DCS: Black Shark

10 Review to this product

• 

  S. Marshall
  August 18th, 2010 on 12:14 am

  Rating

  There are Survey Sims and there are Study Sims. For example, Microsoft FSX albeit very detailed and allows you to learn aviation in a profound way, it is a “Survey” simulator. DCS Black Shark is a “Study” simulator. This means unless you already know the Black Shark, it is highly doubtful you will be able to jump in and start flying in real simulation mode like you can in FSX. However, Eagle Dynamics provides an accommodating game mode, which will allow anyone to take off with the Black Shark and enjoy a military chopper. Nevertheless, you can easily keep adding real features to the game mode step by step to make it more real as you strengthen your skills. That’s the big picture. Now for the review…I have played this Sim for hundreds of hours and every single time I get into the Ka-50 Black Shark I just absolutley love it. I broke up my learning process into fully understanding the startup procedures, then basic flight procedures, then targeting and using the weapons, then shutdown…and on to advanced. I recommend a similar method. The graphics and modeling of the Ka-50 are stellar. The cockpit is stellar just for the fact that EVERYTHING works unlike FSX aircraft. The terrain and other outside eye candy are not really the focus but they are very nice as well. This Sim is foucsed on a real Ka-50 experience and is extremely credible for that point. It is an awesome means to learn to fly a military helicopter. It is absolutely worth every dime in regards to a well crafted simulator. And if you get frustrated, Eagle Dynamics has an excellent forum to help you along the way. This is an absolutely incredible simulator, and I recommend it.
• 

  L. Anakijeva
  August 18th, 2010 on 4:02 am

  Rating

  i meant everything i said in the title, this game is a true gem, something that has set up standards that will be hard if not impossible to keep up, since military hardware is something that is off limits to civilians, what wepons, systems, and real data of engine power etc.. are of course hidden and not revealed by any armies of the world..

  this is why this game is one of a kind, it has a lot of real information about this chopper that makes this a increadible simulation that if you master it, you are almost guaranteed to fly the real thing if you had the possibility..

  to make another simulation like this is almost impossible because of limited info ..like USA air forces will never reveal the power of the engines of the F-22, or the radar aperture of F-16, .. there are general infos on wikipedia and are open to us civilians, but to make a true sim you need as close to the real thing.. and trust me this IS the REAL THING..

  luv you Russians, .. Keep up the good work.. you are increadible..
• 

  P. Hagen
  August 18th, 2010 on 2:06 pm

  Rating

  “Simulator”, hmm…that’s an understatement unto itself. This “simulator” has been the most frustrating piece of software I’ve had in a long time. I LOVE IT! This frustration is my own fault, of course, since I don’t want to play the game part of it. I have been working on the start-up sequence alone for 2 days and still haven’t gotten as far as starting a single engine yet (I like to study the details so that I understand every aspect of the sequence). By the time you’ve mastered it, you really should be able to fully understand everything you need to in order to fly a KA-50 helicopter (academically speaking of course). I can only imagine the work that went into this simulator. From development to research and marketing (not so tough), all who were involved should be richly rewarded for their sweat and toil. On that note, limited license is totally understandable. If I have to buy a new copy after 8 uses, than it should be an upgrade to the latest version by then. I can’t wait to see DCS:Black Shark 2.0 or 3.0. This is worth the money*2.
• 

  S. Heise
  August 19th, 2010 on 7:50 pm

  Rating

  This is simply the best combat helicopter simulation made up to this point. I have flown them all. Easy to access for new sim pilots and yet complex enough to satisfy even the most experienced sim pilot. You can’t go wrong with this title, trust me. Even better, this is just the first in a line of combat simulators being developed. This product was stable out of the box and has been patched since then, even better.
• 

  Peter Lenton
  August 20th, 2010 on 10:27 am

  Rating

  If you’ve had a helicopter-shaped hole in your heart since Janes’ Longbow 2 (released in 1997) and have been longing for a decent Combat Helicopter Simulation (with multiplayer even!), salvation is at hand. This simulation is not merely decent though, it is the best available outside of military training simulators!

