Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Jul 2, 2014

  After some issues with the controls I managed to track down the issue. An old joystick driver was giving fake control inputs to the game and making it unplayable. So be aware that you need to get rid of all inputs aside from that which you are using. The game is something different from the normal shooter or horror survival game that seems to be the norm these days. It is fairly enjoyable and simple to get the hang of. Do not skip the tutorial however or you will be completely lost. My final verdict is; Wait for a steam sale. The game isn't worth $25 in my personal opinion. However it is definitely enjoyable.
• gamedeal user

  Jul 2, 2014

  So far so good.... Not like the other Ship Sim but ok... If you go to the web site ( http://www.ship-simulator-maritime-sar.com/ ) it helps with the controls... Advance controls handle alot better in the first person view and rescue missions.... Good reading any way.... I like it...
• gamedeal user

  Jul 3, 2014

  First note, that despite the very suggestive title, this is not associated with the game Ship Simulator Extremes that you can also buy on steam, and is developed by a different company. This is both a good and bad thing - it's good because there are many, many fewer graphical bugs and general slowness than you get from the classic ship simulator, but it has problems that I'll get into later. My biggest concern with the game is the ship physics. They just don't feel right - a long endurance rescue vessel seems more like a small boat, and the boat feels terrible at low speeds, because of how it moves in the wrong direction when trying to steer. This might be realistic, but it sure doesn't seem like it. Secondly, there's a distinct lack of content. There are only a few other ship classes, and cargo ships are represented by fishing boats etc. It gets annoying, but not too badly. Given the nature of the ships that they've modelled, a true open ocean scenario would be wonderful. Third, the towing and cable attachment walkaround system is way, way too slow, even in calm seas. I actually rather like this game. Poor ship physics aside, the campaign is at least okay, and there is a fair amount of diversity. However, it isn't quite worth 25$ - if it was 15$, I'd say you should buy it, but not at the current pricing. I hope that the developers continue to expand the content that's avaliable, though I'm not too hopeful. Edit (too long for a comment): I think that the easiest one of my complaints to fix is the walk-around one, I suspect that there's just a constant somewhere that can be changed. The motor launch dynamics also need to be improved, as the sliding action when attempting to turn at low speeds makes it difficult to perform rescues effectively. However, this might be a realisim thing, as I have very little real experience with these boats. The thing that I'd like the most to be added, content-wise, is an open-ocean component, far distant from the shore. The Hermann Marwede in particular was designed for this, and it doesn't show up a lot in the game. This would also go well with the addition of the emergency towing vessel Mellum, also based on Heligoland. Only one real new ship class is needed for freighters, really, and I think that something like a 5,000TEU containerized vessel would be enough. I'm not sure how hard it would be to add, though. With respect to the missions, something that's been bothering me about the ones that exist already is that they're so close to shore and in good enough weather that the majority would seem to be done by helicopter. It would be nice to make you cooperate with a helicopter, possibly even conducting air operations off of the Marwede. Finally, a mod kit would be very nice. VSTEP doesn't have one, for reasons I can't determine, but I know that I would be interested at least in developing new content for the game. I think that implementing any two of my suggestions would make me, at least, reccomend this game. I'm excited to see where the game goes in the future. Edit #2: The ship physics are really the worst thing, though. The ships's weight more or less does not exist (the RHIB pushes a 5000 ton freighter around), and the boyancy model is nonexistent. Floating appears to happen based on a uniform height above the water. Furthermore, the drag model doesn't work: when you have a ship under tow, the top speed does not decrease whatsoever.
• gamedeal user

  Jul 4, 2014

  Unfortunately Steam adheres to a strict no-refund policy so I decided to go to town on the review: THIS GAME SUCKS. The controls and graphics are worse dan '80s text based adventure games. I bought it an hour ago and one thing is for sure. I will never - ever - play it again. I'm checking whether I can remove it from my games list so that I'll not be constantly reminded of this mishap. It sucks!
• gamedeal user

  Jul 8, 2014

  I'm giving this a 'thumbs down' not because it's a complete disaster. It's not. The game is stable, free of obvious bugs, and it is somewhat engaging for the first couple of hours. Let me run through the first challenge as a case study: You get a call that some one is in trouble. You put the pedal to the metal and head toward the arrow which indicates where the people are who need rescuing. You realize very quickly that this is taking a long time. Ten minutes in fact. That's ten minutes of doing nothing but holding down the 'w' key. I discovered later that there's an option that doubles the speed; so reduce the time to five minutes of holding the 'w' key. [Edit] Greanthal pointed out that I could go at 4X speed. I didn't remember that option so I returned to the game and headed out to sea. Under menu there are several speed options one of which is 'fastest'. This is what I had clicked before and got 2X speed. So I clicked it again and got the same result. What I didn't realize was that 'fastest' is not 'fastest'. If you click the option again you get 4X. I guess it means 'fastest acceleration'. [Edit] This does not save the game from my thumbs down rating however. In the third mission under the Baltic senario, it still takes 7 minutes at 4X to reach the rescue destination. Once you arrive on the scene you perform a couple of tasks including pulling three people out of the water. This all takes less time than it took to get there. Now you discover you have to take the rescued people back to port . . . another five minutes of holding the 'w' key. You get back to port and you find out you have to return to the damaged boat . . . another five minutes of holding the 'w' key. Back at the rescue site you attach a rope to the boat (takes about a minute) and you turn around to head back to port . . . another five minutes of holding down the 'w' key. I think you get the picture. Among other issues I have is that you can't turn off the music. It's integrated with the master volume. The music is louder in the menus but still in the background while travelling back and forth holding down the 'w' key. Also, the claim about the wonderful water physics is a gross exaggeration. I spent most of my childhood on the water, including open sea. The water in this game barely resembles anything I've experienced. A passing boat makes a deep furrow which lingers for an unnaturally long time; it looks more like a large furrow left by a tractor and plow ('plough' if you're outside North America). Worse is that your boats do not interact with these 'furrows'. You practically hover as you pass over them; not so much as a slight dip. Some one in a review said it might be a $15 title. I'd say it's barely worth it at $10.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 23, 2014

  I like the sim but can't work the throttles or wheel without the cursers. They either are full on or full off for the throttles or hard right or hard left for the wheel, and the mouse is not the best way to manouver in tight quarters. Maybe I'm missing something but because of this I'm not sure it rates a thumbs up.
• gamedeal user

  Nov 4, 2022

  Total rubbish against the TRUE Ship Simulator Extremes in all ways. Just gets so boring after about an hour so not worth the money!
• gamedeal user

  Mar 8, 2015

  must get.. Its a fantastic Sim!
• gamedeal user

  Aug 20, 2015

  I can barely get 15 fps on a more than capable machine.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 19, 2015

  Very good game, I got stuck on a mission and wasn't able to continue the career, but otherwise, very interesting.