Unmatched realism and detail
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews
“Highly detailed aircraft, realistic flight characteristics, a passionate community and much more makes this the best flight simulator out there.”
Steam review · 594.1 h played ↗
DCS World Steam Edition
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Very Positive · 86%Very Positive · 86%Eagle Dynamics SA2013Flight · Shooter · Simulation
The verdict
DCS is the deepest, most realistic combat flight sim around, with a brutal learning curve, a huge install and very expensive modules. Skip it if you want casual flying or lack a stick and budget.
Great for
Aviation fans with a joystick or HOTAS (ideally VR) who enjoy learning complex systems
Main risk
Steep learning curve plus costly modules and a 200+ GB install can leave newcomers frustrated and out of pocket
What players love
Rewarding steep learning curve
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 positive reviews
“holy hell it feels amazing”
Steam review · 19.8 h played ↗
Immersive in VR and with HOTAS
Mentioned in ~1 in 9 positive reviews
“VR is so immersive, you'll climb out of the cockpit sweaty and spent after every mission.”
Steam review · 3673.7 h played ↗
Active community, mods and mission editor
Mentioned in ~1 in 11 positive reviews
“Tons of possibilities and mods for every taste. You can build your own scenarios.”
Steam review · translated · 13.4 h played ↗
Better than competitors like MSFS and War Thunder
Mentioned in ~1 in 25 positive reviews
“The game runs way better than MSFS2024 which is a mega bonus.”
Steam review · 12.2 h played ↗
Free base game with two starter aircraft
Mentioned in ~1 in 25 positive reviews
“You can play the best combat flight sim ever made literally for free.”
Steam review · 223.2 h played ↗
What players complain about
Very expensive modules and paywall
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 negative reviews
“This game has a paywall so high you'll vomit at the costs”
Steam review · 14 h played ↗
Too complicated, poor tutorials for newcomers
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews
“way to hard to learn doesnt give you a tutorial, instead gives you a 613 page book”
Steam review · 0.2 h played ↗
Bugs, crashes and poor optimization
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews
“your game WILL NOT LOAD AND WILL CRASH NO MATTER THE WHAT YOU DO”
Steam review · 179.4 h played ↗
Huge 200+ GB install and slow updates
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews
“over 300 gbs to download a free version with pathetically nothing”
Steam review · 0.4 h played ↗
Account registration and login problems
Mentioned in ~1 in 9 negative reviews
“Quite possibly the worst account setup Ive ever encountered.”
Steam review · 0.8 h played ↗
Developer conduct and abandoned third-party modules
Mentioned in ~1 in 12 negative reviews
“this game has a nasty habit of releasing buyable content and then removing it from being played in current game updates.”
Steam review · 865.6 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: Playable200 GB
Minimum
OSWindows 10, 11
ProcessorIntel or AMD 3.0Ghz+ with 4+ cores
Memory16 GB RAM
GraphicsDiscrete AMD or NVIDIA 8GB+
Storage200 GB available space
Recommended
OSWindows 10, 11
ProcessorIntel or AMD 4.5Ghz+ with 8+ cores
Memory32 GB RAM
GraphicsDiscrete AMD or NVIDIA 8GB+
Storage500 GB available space
OSWindows 10, 11
ProcessorIntel or AMD 3.0Ghz+ with 4+ cores
Memory16 GB RAM
GraphicsDiscrete AMD or NVIDIA 8GB+
Storage200 GB available space
More games to check
Other games we’ve read the reviews for
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
Mixed · 60%+ Stunning graphics and world detail
− Pervasive bugs and broken aircraft systems
analyzed 9 h ago
ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE
Mostly Positive · 78%+ Long, emotional campaign with great missions
− Crashes, UE errors and failure to launch
analyzed 1 d ago
Palworld
Very Positive · 95%+ Pals as workers and base building
− Late-game grind
analyzed 1 d ago
Atomic Heart
Very Positive · 82%+ Striking Soviet retro-futurist atmosphere
− Annoying protagonist and weak dialogue
analyzed 1 d ago
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