DCS: P-51D Mustang Page 4

By SimHQ on November 30, 2012 in _air15, hide

Conclusion

It is impossible to spend time in this sim without thinking (or hoping) it is just a “test balloon” for future DCS WWII offerings.

You can almost imagine the developer conference:

Can we authentically model a classic WWII warbird in our jet age simulator? Yes.
Can we plug it into DCS World so it can be used in campaigns and missions and online games? Yes.
Now can we do anything else with it? …ideas anyone? …anyone?

That last question is the one that really matters for now. And the devs have had a firm “no comment” so far on future plans for a true WWII combat sim.

Having documented the many limitations of this release, the question of value for money is primary. $40 USD spent on any other DCS product (e.g. A-10C, Black Shark 2) gets you a fully fledged high-fidelity combat sim with combat aircraft in a fully realized modern military environment. For the same money with DCS: P-51D Mustang, you get the aircraft and some training missions.

But to get a similar high-fidelity P-51D for FSX, you would need to shell out between $50 and $85 USD for the A2A Accu-Sim P-51. That is anywhere between $10 USD and $40 USD more than you will pay for the DCS: P-51D Mustang. So players looking for a straight P-51D simulator, may consider this good value.

If you are looking for a P-51D combat simulator though, it will just frustrate you – unless you always wondered whether one of WWII’s legendary warbirds can survive on a modern battlefield, with you at the controls.

But do you really need to spend $40 USD to get the answer to that question?

Good

Beautifully realized cockpit and working controls
All weapons and weapon systems simulated (unlike on FSX Mustangs)
Models failures of aircraft systems as well as combat damage
Great implementation of radio commands
Good FPS on my medium range system

Could Be Better

FM is prone to “over reacting” to control inputs
Online interface can’t be filtered to deliver only P-51D relevant servers
DCS World maps and objects not built for WWII era aircraft or scenarios
Limited gameplay options beyond training and training style missions
AI controlled P-51D seems not to have same FM limitations as player

Postscript

Immediately after this review was completed a minor update to v1.2.2 was released with the following bug fixes:

Fixed simulator hang when player is trying to roll the P-51D.
Fixed erratic mouse cursor behavior.
Improved parameter in graphics.cfg to benefit FPS on high settings.
Corrected blinker animation.

The update was judged not to alter the substance of this review.

System Requirements

Recommended

Processor: Core 2 Duo E8400, AMD Phenom X3 8750, or better
Memory: 4GB
Video: Shader 3.0 or better; 896MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX260 DirectX 9.0c, or better
Hard disk space: 7GB
Sound: DirectX 9.0c
Operating system 64-bit: Windows Vista or Windows 7
Requires Internet activation

Minimum