DCS World is the kind of game that has no middle ground. You will either get really into this game and it will take over your life. Or you will find the learning curve far too steep and be turned off at the ultra-realistic approach the game takes. Those who do get into it though say that this is one of the best flight sim games around.
How to Download DCS World
DCS World as so-called DCS World Steam Edition can be downloaded, well you guessed it, from Steam. To proceed, click on the Download button below the review.
The Game Review
There are different versions of this game around, but the one we are taking a look at today is DCS World that is currently on Steam. What does DCS stand for? Well, it stands for Digital Combat Simulator and the aim of the game is to give the most realistic combat experience possible.
Let me start by saying that DCS World has one of the harshest learning curves I have ever experienced. This is not like Ace Combat where you will be flying around in a few minutes and figuring out controls on the fly. This is a game that demands you take the time and put in the work to know how to play it.
The “flight dynamics”, that the game has, are very impressive. As well as worrying about being shot down. You also have to pay attention to how you fly. If you push the aircraft too hard then there can be issues with your instruments and even more drastic problems like losing a wing!
As well as planes there are also ground vehicles as well and the AI is very smart… perhaps a little too smart on the default difficulty. You can fine-tune the difficulty of each thing though so if the ground troops are causing you way to much trouble you can actually change the difficulty of just them.
There is a mission generator that keeps the campaign nice and fresh and there are certainly a lot of missions for you to take on. You can play these against the AI if you like or you can team up with other players or even take other players on. There is a nice selection of ways for you to play the game, but you will certainly want to focus on taking on the AI at first before you try to play other people.
Presentation wise, DCS World is amazing. I am not a flight expert or enthusiast so I cannot speak for the authenticity of the actual military equipment in the game. I can tell you though that they look amazing. The game comes with one large map of Georgia and it is pretty massive and also very well detailed.
This is a free to play game and there are plenty of things that you can buy. One thing that I thought was kind of cool was how they had maps for different eras. So, if you wanted to have a World War II experience you can do that. I do feel that some of the pricing on the DLC is a little steep, but if you get into the game you can easily sink hundreds of hours into it so in that regard it could be worth looking into.
One way that you can kick up your DCS World experience is by using a proper flight stick and a VR headset. I have not personally tried either of these things out, but from what I have read the flight stick compatibility is great. However, getting this to work with an Oculus Rift has said to be a bit of an issue.
DCS World is certainly not the kind of game I would normally go for, but I can see why it is so popular. While I only experienced the flight aspect, land and sea battles are possible so be sure to look into the DLC store if you like the sound of that. As far as realistic flight sims go, DCS World is so popular because it is not just realistic it is also fun.
