS:BS at least the fifth or sixth flight sim that they’ve worked on, and their deep experience in the genre shines through in every part of the package.

The chopper at the heart of the game, the KA-50 Black Shark, has been modelled to a degree that is unrivalled by any flight sim that we’ve played. And we’ve played them all. From the advanced physics which power the way this twin-rotor beast smashes the air around it into submission, to the detailed replication of the combat, engine, navigation and many other systems which aid the pilot, playing this sim is almost identical to the real thing. It’s no wonder that real pilots have lauded this as the most realistic chopper sim ever created on the PC, and is testimony to the close relationship the developer had with the real KA-50’s manufacturer, Kamov.


It’s no wonder that the game ships with a 400-page PDF manual, with another 180 page manual explaining how to build campaigns and missions. Because the game is digitally distributed, there’s no hardcopy of the manual yet, but the developer has planned a print run for some time in January. If you’re fond of cardboard boxes, the retail release is in March, but we found purchasing the game from the official website a quick and painless affair. The asking price of US$50 is simply outstanding; we’d have happily paid twice as much.

But back to the chopper, which most of you have probably never heard of. Choosing the KA-50 was an interesting decision, as most westerners wouldn’t place it at the top of their list of favourite aircraft. Unlike most attack choppers, which have a pilot and gunner, the KA-50 is a single seater, increasing the pilot’s workload exponentially. Your brain will be working at full capacity during a mission in the KA-50. Not only will you have to take off, navigate, and land, but you’ll also need to spot the enemy, guide the TV-assisted weaponry and blow the bad guys off the face of the Earth. You will be stretched to the limit during each mission, and it’s almost a stressful affair. Yet the satisfaction of mastering the many systems, and being able to deploy its weapons effectively, is unmatched. The old saying “The more you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it” has never been more true of a game. It’ll take you weeks, if not months, to learn just the basics, but the journey is incredibly rewarding. We’ll never forget the moment we remembered all 51 switches and buttons needed to start the engines and take off.

As mentioned, the flight model of the KA-50 is unparalleled. It makes Microsoft’s Flight Simulator feel like an arcade game, and wipes the floor with all other titles. The visuals leave Microsoft’s game for dead, with detailed forests, mountains and cities stretching as far as they eye can see. Unlike FSX or LOMAC, it actually runs relatively well on a real PC. Having said that, this game will eat up all the CPU cycles you can throw at it, so a 3GHz CPU or better (and with at least two cores) is mandatory for a smooth gameplay experience. There are a couple of minor issues, with the gorgeous trees being non-collidable, and cities being a little blocky, but overall it’s a very pretty picture.

Learning how to fly this beast will take a good month or so, and once you’ve conquered the single player warm-up missions, it’s time to take to the game’s two monumental campaigns. Unlike the game’s LOMAC predecessor, it’s not a strictly linear campaign this time around. Instead it’s more of a ‘Choose your own Adventure’ kind of campaign; you’ll be served a selection of pre-built missions depending on how you go during a mission. These missions are beautifully hand-crafted, and the inclusion of pre-recorded sound clips help add to the immersion. It’s not quite the fully dynamic campaign of Falcon 4.0, but it’s a great step in the right direction.


While we only tested the multiplayer game with another pal, we’re happy to report that it flew wonderfully. There were no crashes or crazy lag sessions, and completing missions co-operatively is an absolute blast. While we’re on the subject of crashes, the stability of DCS:BS is absolutely remarkable. Flight sims are renowned for being buggier than a backpacker’s swag, yet we’ve had no crashes whatsoever, and have yet to spot an issue in the game. This is a first for a flight sim.

DCS:BS all sounds too good to be true, but we’re not pulling you – this is quite possibly the finest flight simulator ever released on the PC. If there is one problem, it’s an oldie which plagues all simulations – Artificial Intelligence. With battles raging on the ground involving dozens of tanks and APCs, it’s no surprise that they’ve got the intelligence of a Hotelier’s rich heiress. They tend to stay still or drive in pre-determined routes, leading to fairly predictable behaviour. Having said that, don’t think that just because they’re dumb, they’re easy to kill – these guys have great aim and are positioned in places that are hard to attack.

Finally, the game includes easy modes for the novice flyer, but they’re really only there to help lessen the learning curve. We don’t suggest for a minute that DCS:BS will appeal to the Xbox 360 arcade flying crowd – this is still a serious study in real aviation, regardless of whatever training aids it allows you to use at the beginning. So if you’re looking for an indestructible jet with infinite missiles, and a ten page manual, this probably isn’t the game for you.

But if you’re the kind of gamer who has an interest in aviation, loves depth to their titles, and isn’t afraid of manuals, DCS:BS is the game for you. The fact that it’s only going to get better over time is great, but we can happily recommend it in its current, highly-polished format already. Hats off Eagle Dynamics and The Fighter Collection for singlehandedly breathing new life into the flight sim genre, and we can’t wait to see where the DCS rollercoaster is going to take us over the years to come.