Rating: 
Summary: I loved this game, but that's just me.
Review: As a boy, I always wanted to be a in the navy. Unfortunatly, the Dutch Royal Navy academy has a policy of only recruiting people who are able to succesfully calculate a heading and who have at least some grasp of math. Usually, my math teachers started to sob uncontrollably when they saw me entering the classroom, so well... I became an Information Retrieval specialist instead. I was overwhelmed with joy when I discovered Fighting Steel. A combat simulation game! With WWII battleships! Oh boy!I must say, this game's a blast! At least, when you love either WWII battleships or combat-sims. This is clearly a game for the slugfest- and battle simulation-zealots and not for the action-loving thrillseekers or people interested in having some quick action. When playing the game, expect to be buisy for at leat an hour. Battles will take a LOT of time and effort. When you like strategic/tactical simulation, or are just fond of historical ships, this is a good game for you. The ships you can take to sea are the real, historybook celebreties such as the Bismarck, the Yamato, and the Hood, in the thick of battle, you can see turrets exploding, shells impacting, smothering holes in the ship's armour, and then there is a really nice easy-to-use editor to arrange your own gala slugfests. Unfortunatly, this game has only four stars, instead of five. Why? Becouse this game also has some serious drawbacks. For starters, as already mentioned in other reviews, there is no land to be found. Yes, the developer states in the manual that they deliberatly chose not to incorporate landmasses into the game, but that doesn't mean we have to like it. Another little problem is the fact that the game looks unfinisched at some points. Several of the 3D models models have strange 'holes' in them, and sometimes there are the most odd glithses such as the report of the fact that 'none' has been hit by a shell fired by this and that ship. The last problem I have is the complete abscense of ships other than transports, destroyers, heavy and light cruisers, battlecruisers, and battleships. There are no submarines, aircraftcarriers or anything else not mentioned in the last sentence. This too was done deliberatly as well (or so does the manual say), but again, that doesn't mean we have to like it. Despite all that, Fighting Steel gave me the one thing I bought it for: good clean fun by blowing up historical ships in real-time 3D.
Rating:
Summary: I loved this game, but that's just me.
Review: As a boy, I always wanted to be a in the navy. Unfortunatly, the Dutch Royal Navy academy has a policy of only recruiting people who are able to succesfully calculate a heading and who have at least some grasp of math. Usually, my math teachers started to sob uncontrollably when they saw me entering the classroom, so well... I became an Information Retrieval specialist instead. I was overwhelmed with joy when I discovered Fighting Steel. A combat simulation game! With WWII battleships! Oh boy! I must say, this game's a blast! At least, when you love either WWII battleships or combat-sims. This is clearly a game for the slugfest- and battle simulation-zealots and not for the action-loving thrillseekers or people interested in having some quick action. When playing the game, expect to be buisy for at leat an hour. Battles will take a LOT of time and effort. When you like strategic/tactical simulation, or are just fond of historical ships, this is a good game for you. The ships you can take to sea are the real, historybook celebreties such as the Bismarck, the Yamato, and the Hood, in the thick of battle, you can see turrets exploding, shells impacting, smothering holes in the ship's armour, and then there is a really nice easy-to-use editor to arrange your own gala slugfests. Unfortunatly, this game has only four stars, instead of five. Why? Becouse this game also has some serious drawbacks. For starters, as already mentioned in other reviews, there is no land to be found. Yes, the developer states in the manual that they deliberatly chose not to incorporate landmasses into the game, but that doesn't mean we have to like it. Another little problem is the fact that the game looks unfinisched at some points. Several of the 3D models models have strange 'holes' in them, and sometimes there are the most odd glithses such as the report of the fact that 'none' has been hit by a shell fired by this and that ship. The last problem I have is the complete abscense of ships other than transports, destroyers, heavy and light cruisers, battlecruisers, and battleships. There are no submarines, aircraftcarriers or anything else not mentioned in the last sentence. This too was done deliberatly as well (or so does the manual say), but again, that doesn't mean we have to like it. Despite all that, Fighting Steel gave me the one thing I bought it for: good clean fun by blowing up historical ships in real-time 3D.
Rating: 
Summary: Fighting Steel
Review: Hey, I've read all the reviews on Fighting Steel. There is hope. Although Divide By Zero did not do a good job, a group of guys called Navalwarfare Simulations has picked up the ball. They've created patches and updates for virtually every problem with FS and continue to update the game. They've added new ships all the way up to 1946, AND new fleets. They've totally revamped the gunnery and damage control systems. Best of all it's FREE. They're currently releasing the patches all in one easy download. They respond to input and are currently getting ready to release version 7.0 of the FS game. Again All free. ...navalwarfare... BUY this game. Then download the patches and the newest version. You won't regret it. Included in the download are over 60 new scenarios. I've played over 500 times with no crashes. Mike
Rating: 
Summary: Good concept, but too many bugs!
Review: I think the concept was great and I especially liked the scenario editor - it's fun to set up whatever kind of naval battle you'd like. Unfortunately, there are too many bugs. The most frustrating is right in the middle of a battle, the game quits and goes back to desktop. Would really like to see a better version with the bugs "debugged". I agree with the other reviews that improvements need to be made in:
1)land mass
2) range tables (more hits at closer range)
3) later WWII ships included.
Rating:
Summary: Good concept, but too many bugs!
