There are plenty of air combat games and simulations out there, but the list of them that are truly spectacular is short, Black Shark can I feel be proudly counted as one of them.
In my opinion still the best helicopter simulator today (2012). Even if you do not like combat, the detailed systems and damage model allows for a much more realistic experience than any civil simulator I know of. The current version is "Black Shark 2", which is not available on some platforms like Steam. The update costs roughly 20 bucks, so in most cases you should avoid to buy the old version.
As is to be expected with such a realistically-driven simulator, the learning curve is huge and if you don’t regularly frequent the genre, be prepared to invest large quantities of time before determining whether it’s for you.
I could walk away in disgust, but that would be madness. In between the bouts of befuddlement and frustration, I'm having too much fun. [Mar 2009, p.74]
It desperately needs a more interactive in-game tutorial system to lessen the near-vertical learning curve, but there's currently nothing else that can challenge Black Shark in the hardcore heli-sim arena.
DSC: Black Shark is full of technical details and you should read the 488 pages of the PDF manual, because the tutorials only show a handful of the functions. It's a tough and realistic simulation with 130 missions and a mission editor and especially fun in co-op missions over LAN or the internet.
I do not normally write reviews for anything but DCS Black Shark was so good I have to tell someone. Eagle Dynamics have gone all out in simulating the Russian attack helicopter the KA-50. Black Shark is aimed specifically at the people who are hardcore flight simmers as it is simulating a single seat gunship where you do the job of both the pilot and gunner. The game allows for the level of realism to be played down but if you buy this game you clearly aren't in the mood easy street-although i do recommend starting there. However, due to a slight problem with the game not being able to un-pause for me on easy mode, I had to have it set to hardcore simulation. After several tutorials and many pages from the instructional pdf I was finally firing my first missiles at an LAV 25-with success. The game gets more and more enjoyable as you play it. Black Shark's graphics are well done but the true beauty of Black Shark is in the intense flight model and attention to detail when it comes to making this flight sim. I love this game and I fully recommend this game to anyone who is interested in a true gunship simulator.
A military-grade flight simulator available for you! That's not a marketing gimmick. It's a fact!
A military grade, historical (important milestone for hardcore simulation genre) flight simulator. As a trivia I'll add that DCS Black Shark allows difficulty and realism settings customization using which user can virtually change it to an arcade game. So what it so special about DCS Black Shark?
DCS Black Shark by Eagle Dynamics (ED) is a part of ED's planned policy of developing simulators for military and commercial (private) customers in parallel giving the private customers an opportunity to lay their hands on a product of practically the same quality as military customers. Apart from providing flight modeling, physics/damage modeling, systems modeling and replication of performance of real machines as realistically as it gets it also guarantees that ED's DCS series features only those aircrafts which the company have access to full documentation and people who professionally work around chosen aircrafts. No wild guesses and no aircrafts not actually in service. I do realize the text is not easy to read without formatting but it may be worth it. So, a 'military grade' description should said it all but here's a few additional thoughts about DCS Black Shark:
- get to know DCS BS by starting from viewing these
features and official site: ****?scr=default&end_pos=950&lang=en
video demonstrations:
****/watch?v=xyctBKipmCI
****/watch?v=a3PDnloKbs4
****/watch?v=1Q_XNf4elAI
FAQ: ****?t=33527
- people who don't like helicopters or who flown Falcon 4.0 series exclusively enjoy DCS Black Shark, started tempted by all mentioned above
- there are videos, tracks (in-game replays) and articles presenting how some un-cut missions look like and what is to be done
- multiplayer missions for DCS Black Shark are often populated by ongoing air battles between human controlled fighter jets due to DCS BS multiplayer compatibility with Lock On Flaming Cliffs 2
- a system with 3.2 GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 3 GB of RAM and GF9600GT graphics card allows to play DCS Black Shark with FPS (frames per second) in 35-70 FPS range (!), when properly configured (medium to high settings)
- DCS BS runs better on dual core processors under Windows 7 and Vista and also features a special implementation of Vertical synchronization (Vsync) which allows higher frame rates when vsync is enabled
- DCS BS supports multi-monitor setups
- AI controlled helicopters seem to fly almost like they were human controlled rather than being thrown around the sky by an invisible 'hand' like in most other games
Believe me, there's a lot more! I just don't feel like writing essays :) Issues:
The most serious one I've found during over a year of playing is wingmen AI. They have to be commanded in a really strict and involving manner to keep them alive with us.
Worst customer service. Do not fix bugs that have been around for over 2 years now.
Forum etiquette is by far **** regime style bans, when ask or state questions they ban you.
SummaryDCS: Black Shark is a PC game of the Russian Ka-50 attack helicopter and is the first title in a new Eagle Dynamics and The Fighter Collection simulation series: Digital Combat Simulator (DCS). Following Eagle Dynamics' tradition of excellence, "DCS: Black Shark" will bring an even more realistic simulation experience than its predecesso...