Recent reviews by Commie Spy

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I originally had this set to a negative review, but I figured I would update this.

It has been about a year since release and Eagle Dynamics has put some work into this module. Personally, I find it fun and enjoyable, but it still isn't feature complete. If you're looking for an easy to fly multirole 4th generation aircraft, this is your bird. It has the clickies to satisfying your button-y lust, however it still isn't flushed out as far as systems go. If you want a proper F-16 simulation that really allows you to immerse yourself into the aircraft, go to BMS.

I think the F/A-18 is a bit better of module, especially if you're starting. Same price, more completion, a more simple startup and cockpit layout (which for a newbie, that's probably a good thing), and a lot more toys (HARMs, JSOWs, JDAMs, L/GBUs, Harpoons, etc) and of course carrier ops.

But if that isn't for you, or you just want a Viper, then the module is a good one for you.

I am about 600 hours past my original review, so I thought it time to revise: I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS TITLE.

First off and most importantly, I would recommend getting standalone DCS. If you plan on buying anything, you get points for purchases on the DCS website. Moreover, you can trial any module for 14 days before you buy it. This isn't me shilling for Eagle Dynamics, these are legitimately just things that the community celebrated and makes constant use of.

I've been an on-and-off fan of flight simulators for years, but DCS just scratches a specific itch that isn't even touched by anything else. Something about the aircraft type plus fidelity makes even normal ferry flights (like what you might do in MSFS or X-Plane) significantly more exciting in DCS. What's more is that DCS' modules sport fidelity not just in their systems modeling, but also in flight models--akin to what you would expect from high quality 3rd party addons in MSFS or X-Plane, except DCS modules are straight from the DCS store itself.

The game is a combat flight simulator, so you take planes with boom-boom things and do boom-boom things with them. There are different "tiers" of fidelity, if you will. The base game (the free to play part) comes with a free "low fidelity" Su-25T (so no clickable cockpit, and no professional flight model) and an unarmed "high fidelity" TF-51 (so the cockpit is clickable, and the fight model is professional i.e. they spent more than a little time on it). After that, everything has to be purchased by you. The Flaming Cliffs aircraft are low fidelity, but everything else is high fidelity (which is why a single aircraft can cost as much as a AAA game, these take development teams years of work to model).

Going into this, it is important to know that this is very much a read-the-manual simulator. The expectation is that you spend hours and hours learning the ins and outs of whatever aircraft you decide you're interested in, because that's what you really have to do to get the most out of them. DCS helicopters are probably some of the most accurate and intense helicopter sims on the market, and as such, will take you dozens of hours to just figure out the anti torque pedals. DCS warbirds are in a similar camp, with strange and complex handling characteristics and weird ass engine management. Modern aircraft have intricately modeled computer systems that legitimately take days to get used to.

All of the above is great fun, but it does take some hardware that you may or may not have. To get the most out of DCS, you'll probably want at least a mid end PC. This is especially true if you're planning on running VR, because the game can be a massive handful as soon as you introduce multiple units to a single mission. The base game is of course free to play, so if you're curious on if you can run it or not, just try it out.

It is also pretty recommended you get some peripherals for the game, too. Before you take the leap, obviously try the game out with a keyboard and mouse, but understand that most of the playbase typically upgrades (if not starts with) a HOTAS (hands-on-throttle-and-stick). This is essentially a joystick and throttle unit. I've seen people use anything from a single mouse, to people using $1,500+ plus setups. Headtrackers are also a pretty cool thing to consider with DCS, too.

Ultimately, this is a pretty unique sim. The closest competitor, at least in the modern combat genre, is Falcon BMS, but realistically only DCS offers bling and variety. This is a really cool thing to jump into and I 100% encourage it.

Absolutely amazing.
Gameplay is straight foward.
Just a good bit of fun once in a while.

A wonderfully addictive version of insurgency.
I, personally, like it quite a bit more than insurgency. Combat is always exciting with an officer calling in support, and the vast majority of maps are beautifully made.
An amazing game, no doubt.

>be me
>download caffine to see if I can record video on it
>open it
>suddenly lost interest
>close it
>software doesn't give a ♥♥♥♥
>runs in background anyways
>left computer on
>not home for next 3 days
>get back home
>72 hours on software
10/10 would mine steam hours with caffine again