STRIKE FLEET REVIEW - August 1993
| Well, here's a nice change for a start - a naval simulation that doesn't
use World War 2 as an excuse for being slow and crap ("Ah, but warships really
DID go at four knots in 1943"). Strike Fleet is just about as up-to-the-minute
shiny and modern as you could possibly expect, boasting Exocet missiles, Lynx helicopters
and nuclear submarines as well as a huge fleet of more traditional battleships, frigates and cruisers. All this modern technology doesn't even have a price to be paid in terms of forbidding complexity, either - this is one of the most accessible sims around, and with a helpful manual that assumes absolutely nothing, you'll be patrolling the Straits Of Hormuz with the best of 'em inside half an hour. It's not all patrolling, patrolling, patrolling, of course. There's no shortage of action in Strike Fleet, with theatres of war ranging from the Gulf to the Falklands, and every shade of enemy you could ask for to do sea-bound battle with. You can control up to 16 ships at a time, as well as reconnaissance helicopters for added strategic information, so there's no need for any of the long hours of featureless steaming around that dogs so many olde-worlde seafaring sims. When you do come across something to shoot at, it's handled well too, and within the predictable constraints of the genre, it even looks alright, although as you might expect, when you're shooting something from three miles away you don't get to see much in the way of graphic detail. Despite being at the distinctly pricey end of the budget market, it's hard to argue that you're not getting value for money for your £12.99 when you buy Strike Fleet. You'll get days and weeks of fun out of this, and not just because you're waiting for the screen to update either. Even an arcade-fixated landlubber like me managed to get a bit of fun out of this, so if you've ever harboured (ho ho) naval ambitions, Strike Fleet should be right up your strait. Sorry. |
By The Hit Squad
HIGHS Tense and atmospheric Very slow-moving |