Download: DCS World

We've been very impressed with the simulators from DCS of the A-10C and the Black Shark, not to mention the Flaming Cliffs 2 add-on for the game Lock On Modern Air Combat. They all have big online multiplayer communities and DCS World makes it even easier to play with other people online.

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This is a big download – four separate files for a total of 4.92GB, so you might want to check your bandwidth allowance before making a start. Make sure they are all in the same folder and then run the file ending in .exe.

You don't have to own a DCS simulator in order to take part in online battles as it comes with the Russian Su-25T attack aircraft. This is probably our favourite aircraft from Flaming Cliffs 2 and offers the widest range of challenges in the game. That includes the actual flying of the aircraft as well; the upgrades this aircraft has received have made it rather heavy and it can be tricky to fly in some situations.

There are some training missions included to help introduce the aircraft and the different systems onboard. Unusually for DCS products, a flight manual is not included in the installation. It is hosted online at the 185th Virtual Fighter Squadron in their reference section. You will want to read this carefully to get the most from the Su-25T

DCS World will detect existing DCS products on your computer including A-10C and KA-50 Black Shark. It can also be used with the P-51D Mustang aircraft produced by DCS and the Combined Arms addon. The latter allows you to take the role of a ground coordinator to control missions.

You will also need a fairly powerful computer. Our Intel Dual Core based system struggled with DCS World even though it is quite capable of running Black Shark. The official specs are:

Recommended system requirements: Operating system 64-bit: Windows Vista and 7; Processor: CPU: Core 2 Duo E8400, AMD Phenom X3 8750 or better; Memory: 4GB; Hard disk space: 7 GB; Video: Shader 3.0 or better; 896MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX260 DirectX 9.0c or better; Sound: DirectX 9.0c - compatible; DirectX: 9.0C; requires internet activation.

Minimum system requirements: Operating system: Windows XP, Vista or 7; Processor: Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz; Memory: 3 GB; Free hard disk space: 7 GB; Video: 512 MB RAM card, DirectX 9 - compatible; Sound: DirectX 9.0c – compatible; requires internet activation.