Review: I think the concept was great and I especially liked the scenario editor - it's fun to set up whatever kind of naval battle you'd like. Unfortunately, there are too many bugs. The most frustrating is right in the middle of a battle, the game quits and goes back to desktop. Would really like to see a better version with the bugs "debugged". I agree with the other reviews that improvements need to be made in:
1)land mass
2) range tables (more hits at closer range)
3) later WWII ships included.
Rating: 
Summary: Ken Harris review
Review: I was really hoping to like this game. You get the impression of playing an unfinished product. Problem #1 : At point blank range with a broadside from any ship, your likelyhood of hitting something is never greater than 10 % a shot. This is understandable at twenty miles but at 100 yard? Problem #2 no lands masses, island, depth? They recreat the battle of Savo Island with no island and no chance of finding a transport fleet at anchor. no subs, no planes, no carriers, no signifigant objectives? On the plus side accurate depiction of vessels, and nice 3d look
Rating:
Summary: Ken Harris review
Review: I was really hoping to like this game. You get the impression of playing an unfinished product. Problem #1 : At point blank range with a broadside from any ship, your likelyhood of hitting something is never greater than 10 % a shot. This is understandable at twenty miles but at 100 yard? Problem #2 no lands masses, island, depth? They recreat the battle of Savo Island with no island and no chance of finding a transport fleet at anchor. no subs, no planes, no carriers, no signifigant objectives? On the plus side accurate depiction of vessels, and nice 3d look
Rating:
Summary: Incompleted and a little bit disappointed
Review: It's been a while since the last WW2 battleship game out on the market. This game broungt some attention, but the contents are not very well. The game didn't have enough ships to make it a complete WW2 naval game. It didn't have the later battleships which joined WW2. So the players could not enjoy the whole history and battles during the entire WW2. The models and the resolution of the ships were out of date. This was not a flight sim which the objects moved more than 200 miles per hour. How much computer power needed to make a 20 knots ship looked good ? I don't think as much as 40 fighters and bomber under the same sky in EAW or even the compaign of Falcon 4.0. So what happened to SSI when they modeled this game ? Didn't they notice the change of the military sim market and the power of graphic cards? If you want some taste of traditional gun fighting naval game, you can try this one. If you want to find some excitment, this game probably wouldn't give you too much.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty disappointing
Review: Just returned the Fighting Steel to the store... I tried a demo before, but thought that the game is certainly fixed and improved after 1/2 year after the release. Wrong. How the guys in SSI can release such an unfinished product? This game was hardly a beta. The many years old Great Naval Battles series is 100x more entertaining than this; and looks better in it's 2D. 1/640*480 resolution, in the year 2000 ? 2/no land masses, no ports, no subs, no planes, no manual aim of anything, bugs? 3/no strategic layer at all /those campaigns were a joke 4/unbelievably poor smokescreen/splash/clouds modeling 5/just about everything... When I learned that there will be no more patches or improvements, since the publisher SSI didn't renewed the contract with DBZ, I just run back to the Babbages /Software ETC/... ***ship 3d models looked quite nice, but thats about all what's remarkable in that title. It's a pity, could be a nice game if done properly. I tried to ignore the bad aspects and concentrate on good ones /since I'm really interested in the WW II naval warfare subject and this is the only new title available/, but it didn't work, the game is just too bad a never should be released, at least at this stage of development... Let's hope that someone will do it right in the future. Don't recommend this even as a bargain bin item under $10. Pretty sad. Run on PII400MHz/128MB RAM, 32MB DDR 3DProphet videocard, Windows 98-SE
Rating:
Summary: Terribly Incomplete
Review: Land masses played a significant role in the sea battles during WWII, especially in the Atlantic / North Sea Campaigns. Unfortunately, Divide By Zero doesn't provide any land masses. Its like conducting a sea battle where there is endless water and no land. This detracts from the realism of the game. The US used air craft carriers during the naval battles in the Pacific. Also, the British Navy used air craft carriers in its relentless efforts to sink the Bismark. Yet, this game doesn't provide any air craft carriers, air craft, and submarines. Players are treated to Navy forces consisting of battle ships, cruisers, and destroyers. This is very unrealistic. Now, for the major problem I have encountered with this game. I have an opponent's vessel completely out of action. I pull up real close to the vessel -- say about 500 - 700 yards. My ship blasts my opponent's vessel with its main and secoundary guns. However, at this close range, most of my shots miss the enemy's boat. How can that be? The enemy his helpless in the water; he is not moving, and I experience such rotten accuracy. even the most inexperienced gunners can hit a target some 500 - 700 yards away. Another interesting problem. Let's say I have sunk all the opponent's vessels. I click on acclerate end to move on. Well, guess what I find? Some of my vessels have either been sunk or damaged because of "Air/Sea Superiority." How can that be? -- Considering that my opponent's naval force has been sent to the bottom of Davy Jones's Locker. If Superior Air Power is used, then ships should be allowed to defend against it. "Fighting Steel" does not give us the option of fighting air craft. The images of the ships are "realistic." Battle Damage, however, is not. True, when the main gun batteries explode, they appear destroyed on screen. However, other battle damage is not all that realistic. For these reasons, I believe the game is still a Work in Process. It is incomplete, and needs enhancing. The graphics are accurate, but they look like unrealistic cartoon images. Overall, it is not the worst game on the market. But, unfortunately, it is not the best either.
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