Digital Combat Simulator: Black Shark

Overview

DCS: Black Shark, the first installment in the Digital Combat Simulation series by Eagle Dynamics, is a combat flight simulator allowing you to fly the Russian built Kamov Ka-50 Black Shark attack helicopter. The Ka-50 is a single seat aircraft meaning the pilot (in this case the player of the game) is expected to both fly and operate weapons simultaneously. Common tasks include close air support and pin-point strikes using a vast array of weaponry that you and your wingmen have access to. This armament includes a standard 30mm cannon, gun pods, various rockets, air-to-ground missiles and bombs to take on anything from trucks and tanks to other helicopters.

The game features a scalable level of difficulty settings. These range from arcade gameplay where many of the avionics have been reduced to a few button presses and the aircraft flight model is simplified, all the way up to full simulation where flying the helicopter will require, in theory, the same skill as flying the real thing. Nearly every button in the cockpit is clickable and has an effect. Complex systems such as the ABRIS and Skhval have both been modeled to the point where even the virtual contrast on the cockpit MFDs can be adjusted to the players liking.

System Requirements

Minimum system requirements:

Windows XP, Vista; CPU P4 2GHz or AMD equivalent, RAM 2 GB; Video 256MB RAM, compatible with DirectX9; 5GB of HDD space; sound card; DVD ROM; keyboard; mouse.

Recommended system requirements:

Windows XP, Vista; CPU Intel Core 2 Duo 3GHz or AMD equivalent, RAM 2 GB; Video Card with 512 MB RAM (ATI Radeon HD4850 or nVidia GF8800 ), compatible with DirectX9; 5GB of HDD space; sound card; DVD ROM; TrackIR®; keyboard, mouse, joystick.