For the sea savvy, it would be a decent sim to play. For the beginner, prepare for choppy seas.
Graphics: 7 (water effects are gorgeous however you need a beefy PC to run it / boats scaled to life like / ironic structures like the Opera House are certainly recognisable)
Sounds 5 (the horns sounds like some wave file playing / general chit chat on the comms are good however they need more samples)
Value 10 (plenty of missions / decent multiplayer options / mission editor and customisable free roaming, there's plenty of things to do)
Tilt: 6 (I did enjoy my experiences however the major let down was the lack of tutorials)
Big open spaces always captivated me. This is not to say I'm claustrophobic (not by a long shot) however it's more about the sense of freedom; the sense of being larger than life. During my early years of gaming, my favourite genre was flight sims. Travel the world in 80 mins sort of thing. Another thing I love is sailing the grand oceans with nothing but water and your ship. So when I saw 'Ship Simulator Extremes' I honestly couldn't wait to sail my boat into uncharted waters.
So what I expected from Ship Sim Extremes (SSE) didn't really come to fruition. I expected sailing from one harbour to another, quite literally with plenty of boats to choose from. Also being a simulator of sorts, I expected looking out for wind factors / shallow waters and all that good ship stuff. Well when finishing the game, some came to light and others not so.
Ship Simulator Extreme (SSE) is divided into three main campaigns, a multiplayer component and a mission editor. It's advisable to complete the three main missions (or complete some of them) as it's designed to teach you the basics of the game.
'Greenpeace' is the first campaign with about eleven (or so) missions. This re-enacts some of the 'famous' real life missions aiming to teach you sailing small to medium size boats. The next 'Tourist Tales' is a series of missions based on sailing a huge cruise ship. There are other elements like towing however its main goal is to navigate a huge ship (and mooring it).
The last titled 'Core' is the crux of the game. The difficulty is ramped up very high as it combines the previous two. That is, there are plenty of towing, navigating through narrow canals, night missions and so forth. Basically it ditches everything it has on the player to simulate real life events.
Because the core campaign is where is at, sadly it's harder than it should be. The tutorial mission (note the singular) only teaches you the bare minimum (that is mooring / moving the throttle and little else). It doesn't teach you anything about piloting the ship (as it has more controls than just 'move up' to go forward) and because the core campaign involves towing galore, there are no towing videos / education or even provide tips for the beginner.
So it seems that the game is tailored to people who are in the know how; which is a shame though (and I guessing that's where the extreme arrives from as it's certainly not the pace). Also being a simulator, the game's pacing is very slow yet methodical. Methodical as in there's no room for error and planning ahead is essential. Fail to do so can cost valuable time (and frustration) as you watch in 'slow motion' a disaster waiting to happen, and it will happen.
There are other elements that on the surface looks hardcore however it's practically worthless. The ship lights indicator (and there are about ten of them) serves no purpose other than for show. To memory only one mission utilises this. The wind direction indicator also plays a little role or maybe a huge role when it comes to towing. I cannot say though as mentioned before, because the lack of training materials, I can only assume.
Navigating the boat requires tonnes of guesswork and thankfully the forums / youtube videos can assist you. However I feel you shouldn't have to go to that extend to play the game (as it should be inbuilt). There are also no inverse mouse option therefore can be a real pain, especially where you need to take out a fire as you need to control the hose or just simply looking around.
There are bugs that can cause a royal pain. The most noticeable ones I've experienced are the pilot boat as they rarely arrive to your boat therefore forcing me to send out a lifeboat to push it; boats that literally sail directly into your path, graphical glitches like sailing through land (I have seen this in Sydney and it looks like the entire city is doing a re-enactment of Waterworld) and many more. The good thing though is that none ever made the game crash.
With all those negatives there are some positives. Some of the good features are the boats are quite detailed and you get the opportunity to walk on the deck. This is great for long voyages (as you really got nothing to do other than viewing the grand ocean). And the tourist ships are actually enjoyable to troll around as it makes you feel like a passenger on the boat embarking on long voyages across the ocean.
Also the graphical representations of those boats are quite detailed as it seems scaled correctly. Again I'm no expert however to me they look lifelike. Also famous landmarks like the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Statue of Liberty, the Golden Gate Bridge and so forth are all recognisable. The water effects are marvellous and certainly look realistic. However it does take a real beefy PC to render it in its fullest glory though. Sadly general landscapes like trees, houses and the like are quite poor however it's no biggie considering.
Soundwise is also not too shabby. You do get to hear the water flapping on the boat when mooring and that nice, gentle swaying is pretty neat. There is also that radio chit-chat to add immersion however because it's on a loop and each mission can take easy an hour, eventually you'll hear the same chat over and over again. The boat horns don't sound realistic enough as it like listening to a simple wave file and yes, the sounds of seagulls are always there.
Once you get a decent feel for the main campaign, by using the mission editor, you can create your own adventures or jump online for some multiplayer action. The community is very helpful and that's a bonus especially when asking for assistance. There are also some permanent servers running however sadly for me being located in Australia, the ping times are horrendous. Lastly there is a decent encyclopedia of sorts where it gives you some statistics / background of all the boats.
SSE can be viewed in two ways – for the sea savvy it would be a great sim as especially the core campaign, it will give the player a run for its money. For the beginner though, it can be a rough journey due to the lack of tutorials and the manual doesn't explain much either. Yet I am 'classified' as a beginner and after many trial and errors, I managed to complete all the missions (and scored all the postcards) yet my ride wasn't exactly smooth sailing.