In addition to several single mission scenarios and quick
battles, a long campaign is included in Dangerous
Waters, starting off with a rebellion in part of the Russian Navy and
quickly escalating to encompass many of the world powers. Given the number of different choices to be
made in each of the campaign scenarios, and the various platforms and
strategies to try, there’s a great deal of depth and replay here. There’s also a very dedicated fanbase out
there to go to for tips, tricks, hints for brave newbies, or to challenge to
one of the multiplayer modes. I tend to
find that, the more narrow the niche for a particular game, the friendlier the community
and the community for Dangerous Waters
is no exception.
Dangerous Waters
isn’t terribly impressive from a graphics viewpoint. All the platforms are very well modeled, but
the graphics themselves look several years out of date. Since most of the game actually takes place
while viewing static 2D display screens, there just isn’t much to justify lots
of bells and whistles. The audio effects
are almost non-existent, although there was nothing terribly
disappointing. The interface is most
assuredly not user-friendly. I struggled
a great deal with the various displays, mostly due to a lack of familiarity
with the different layouts. There is
also very little in the way of in-game help, not a problem for die-hard
simulation fans, but certainly a bother for me.
The game comes with a flimsy little manual, just enough to get everything
running, and a 580-page .pdf manual with all the crunchy bits. I highly, highly recommend printing this
monstrosity out or, better yet, ordering the published, spiral-bound manual
directly from Strategy First. If you’re
interested in the game, you’ll undoubtedly find the extra cost well worth
it.
While I didn’t enjoy Dangerous Waters, this is a very solid and impressive entry into
the naval simulation genre. I certainly
am not going to penalize a good game just because it doesn’t meet my tastes. While not for everyone, Dangerous Waters will give naval simulation fans countless hours of
highly-detailed, well-designed enjoyment.
B
A highly-detailed, multi-platform naval simulator, perfect for fans of the genre. However, Dangerous Waters is also quite unfriendly toward newbies, so enter at your own risk.
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