War at Sea
SEA SICK STRATEGY
A Review of War at Sea
by Aaron Tarvin
Let’s face the facts. CD-ROM’s are much cheaper to make and ship than having
several floppies, so you would be hard pressed to find a newly released game
not on a CD-ROM. Some companies have re-released floppy versions of their
games
as new CD-ROM packages, offering something extra: speech, supplemental
mission packs, and so forth. Others throw several games into a “special
CD-ROM”
addition, offering nothing extra but the convenience of having many games on
one CD-ROM for lesser cost than buying all the games separately. “War at Sea”
by Quantum Quality productions (QQP), is one of these latter packages. They
took
three previously released floppy games with a similar subject and slapped
them
on a CD. The Lost Admiral, WWII: Battles of the South Pacific, and The
Grandest Fleet all fit with room to spare on a single CD-ROM.
The Lost Admiral (TLA) is one of the most successful of QQP’s strategy games.
First released back in 1991, it may still remain on some gamer’s hard drives.
That’s assuming they didn’t replace it with the Lost Admiral II, which is
what QQP should have done in putting together this collection. Of course, TLA is
a strategy classic, but there are many more games on the market today that
provide better graphics and sound.
However, TLA is a superb strategy game.
The gamer must learn the right combination of ships to win each scenario
(and no, it isn’t just a fleet of battleships). Carriers play a lesser role
than one would expect, but then again, this game glorifies the ships and not
air power. Like most strategy wargames, you are given a certain task in a
scenario and you must attempt to fulfill it. Of course, totally annihilating
the enemy will almost assuredly win the objectives, but you must be conscious
of them. Ports have assigned point values, and are valuable if you can hold
on to them. Despite the fact there are no options for multi-players, enemy AI
is very good, and there are enough realism options to keep even the most
seasoned strategy veterans involved.
Released back in 1993, QQP’s WWII: Battles of the South Pacific is not for
the
casual wargamer. This is one game in which the player must be able to control
all phases of the action while still keeping a cool head.
Nearly a dozen
historical scenarios await unsuspecting strategists, tempting them to attempt
to change history. The graphics and sound are minimal, so as not to distract
the gamer from the task at hand. Aircraft play a very important role as
scouts and long-range strike forces. But don’t be mistaken, there are over
two-dozen unit-types at your command. The scenarios are very historically
accurate and are a blast to try. The AI is very good and provides a challenge
in every scenario. There is also a two-player hotseat action if you want to
challenge a buddy.
The most recent of the trio of games from QQP, and in this reviewers opinion,
the best of the three, is The Grandest Fleet (TGF). Released in 1994, TGF
captivates players for hours of game play. The graphics and sound are
excellent, and the attention to ship detail is superb.
The focus here is on
the ships of war, and some would say that TGF is the sequel to The Lost
Admiral. Those that have played both games will see the similarities, but
it doesn’t take long to realize TGF is a superior product. Three types of
play are available: a historical scenario, a random battle, or a campaign.
Starting with one or more cities, the player expands his way across the map,
revealing new territory to plunder. The game revolves around capturing
cities and developing them into efficient production machines to help your
war effort. Of course, your fleet must be powerful enough to not only take
over cities, but to defend those already acquired. Carriers play a much more
vital role than the ones in The Lost Admiral, as their planes are a mighty
offensive weapon.
Cities developed enough can produce ’super ships’ which
greatly increases the power of the fleet. These super ships are more improved
variations of the five major ship types (Battleship, transport, etc..). It is
usually a good idea to try and get some super battleships added to your
arsenal before the enemy has time to defend against them. Just as the other two
games, game play is turn based. The AI is strangely unchallenging, but fortunately
QQP has provided another avenue. Multi-player options add an entirely new
dimension to the game. Not only is a hot-seat available, but two-players can
go head to head via modem. I can’t emphasize enough the difference in playing
a human opponent.
Unfortunately, I am not a big fan of multi-game CD packages, due to the fact
rarely are all the games worth buying. If the original Lost Admiral was
replaced by the more current Lost Admiral II, I would be raving about the
quality of the software.
It just seems they are trying to get something out
of a game no longer worthy of the display shelves. The CD in this collection
is just used as a form of cheap medium for transport, since each game
installs fully to the hard drive and the CD is never accessed for game play. My
recommendation would be for potential buyers to only consider the purchase if
they would like 2 out of the 3 games and don’t already own any of them.
There are better single products on the market, but for the small retail
price ($24.95), it would not be a bad collection to own.
Gamer’s Zone Scorecard
| Product: | War at Sea |
| Company: | Quantum Quality Productions |
$24.95
System Requirements:
IBM 286 or greater, 640K RAM, VGA, CD(any speed),
27 meg hard drive space, sound blaster, mouse.
Breakdown:
Fun Factor 3
Graphics 2
Sound 2
Interface 4
Replayability 3
Overall Score:
(* 0 rating, 0 votes)
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