Want to sail but get seasick? Sailing Simulator 2010 by Iceberg Interactive and Stentec Software is the answer for you. The game is so realistic that you will wonder why you aren’t getting wet. From a single crew Laser to the 7 crew Stentec Open 70 , the feeling is one of being on the water. The only thing missing is the wind in your hair, the water spray on your face, and the rocking of the boat as you crest the waves. It can be just as exciting as sailing in a race or heavy winds or as relaxing as sitting back and letting the wind take you where they want to.
The sound of the waves as they lap against the bow of your boat, the luffing of your sails as you tack or jibe is incredibly realistic. The controls are intuitive and very easy to learn without reading the manual. The options of the boats include single and multi-person crews; where you can choose from the weight of the crew and activity level of each crew member. There is also an option to have some things automatized.
You can customize the weather and wave height and save them as “situations” and return to them at a later time. Other customizations include camera location (from the bow of the boat, to two angles from the stern) as well as putting up an area chart, temperature and wind gauge, and compass among others. There are four locations to choose from: Treasure Island, Koh Hong, Cabrera, and Scheveningen. These locations provide their own unique experiences from open Islands to having cliffs and other obstacles around. (I found out how to right my Laser after I hit Treasure Island by accident).
To turn the boat, you use the mouse to turn the rudder in to the direction that you would like to go (just like a real boat). There is a compass that tells you the way that the boat is traveling. You can play in two ways off-line. You can sail without a predetermined course or you go around buoys like you would in a race.
The multi-player options enables you to play against other people either in your network without going on-line or against sailors all over the world in a variety of races. You can also join a race set up by someone you know by inputting their ip address as well as join an existing race or set up your own. The race you join depends on the boat you chose. You earn a ranking based on your results. The on-line action is just as realistic as the rest of the game and I can’t wait till I actually win a race. There is an on-line pdf manual at www.sailsimulator.com to help you win on-line races.
If you go to www.sailsimulator.com you will find the option to -pre-order 11 new boats including 2 Hobie boats, laser radial, and Optimist. You will also find 3 new characters for your crew as well as the addition of a new area, Heegermeer. You can order Boatset 1 Add-on from the website for either 19.90 euros as a download only or 24.90 Euros with a download and Cd-rom. The add-on is expected in April. By ordering from the the website you save 5 Euros. You can check the multiplayer statistics by going to the website as well.
And no more running to the leeward side to toss your cookies!
Score 10 out of 10
Dani P
Platform: PC
System specs:
Windows XP, Vista, Win 7
2.4GHZ Pentium 4
128meg NVidia Video Card (Shader 3.0 compatible)
500mb free Hard drive space
Directx 9.0c compatible
