Red Storm Rising.
Ah with great fondness do I think back about the days where I would spend days behind my good old c64, as I’m sure MANY of us did back in the good old days where games were more than just juicy graphics and game content was more important.
Which brings us to RED STORM RISING. And in one word I LOVE this game. It has everything you can imagine, AND trust me I can imagine ALOT. One word that describes this game perfectly is ATMOSPHERE.
I can recall countless times where I sat in a darkened room all puckered up because I was being chased by the Kirov and its anti submarine helicopters with their dipping sonars were all around me or an Alfa class submarine had just started to actively search for my boat. Mean while I’m trying to get good firing solutions and identify all the enemy vessels by looking at my passive sonar array monitors, watching the lines on it scrolling down my screen to see if I can pick a tell tale sign that will enable me to correctly identify the sonar contacts.
Sound like the real thing right? WELL that is how realistic it is. It really draws you into the game and soon you will
have forgotten that it’s just a game.
Okay enough about how it will make you feel lets take a look at how the game actually plays.
Once you have loaded the game and you passed the mandatory ship ID test you’ll get to pick from a host of scenarios including the awesome world war 3 scenario.
In this scenario you get to duke it out with the red fleet by accepting orders given to you by the navy.
For added realism you can even select to get your ship assigned by them instead of picking a ship class yourself.
So if you’re lucky you will get to command a Dallas class sub or even the latest type the Seawolf.
The game play is very addictive and the manual is comprehensive (what can I say...MICROPROSE!)
You do need to have patience once you have engaged an enemy fleet because just like in real life it takes some time and effort to get your boat in the right place. There is a speed up function though which is a GREAT help.
You are in complete control. You can roam the map and engage enemy fleets till you’re out of ammo or you can go back into port after each engagement to rearm and refit.
You really feel like there is a bigger picture and that you just have to play your part in the war just like it should be, so no Rambo, you against the world type thing.
The bar at the top of the screen in the map mode gives you an indication on how the war is going for NATO.
The more orders you mess up the worse NATO does of course.
In short this game is hard to put down after just one mission. It really gives you the just one more mission feeling.
A must for any serious gamer who likes naval battles and games with content.
