The computer wunderkinds, Talonsoft's, Age of Sail has been something of a revelation, proving rather more satisfying than their Battle ground games. Why? Because there isn't really so much that can be criticized on the command and control aspect, and I have always preferred naval games. The game is basically a simple naval boardgame system transferred to the computer, which, of course, willingly does all the bookkeeping for you and depicts the action with nice pictures in real time … unlike the computerized rival Wooden Ships & Iron Men from AH, which uses a turn based system and, in my opinion, suffers in comparison. The emphasis in AoS is to make your decisions while the battle is underway, preferably with the speed turned up to the max. Your crew can be relied upon to reload for you, though you must tell them to load chain, grape or double shot in preference to ball, and your job is to steer the beast, use the wind to your advantage and sink the other guy (or get him to surrender).
The best encounters so far have been the two on two-to-five battles. One on one is okay, sometimes good, but there is much more interest in having a couple of ships to handle. There is also an excellent campaign game where you can be Bolitho or Hornblower and rise up the ranks, starting with a tin bath and a sheet. For those that aren't happy with the 100 odd scenarios on offer, featuring all the major seagoing nations (even Turkey), there is a design your own module which works well. All sorts of variables are available: wind speed and volatility, crew quality, ship size, battle sails, reload times and many other aspects are neatly handled without cluttering up the essentially clean system.
The graphics are very good, allowing for the Talonsoft trademark of varying levels of zoom. At the closest ratio, the ship details are just right, resembling the little models from GHQ or Langton, and you get everything from 12 gun cutters up to the 120 gun monsters. The colors are spot on: masts crack, the sails get peppered with holes in battle and the only missing item is the crewmen running around. Not so good is the sea - a sort of black/blue fractal with no white topped waves or even wakes from the ships. A bit like playing on a carpet tile with hovering men of war.
The sound is also good, as far as it goes, but I question their aural broadside which is closer to musketry than a thunderous roar of 50 cannon. Of course, I have never heard either in the flesh. The rest of the sound is background period music. Good enough, and quite flavoursome, but I'd have preferred slapping sails, the wash of the waves and the cry of the odd seagull.
There are two minor drawbacks. The first is that, to my knowledge, there are no coastal actions. Well, in around twenty scenarios I haven't seen any land. The other one is the old chestnut about clinging to boardgame restrictions when you really don't need to. Although the sea is clear terrain, the game still runs on a grid, which means turning is not gradual, but jerky. Instead of turning right on a steady arc, however wide to maintain realism, the ship sails straight and then kicks round 45 degrees. Have they not heard of Bezier or curve fitting at Talonsoft?
The game seems relatively bug free, although I should think you'd need a fastish Pentium to do it justice. There is a fog of war button, so you can't see the other guy until he's on your stern, but there is no real weather, apart from the wind. There is also something awry in the fouling algorithm, because I have twice passed straight through other ships without so much as a button catching on their rigging. The other hitch, in common with the Battleground games, is that when you have finished a scenario there is no helpful loop back to the menu to play another - much needed, or am I missing something obvious?
You can probably throw away your copy of WSIM and play this. It is quick, fun and seems to handle most of the important stuff well enough.
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© Copyright 1996 by Richard Berg
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