  In Black Shark you will find realism like you have never had it before. Every system is modelled with pain staking attention to detail, and nearly every button or switch available to the pilot is available to you to click on and activate(or use keyboard commands)!

  The simulation can be tailored for those who want easy avionics and weaponry and basically just want to hop in and start banging away, all the way to complex systems management where one can spend weeks (or months) just learning to fly and navigate! The BlackShark world is truly your oyster, my friends! One can also create missions (single and multiplayer)in the Mission Editor and share them with your friends.

  Graphics quality is also fantastic, and can be scaled up or down to accomodate most computers. I use an AMD Dual-core @ 2.4mhz with a Geforce 9800 1GB and I have it cranked all the way up with no problems whatsoever!

  DCS also has expandability in mind, and there are plans to release modules based on the AH-64 Apache, and A-10 Thunderbolt. All I can say is that if those modules are as impressive and immersive as BlackShark is, combat flight simulation purists (such as myself) will be busy for some time to come!
• 

  R. Desrosiers
  August 20th, 2010 on 7:12 pm

  Rating

  This is much more than a game, the Black Shark is a true simulator in my view. If you’re into arcade type gaming this may not be for you (although the Sim comes with arcade mode). I have been waiting for a great Helicopter simulator since Jane’s Longbow2 and have been disapointed over the years until now. This Sim is very complex and you have to spend a lot of time reading the manuals, taking notes and download some training videos to help but this is what makes it a true simulator. This is why I am only giving it 4 stars for fun, it actually involves work too! There are some other suprises in this great Sim right now and coming in the future… I am just going to leave it at that for now.
• 

  G. Lyons
  August 21st, 2010 on 6:55 am

  Rating

  This is by far one of the best military sims I’ve experienced since Jane’s Longbow 2 or the original Falcon 4. After MS Flightsim X left me disgusted, I haven’t touched a flight sim in a couple years until now. With excellent graphics, challenging AI, high polish, a huge .pdf manual, and a steep learning curve, this is a hardcore simmers dream come true. Invest in a good joystick and a Trackir setup and enjoy.
• 

  J. Rewis
  August 22nd, 2010 on 9:59 am

  Rating

  Buy it.

  If your a simulator fan you’ll love this game. Picture a attack chopper cockpit full of switches and dials at your command. All you need is a jumpsuit and a helmet and its like the real thing. Also about the license activations, seems you get 7 in all. And theirs a way to deactivate it before you change computers or make hardware changes. Meaning you’ll only use activations if you have a unrecoverable system crash. Its a non issue.

  Please don’t trash a game before you know the facts.

  Details on copyright protection system.
  
  [...]
• 

  Nathan J. Hook
  August 22nd, 2010 on 10:37 pm

  Rating

  Over the years flight simulators have gotten increasingly sophisticated with many of the home systems available rivalling some military and commercial aviation set ups. This has become more so as home computers have become more powerful and DCS Black Shark takes full advantage of modern hardware to deliver what must be the ultimate helicopter simulator in the gaming world.

  In full simulation mode you can expect to spend some serious time learning all of the flight systems and controls within the aircraft. I’ve had this game a couple of months and haven’t yet fully mastered the art of flying the machine with all the easy options turned off. Rather than seeing that as an impediment to ejoyment, it merely means this product delivers the goods for those looking for a hard core simulator. It also means I’ll have the game for years with simply hours of replay entertainment…it’s one reason I love simulators.

  Leaving aside the complications associated with flying a helicopter, the game delivers an enriched flying experience, especially when combined with a reasonable system. I am running an intel dual core 3.2ghz machine with 2 gigs of RAM and a 9600GSO card, with 768mb of video RAM. Maximum settings will slow the game down once you include ground targets and all the panopoly of war, but visually the development team have thought of everything, but a good spec PC is definitely needed. You can adjust the settings which’ll increase frame rates when there is a lot of action going on.

  The enormous war theater is highly realistic and the modelling of the Black Shark is utterly fantastic, both inside and out. Furthermore, switching to other aircraft to view action going in the theatre illustrates that the team did not compromise on the skins of other objects. It is quite possibly one of the most detailed and beautifully modelled flight sims out there and this visual experience is mind-blowingly realistic.

