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The world's mightiest arsenals are under your complete control
in Jane's Fleet Command, the most realistic naval strategy
simulation ever created. You give the orders and the entire
battle group--fast frigates, Aegis guided-missile cruisers,
nuclear submarines, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and each
plane on them--follows your command. A combat direction screen
allows you to survey the whole operation, while a 3-D screen
allows you to zoom in close and follow the action in real time.
Designed under a partnership between Jane's Combat Simulations
and the experts at Sonalysts--the same people who develop
training software for the U.S. Navy--Jane's Fleet Command is
truly the definitive naval strategy game.
Review
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Naval warfare simulations are a daunting prospect for most
gamers. Images of inch-thick manuals and esoteric strategies have
kept this niche limited to the two Harpoon games and a few other
titles. Sonalysts, creator of the 688(i) submarine sim, has taken
on this vast and complex subject matter with a graphical flourish
and a determination to render the complex nuances of modern naval
warfare fun and accessible. Aside from a few interface and
control glitches, it has succeeded admirably.
Fleet Command takes the Harpoon model of real-time naval combat,
strips it to the , and wraps it in a simple and visually
dynamic package without sacrificing the core sense of depth and
realism. Missions run the gamut of modern naval actions: massive
carrier operations, smaller patrol-boat encounters, escort,
transit, land strikes, and so on. Almost 40 single missions are
offered, each with a difficulty rating of one to four stars. A
four-part globe-spanning campaign game utilizes many of the more
difficult single missions, tying them together in a scripted
campaign with persistent losses and damage. Each mission has set
goals and victory requirements, with varying degrees of success
depending upon accomplishing the mission, keeping your own ships
from being damaged, and avoiding collateral civilian casualties.
The seas are full of unidentified contacts, some friendly, some
enemy, some neutral. Picking your way through this target-rich
environment to find and target the key assets of the enemy while
protecting your own fleet is the core of the game.
Gameplay is handled on one screen with a mix of s and
real-time hardware-accelerated 3D graphics. A large main window
can display either a zoomable of the scenario or a moveable
camera view of any object in the current mission. Below this are
three smaller windows. One has a thumbnail overview of the entire
region, another has detailed information (such as speed, heading,
weapons loadout, and damage) on the currently selected weapon
platform, and a third may be swapped with the main window to show
either the or the 3D camera view.
All commands are handled from this simple and elegant screen
layout. Using a combination of mouse and hotkeys you can give
orders to any ship, aircraft, or submarine under your control.
Some orders are simple mouse-driven commands, such as move to a
location, identify an unidentified target, and destroy an enemy
target. Using pop-up menus and hotkeys, you can also give more
precise commands. Antisubmarine teams can be given patrol boxes
to search for threats. Individual weapons can be selected from a
menu, allowing you to order an aircraft to close use its -9s
rather than its -120s. Subs can be ordered to submerge and
surface at intervals, placing them out of radio contact while
they execute their orders. Some important commands, however, have
been assigned to hotkeys only and can be hard to manage. Speed
and altitude, for instance, may be set to low, medium, or high
settings, but the info box never tells you what the current order
is, and any subsequent command (such as a change in direction)
cancels the last speed and/or altitude order and forces the unit
to go to its default setting. This is awkward.
Other interface quirks and problems keep Fleet Command from
sailing smoothly. Some of the huge encounters can involve
hundreds of assets once you get all your aircraft launched, yet
there are only ten slots for storing groups, which is woefully
insufficient. This means you can't effectively create flight
formations. Aircraft assigned to take out a target may wind up
flying at different speeds and altitudes. You also can't give
complex group orders - only transit, attack, and identify. If you
want every unit to attack with a particular weapon, you have to
select and change each individually. Sensors are a major headache
to control. There is a vaguely described global EMCON setting
that turns some sensors on or off for everyone. But not every
sensor can be activated, and it's hard to figure out just which
sensors are going hot. Some sensors aren't controlled by global
settings at all: If you want them on, you have to select and
activate each ship's and plane's sensors individually, sometimes
four per ship. Since EMCON is one of the most essential elements
in naval strategy, this is a poor solution.
It's a shame that control is so iffy in Fleet Command, since the
missions are quite good and entertaining. The graphics are finely
detailed and provide an exciting window to the unfolding action.
With a mission editor and good online support, there is also
plenty of gameplay value. AI is generally very good for enemies
and adequate for friendlies, though I do wish pilots would take
more aggressive evasive actions when being attacked. The many
strong points tilt the scale in Fleet Command's favor and
overcome many of its interface problems. Once you get used to the
flaky controls, there is a lot to like here. --Chet Thomas
--Copyright ©1998 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction
in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written
permission of GameSpot is prohibited. -- GameSpot Review