For a combat flight simulation that began as a passion project developed by the same Eagle Dynamics team that gave us DCS: Ka-50 Black Shark and A-10C Warthog, DCS: P-51D Mustang is a pretty impressive piece of work. Exhaustively detailed, right down to the exact placement and functionality of every gauge and dial in its fully clickable six-degrees-of-freedom virtual cockpit, this is a serious simmer's aircraft.
Gamers, on the other hand, will struggle with it… and for good reason. It's neither a game nor a fully realized combat-flight sim, but rather a $40 "module" that attaches to Eagle Dynamics' free-to-download DCS World frame. Once installed, you can fly and fight over the same Crimean Peninsula terrain that backdrops all of Eagle Dynamics' simulations, which means fighting modern Russian attack helicopters and air defenses in your WWII prop plane.
Gimme Some Nazis
With no proper enemies like Messerschmitt Bf 109s or Focke-Wulf Fw 190s to dogfight, the only reasonable air-to-air action you'll see is against other P-51s. The central single-player campaign doesn't even to try and address this deficiency as you progress through a series of engine startup, take-off, landing, and flight tests designed to improve your proficiency with this ultra-realistic warbird. When you do finally get to shoot something -- eleven missions in -- it's just glorified gunnery practice against assorted ground and air targets (most don't even shoot back). There's no backstory or righteous war to wage here, the "campaign" is just 25 unconnected sorties where you and your intricately modeled Mustang get to know each other on increasingly intimate terms.
With its 100,000-polygon aircraft models, hair-singeing pyrotechnics, comprehensive damage effects, and HDR-enhanced Crimean Peninsula terrain graphics, P-51D also delivers a graphical tour de force on par with its A-10C and Ka-50 Black Shark forebears. There's so much to see, click on, and explosively engage here that I'll never run out of visual distractions.
As Real As It Gets
Once you do get off the ground, the plane delivers a marvelous sensation of fluid, controlled flight. You have to treat this girl with respect, however, because abrupt control surface changes can throw you into a spin or accelerated stall in a heartbeat. Aircraft trim controls, propeller pitch, and engine management soon become second nature thanks to the wonderfully interactive 3D cockpit. Eagle Dynamics has positioned every single instrument, gauge, and switch exactly where it resides in the real P-51D, and each responds to your mouse click or mouse-wheel roll as though you were interacting with the real thing. In fact, after a few hours with the simulated plane I feel like I'd be able to start, taxi, takeoff, and fly the real-world Mustang with ease (not that any collector is gonna let me anywhere near one of these two-million dollar beauties).
Gimme Some Nazis
With no proper enemies like Messerschmitt Bf 109s or Focke-Wulf Fw 190s to dogfight, the only reasonable air-to-air action you'll see is against other P-51s. The central single-player campaign doesn't even to try and address this deficiency as you progress through a series of engine startup, take-off, landing, and flight tests designed to improve your proficiency with this ultra-realistic warbird. When you do finally get to shoot something -- eleven missions in -- it's just glorified gunnery practice against assorted ground and air targets (most don't even shoot back). There's no backstory or righteous war to wage here, the "campaign" is just 25 unconnected sorties where you and your intricately modeled Mustang get to know each other on increasingly intimate terms.
With its 100,000-polygon aircraft models, hair-singeing pyrotechnics, comprehensive damage effects, and HDR-enhanced Crimean Peninsula terrain graphics, P-51D also delivers a graphical tour de force on par with its A-10C and Ka-50 Black Shark forebears. There's so much to see, click on, and explosively engage here that I'll never run out of visual distractions.
The P-51 is a challenging aircraft to learn and an even tougher bird to fly and fight with.
If that's what it takes to spin your prop, then DCS: P-51D Mustang delivers. Although not as technically complex as Eagle Dynamics' earlier A-10C release, the P-51 is nevertheless a challenging aircraft to learn and an even tougher bird to fly and fight with. This is evident right from the get-go as you attempt the multi-part cold engine start-up tutorial and promptly kill the battery with some impatient and premature switch flipping (the process can be shortcutted with a cheat key combo). Progress to the taxiing and take-off scenarios and you're almost certain to run into a building, blow the engine, or flip your Mustang on its canopy before you ever get airborne. Attention to detail is critical as you kid-glove your control inputs and monitor the manifold pressure so as not to over-stress the 1,400-horsepower Rolls Royce Merlin engine or torque the plane into an unanticipated off-runway deviation.As Real As It Gets
Once you do get off the ground, the plane delivers a marvelous sensation of fluid, controlled flight. You have to treat this girl with respect, however, because abrupt control surface changes can throw you into a spin or accelerated stall in a heartbeat. Aircraft trim controls, propeller pitch, and engine management soon become second nature thanks to the wonderfully interactive 3D cockpit. Eagle Dynamics has positioned every single instrument, gauge, and switch exactly where it resides in the real P-51D, and each responds to your mouse click or mouse-wheel roll as though you were interacting with the real thing. In fact, after a few hours with the simulated plane I feel like I'd be able to start, taxi, takeoff, and fly the real-world Mustang with ease (not that any collector is gonna let me anywhere near one of these two-million dollar beauties).
If you don't have the patience or inclination to master unfiltered avionics and touchy-feely flight model, ED also provides an "easy" mode that lets you fly from a chase-camera view and toss the plane around the sky like an Xbox arcade shooter. This is a total waste of time, of course, as neutering the intense realism completely defeats its purpose. DCS: P-51D Mustang exists to challenge your flying, energy management, and gunnery skills so anything less is ultimately unsatisfying. As stated earlier, there's no actual game here, so why would you want to eliminate the intense avionics and flight model challenge that it does deliver?
Outgunned Online
DCS: P-51D Mustang's multiplayer experience, while promising, is currently quite limited. ED's peer-to-peer servers can support up to 32 players, but A-10C and Black Shark dust-ups dominate the DCS World portal. (Not surprising really, when you consider the inherent mismatch between current and 1940s fighter technology). If Eagle can ever deliver a proper dynamic campaign and some appropriate foes -- Japanese Zeros or German Messerschmitts will suffice -- then expect a significant game change on both the single-player and multiplayer fronts.
The good news is that DCS: P-51D Mustang is still a work in progress, and many of its current issues will eventually disappear. Reviewing it is a challenge, however, because while it misses on just about every significant "gaming" facet, it scores huge on the harder-to-get-right simulation points. In the end, I'm going to forgive its gameplay deficiencies and give it kudos for its unparalleled fidelity and realism. To paraphrase Jack Nicholson in As Good as it Gets, DCS: P-51D Mustang makes you "want to be a better pilot."
Outgunned Online
DCS: P-51D Mustang's multiplayer experience, while promising, is currently quite limited. ED's peer-to-peer servers can support up to 32 players, but A-10C and Black Shark dust-ups dominate the DCS World portal. (Not surprising really, when you consider the inherent mismatch between current and 1940s fighter technology). If Eagle can ever deliver a proper dynamic campaign and some appropriate foes -- Japanese Zeros or German Messerschmitts will suffice -- then expect a significant game change on both the single-player and multiplayer fronts.
The good news is that DCS: P-51D Mustang is still a work in progress, and many of its current issues will eventually disappear. Reviewing it is a challenge, however, because while it misses on just about every significant "gaming" facet, it scores huge on the harder-to-get-right simulation points. In the end, I'm going to forgive its gameplay deficiencies and give it kudos for its unparalleled fidelity and realism. To paraphrase Jack Nicholson in As Good as it Gets, DCS: P-51D Mustang makes you "want to be a better pilot."
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