Ship Simulator

Ship Simulator is yet another program that aims to give its users a view of what it would be like to operate a ship on the open sea. This game includes several ships and several scenarios. The list of ships ranges from huge cruise ships and transatlantic tankers to smaller boats and patrol boats.

Pros

Ship Simulator now allows a much greater selection of vessels to sail in than before, and all of these vessels are very finely tuned with great graphics. The game even allows the player to freely roam around the decks of the boats and take in all of the glory from a first-person point of view.

The game also offers a great multiplayer and free-roam environment, which allows the players to take whatever ship they want and play with other users in a variety of spaces and online sessions.

Ship Simulator also offers a variety of extremes and locations. Users can go to the normal locations, such as Dover and other major ports, or to more obscure locations, such as Antarctica, in Ship Simulator Extremes.

Users can even change the weather conditions however they see fit. If you want a beautiful afternoon cruise, you can set the weather to cloud-free and the waves to minimal. If you want to enjoy a white-knuckle experience, you can set the fog to dense, call sheets of rain from the clouds, and set the waves to large.

Cons

While the game does boast being one of the best ship simulators out there, there are some cons. One is the lack of detail in the environment surrounding the ships. While the ships are very detailed, and the player can experience what it would really be like to pilot these vessels, the surrounding environment is often lacking detail. There is a bit more detail in larger city ports, but that is where the detail ends.

The campaign missions are also very repetitive, requiring the player to pilot a ship through several obstacles and get the mission completed safely. These missions are also a bit dull and unexciting after playing several of them. When it comes to game play, free-roam and online is where players should concentrate.

The game is also almost completely devoid of sounds and sound effects. Seagulls, engine noise, and other boats are just about all you will hear while playing. While this is a minor detail, and the effects are enough to keep you interested, you might want to consider uploading your own music while you are playing.

Another con, or maybe a pro depending on how you like your games, is that this game is extremely slow-moving. Then again, it is very realistic, as many of the ships on the game cannot go faster than 30 knots anyway. Overall, this does not take away from the game if you are a ship enthusiast, but for players who are used to fast action and an amazing story line, Ship Simulator is not ideal. Those who love a realistic game and want to see what it would be like to sail the seven seas should pick up a copy.