Rating: Summary: Not Much Fun, Shipmate Review: The graphics are nice if you have a good machine and the sound is pretty good as well. I had few problems with buggyness and found the operation to be reasonably sound.Unfortunately, the game is not very playable. The movement controls are VERY tempermental, the vessels speeds are 2; crawl and stop (which even for WWII era vessels was painfully unreal). There was no semblance of chart navagation and the tactical plot was very limited, thus making situational awareness limited. There really should have been a dedicated CIC/tactical command screen instead of a window with a crappy RADAR/SONAR slave repeater which you could only see on the flying bridge. Updates on enemy VSL/ACFT sightings or electronic/accoustic contacts were infrequent even when you happened to notice them yourself (and you wouldn't know you had reports if you were not on the right screen). As a naval simulator, there were no action command confirmation to orders, either voice or bells, and the general alarm sounds randomly. Even in the easy mode, battle damage is heavily weighed against you (you can pound a U-boat for 20 minutes with a deck gun and dump every depth charge and hedge hog in your magazine on target and they kill you with a couple shells and a ramming). Enemy AI is ok, but dont count on your AI crew to be marksmen or coordinated. Exact win parameters for each mission are an "Enigma" and the sense that you have to single handedly defeat entire fleets (which you'll never have enough ammo to do) is absurd. The alternate history timeline is curious but an unnecessary distraction and the lackof an itermitant time elapse can make some portions of play increadibly boring. Watching the detailed ships maneuvering while engaging the enemy in various weather conditions is pretty neat, but this game leaves much potential for making the genre even more realistic (full wakes, white caps, breaking spray, oil slicks, better water explosions/destuction of ships... maybe even a Damage Control option...). This game could have been much more than what was delivered had it gone a little farther in realism, controls, layout, AI, scenarios, and minor effects. I do not recommend this game for naval sim enthusiasts, and I think novices will be frustrated as well.
Rating: Summary: Not enough to it Review: The sea looks nice, but there is just not enough depth to the game play to justify the purchase, I feel. There is a promise of multiplayer "on the horizon", but the fact that each player is on a separate ship and the action occurs at such close range would seem to indicate that involved teamwork will be difficult. While simple is good, there is no mechanism to aim torpedos other than to guess. Accurate fire is not so important anyhow, as when a torpedo is fired at you the game itself betrays the threat by a klaxon sound. This means only a spread of torpedos is likely to produce results as your target is always alert and maneuvering violently. Likewise, gunnery is fun but too challenging to be something you'd want to take care of -- so the answer will be to leave it to the AI. This would be okay, perhaps if the game permitted more than one player per ship so that some could fire the guns while others kept their heads up to keep the overall situation in mind. Enigma is a fun diversion, and might get more interesting over time if they add more ships to it, but after 2 hours of play I feel I've exhausted the fun.
Rating: Summary: A detailed arcade game, and worth the 50 cents Review: This is an arcade simulation of small ships (destroyer variations and submarines) shooting at airplanes, ships and submarines. The graphics and animation are the only things up to date, the rest of the game is unfinished. The airplanes attack like swarms of flies. The ocean is endless, there is no land. There is no time compression. There are no other sailors talking in your ear, conveying information and excitment. There are no strategic goals other than killing, survival and an annoying timer. I can't get the microphone thing working on XPHome. Why is it my problem to find out the reason? The weather is sunny or cloudy. The waves are small with no swells. There is no game map, only radar. When will we get a navy simulation that is finished? I Recommend: Aces High from HighTechCreations.com
Rating: Summary: This game is a major disappointment Review: This is one of the worst games I have played recently. It is not as good as the 1986 'Silent Service' classic in anything except graphics. The chief failings are: - Speed of ship/sub. To turn 360 degrees in the submarine takes several minutes. Whatever the realism, this is no fun in a game. - Lack of charts. It's just a big ocean out there. You can't force subs into shallow water etc. - Damage / AI is against you even in easy mode. Surface near an enemy, switch to external view, and they'll start to land rounds on you in seconds. - Lack of decent tactial map. Even though there's two sizes of the tactical map, neither it easy to use. What about the 'wake' which shows you which way a ship is headed? - Display screens are not thought out that well. For instance, in the sub, you are constantly switching between the targeting scope and tactical map. The targeting scope doesn't show depth info. Also when switching back to the targeting scope you have to keep waiting for it to raise, even though you never lowered it. - Missions are too hard. Typically you are sent to sink most of a convoy on your own. I knew I was in trouble when it took me 5 attempts to get past the first training mission (how many depth charges does it take to sink that sub?). - Crew AI. The crew is stupid. Tell them to man the guns and sometimes they'll waste all the ammo in less than a minute. - General 'completeness' of game. It doesn't seem finished - some effects are bogus (e.g. if you dive too deep in the sub). - Lack of realism options. In summary, not a good choice. I'd recommend 'Silent Hunter' as an alternative.
Rating: Summary: Incredible Review: THIS is the best simulations i have ever played but not only that it is a naval simulations. I encourage these guys to keep going and take it to the next level.. the Graphics are INCREDIBLE, the motion of the sea, the smoke the ships...yes the more you have the more you want it is a law..but this is pretty good for its money.... if you like naval warfare, go for it............and enjoy..you will command subs, light and heavy destroyers, fragates, I wish they had put battleships and cruisers but maybe next time..... my favorite: the german and american destroyers and the british subs, i wonder why? maybe cause they are the best.......oops...
Rating: Summary: Great game but some glitchs Review: Very good game play, but you have to make sure you have the exact system requirements and having more would be better. The CD key is a little piece of paper in the box not the case! we have an OK computer but my brother had to download alot of stuff to get it to work and even after that we still have to reinstall it sometimes. The controls are hard to get used to and don't get frustrated if you die alot on your first 5 missions. It has really good graphics and alot of missions, really fun. You can be Germany, US, and Britain/Japanese (I still don't know whats with that). Really fun, a must buy!
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