  One of the challenges I am still coming to grips with – and to be fair I haven’t played the game as much as I’d like – is learning to fly a chopper over a fixed wing aircraft. I have a new respect for helicopter pilots now as the experience is quite different.

  The developers have done a great job of recreating the physics of flying a chopper. It is much more susceptible to the influences of wind and turbulence and requires some time to get right, especially landing and controlling hovering. In full simulation mode I would totally recommend rudder pedals as there’s no way to accurately control the tail shifting about with cross winds. True to form, the aircraft behaves as it would in the real world and I’d have been dead several times or maimed by bits of rotorblade thumping down on terra ferma like lead balloon.

  To this end the helicopter will bounce and rock about if you try to throw it around like a fixed wing and if you go back to an arcade mode after the sim, the flying seems a little wooden.

  The other challenge of the game has to be getting your head around the various avionics systems within the aircraft. The simulator mimics everything down to minute detail and excitingly just about every single button within the cockpit works. Its incredibly detailed and like the flying it takes time to learn how to follow the start up procedure just to get the engines running and then learn the weapons targetting and control systems.

  The game comes with quite a few training videos which layout the basics of various aspects of flying the chopper. It takes time to go through each one, and then of course, remember what you’ve been watching!

  The developers have been kind enough to deliver an arcade style mode which will allow those not wanting the full sim’ experience to get straight into the action. Aside from the various training videos from which you can take control of the aircraft and have a go, there are missions which you can jump into and of course a set of campaigns.

  In short this is a fantastic product which will offer hours of fun for the gamer and of course the heli-sim fan. The game really shines as a sim’ and this is the intended audience and if you go down this path or get hooked on simulator mode, you’ll need a decent joy stick, throttle control and importantly rudder pedals.
• 

  M. Rossmore
  August 23rd, 2010 on 12:48 pm

  Rating

  Others here have talked about how amazing this game is. It is all that they say, and I won’t repeat it here.

  I’d just like to talk about the combat. In this sim, you are not super-cruising at Mach 1+ seven miles above the Earth, using your radar to fire missiles at targets thirty miles away who’ll you’ll never see.

  Instead, you are flying between trees at 180 knots, using line of sight to both protect yourself and engage your targets. You pop up from behind cover, pop off laser guided missiles at enemy targets, and then get back in the weeds. You fly through canyons carefully, keeping your eyes peeled for that one little soldier with a MANPADS and your finger on the “flares” button. You avoid going in blindly, guns blazing, because you will die if you do so, and instead practice patience and intelligence. You outflank, you outmaneuver, and you use real military tactics to get your job done.

  When you play this sim, put yourself in the mindset of a first person shooter. You’re not high and fast, looking at the world as if it were Google Earth. You’re in the weeds, and you’re a hunter. You’re a sniper. You stay low, stay in the dirt. That’s how real helo drivers operate, and that’s how you fly this sim. You’re in a war zone and the lower you fly, the safer you are from SAMs and other AAA weapons.

  And just like a squad of soldiers communicates with hand signals, you and your wingmen communicate via the realistically-modeled datalink system. Spotted a SAM battery? Target it, save it to your target memory, and then transmit its location to all of your wingmen. Want wingman #2 to engage it? Use the radio command menu and tell him to take it out. You can do this both with your AI wingmen as well as online with human players. It’s an amazing feeling of teamwork.

  It’s an FPS squad mentality, but this sim features the most incredible flight, damage, and systems models ever rendered in a commercial software simulation. The manual is thick, and is not to be ignored if you’re looking to play the “real” mode as opposed to “arcade”. You will need to do the tutorials, learn the systems.

  Is it a learning curve? Yes. Is it worth it? Heck yes. The first time you land successfully, or score your first tank kill, or dodge your first SAM, or shoot down your first enemy aircraft, you will feel impressed with yourself, because it took time to learn to do that. It’s a challenge, but an extremely rewarding one.