Digital Combat Simulator

DCS World is a study sim in which players learn how to operate aircraft using realistic procedures. Aircraft are meticulously modeled from real-world data, including authentic flight models and subsystems and detailed cockpits with interactive buttons and switches. Digital manuals document the history, systems, and operation of each aircraft in extensive detail. The game has extensive support for joysticks and HOTAS input devices ranging from gamepads to 1:1 replica cockpits.

DCS World supports a wide variety of combat operations including combat air patrol, dogfighting, airstrikes, close air support, SEAD, and airlifts. Dozens of military airplanes and helicopters are available, spanning eras from World War II through the Cold War into the early 21st century. Popular modules include the AH-64D, F-16C, F/A-18C, F-14, and A-10C.

DCS World has a number of maps available from Eagle Dynamics and third parties:

Caucasus - The default map for the game, based on similar terrains from Su-27 Flanker, Flanker 2.0 and Lock On: Modern Air Combat. Includes areas of Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, and the Black Sea

DCS World traces its lineage directly from the Flanker and Lock On: Modern Air Combat series of combat flight simulator games. Three standalone titles were released under the DCS name from 2008 through 2011. The first was DCS: Black Shark as a simulation of the Kamov Ka-50. DCS: A-10C Warthog, a standalone simulation of the A-10C, was released in February 2011. An upgrade for Black Shark, DCS: Black Shark 2, was released in November 2011 and allowed for network multiplayer with Warthog.

The open beta of DCS World was launched in May 2012. Warthog and Black Shark 2 were made available as modules. Flaming Cliffs 3 was released later that year, which added aircraft from Lock On as modules of DCS World. The first third-party module, the Bell UH-1H Huey, was also announced in 2012.

PC Gamer reviewed the DCS: A-10C Warthog module with a rating of 92/100. IGN praised the care and attention to detail, though remarking a level of inaccessibility: "Yes, there is a 44-page 'Quickstart' guide and yes, there are tutorials – a bevy of lengthy, highly instructive tutorials, actually – but precious little of this is designed for the neophyte or even the marginally experienced jet jock."

PC PowerPlay also reviewed A-10C Warthog favorably, praising its flight simulation as "tense" and "realistic", and highlighting it as a "true to life representation of what it feels like to fly this slow-moving ground-pound aircraft".