I think that needs to be my first point in this review; this game directs itself to one particular audience, and in fact you're more likely to find this game in the back pages of a chandlery magazine, under "publications charts and CD-ROMs" than at your local Game or PC World.
Many yonder ago I played the first Virtual Skipper, the graphics were not all that great, and those stupid ferries always got in your way! But the first thing I noticed in this game was the graphics; they're 110% better than the first and second virtual skipper games, and my god they must have really spent a lot of time working on the scenery; for a racing simulator where the details are usually spent on the vehicles, this one has really pushed the boat out (if you'll pardon the expression).
The game poses a magnificent security system for good reason, but does however waste a lot of time when loading the game because it spends thirty or forty seconds checking the CD itself to check for piracy.
The sound quality in the game is very good but has a certain "repetitive" ring to it! The in game audio has no music, but a certain attention to detail has been made for the sound of a helicopter flying by.
The game can be very difficult and requires a small amount of sailing knowledge for you to be able to actually play it.
The game play is great but can become repetitive as the legs are “real time” so can take quite a while to get to the end.
Unfortunately I am as of yet unable to get the multiplayer to function for me, so I am unable to comment on it but if it is anything like the single player racing I certainly can't see there being much of a problem with it.
The game also has many different race options, including “challenge” racing, which are pre defined maps that allow you to get used to playing the game. And solo races which you must create yourself in the map editor.
The map editor is a feature that I think has been lost in many games recent that appears to have came back in virtual skipper, though I have not really explored all of the map editors features from what I can see it is a very good little tool and should give hours of fun.
This latest instalment of virtual skipper also has a lot more options as far as types of boat go, these include the 24ft Melges 24™, the 43ft monohull “offshore racer,” the 66ft long very famous America’s Cup Class and the Open 60 trimaran which is one of the most high performance yachts available in the world.
The paintwork for your boat is customisable and the game comes with a set of colours for several countries (France, Germany, England, Spain, Italy, Sweden Australian and American), a “Virtual Skipper 3” scheme and the facilities for you to add your own custom paint jobs to the game that you can create in any good graphics program such as Adobe Photoshop or The Gimp.
Yet another feature that improves both graphics and game play is the inclusion of weather, something that has been part of the virtual skipper series since the beginning has now become very much an important and interesting part of the game that certainly improves the game play. Some of the features that come under wind which are all described extremely well in the games manual is the ability to change the wind force through the use of the beaufort scale, which is a method of measuring wind speed (roughly wind speed in knots divided by five plus one gives you the beaufort “force”). “Oscillation” also “intensity” changes while in game to add to the “reality effect,” wind shifts and even wind disturbances. How they have managed to cram so much into one game I have no idea.
The game is so crammed full of features I could write a novel on the game if I had the time but still the same old drawback is there, which will inevitably restrict the games audience, it is a sailing simulator and will only ever really appeal to yachtsmen stuck in home who can’t go sailing right now! (or me who seems to be too busy to get down to the sailing club)
All in all, a great game, but if you are not into sailing don’t bother, I would say this game is like any other sporting game, and unless you have some knowledge of the sport itself you will stand no chance at all and get very frustrated very quickly.
Reviewed by: Darryl Neale.
From: All About Games.
