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Jane's Fleet Command past and present

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 18 / 19
Date: May 25, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game some months ago, and after a few problems which were rectified by contacting their techies, told me to disable my joystick port. Good for the fact that you don't use a joystick for this game. Now the problems are solved, lets play the game. As an avid reader of Patrick Robinson and Tom Clancy, this game puts you in the operations control room of the most up to date warships of the present day. The graphics level of this game are great although don't expect too much from the main screen as as the screen get's more complicated you tend to get a bit lost on what icons are actually corrospond to what ships/aircraft. It takes quite a while to get to grips with this game as you need to concentrate on left clicking the mouse on icons, then right clicking to define an order for that particular platform. All in all as you progress through the game it does get easier as long as you are up to date with what aircraft/ sensors give you the best coverage of the warzone. This sounds quite daunting but as Jane's is the best reference books on military tatics and hardware you get a really good reference section included on the CD. As some of the games begin you realise that things might not be going your way by all the incoming missles/aircraft that are out to sink your fleet. Basically if you keep focused on the task and eliminate the targets as which one's are threatening you the most you work your way through it. The mission editor lets you make up your own missions anywhere in the world using any amount of military/civilian platforms you care to include. The only downside of the mission editor is that seeing as though you planned the mission you know what platforms to hunt and roughly where to hunt them. The design team at Electronic Arts have really done there homwork on making any of the Jane's software as they are all very in depth and realistic. All in All if warfare is what you are interested in then buy any of the Jane's games. Marks out of ten for certain parts are as follow:

Realistic = 9 level of graphical detail = 9 playability = 8 difficulty = 8 at first but with more time you do get the hang of it. reference section = 10 the manual supplied = 7 could explain the mission editor a bit better

OVERALL = Buy it, just don't expect to finish this game quickly Thanks for taking the time to read to the bottom :) Shuggy 8)

Hornet: Cold Cat, Bodey Down

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: November 25, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Fleet Command is an awesome game.Jane's has lived up to it's ego once again. As the commander of an entire barrage of carriers, battleships, cruisers, subs and aircraft, you must destroy your enemy using whatever means you have at your disposal. Fleet Command's graphics are fantastic and the game guides you along with pages of info on each of you weapons. A true strategy game, you can't just launch a bunch of missles, but set up a network of aircraft to protect, defend, and attack. Although gameplay can be slow at times it's and overall great game. If you're not willing to play for more than an hour, don't expect to have a prosperous career. This is a game that will keep you up all night.

A horrid game; do not waste $1 on it.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: February 28, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game... out of an overstock bin, and I still felt it was a waste of money. Now, on to the complaints....

GRAPHICS: Considering the quality of 3D ship models, I'm surprised this game requires as much processing power as it does. Where is it needed? Possibly in the game mechanics...but the effects in this game are pathetic...if one were inclined to believe this game, a VLS Aegis cruiser is lucky to engage two targets. Furthermore, many of the 3D ship models are recycled for very different ships classes.

GAME PLAY: This game has some of the worst symptons of RTS games: units which fail to follow orders, or follow orders for a minute, then start wondering aimlessly. The ergonomics of the interface are horrible. Orders are issued on a 2D map using NTDS symbology. But to issue orders to multiple units in close proximity requires zooming in, but zooming in does not zoom on the currently selected unit, requiring you to scroll around to find the unit you wish to issue orders too. This is extremely time consuming, and can be quite deadly if you have to engage one or more missiles coming towards your ships. This is my favorite part: ships will not fire weapons in defense. So, while you are zooming and scrolling to find inbound missiles toward one ship to order it to fire (which, you're lucky if it does so 1 out of every 3 times), missiles can be launched towards another ship, approached unchallanged, and sink her. Clumsy to say the least.

There are patches available on the internet which are supposed to address some of the command problems for units, but given how glaringly obvious many of the problems are, why were they not fixed before it shipped?

The graphics are mediocre, and the interface is clumsy to the point of effecting game play. This will be the last Jane's PC title I own. I suggest you wait for Harpoon 4 if you want fleet action.

Why it's boring

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: July 15, 2000
Author: Amazon User

When I first play it, it's kinda cool. Some good graphics and sounds. Also realistic scenes. But then, I found out that the game is somehow not realistic. So, I had to download WDP files every month. Also, the game is very time comsuming. Even if you put the time compressor at maximum, it still take a long time for your aircraft to strike a distant target and return with enough fuel. All you do during a typical mission is sending out planes(missiles)to attack, TELL them to return when fuel is low, destroy targets at the ratio of one target to three SAMs(or two torpedoes), and running away from torpedoes. Another thing is that you can hardly manuvre your unit. All you do is run toward the opposite direction of the incoming missile or torpedo and just hope that they run out of range. One last comment, I think that Jane's can make the computer smarter. For instance, when you turn on the option "automatically destroy incoming missile", only one ship in the whole fleet would engage the missiles by itself. And it overrides your manual command most of the time. What I mean is that when ship A is set to destroy incoming missiles, the other ships wouldn't fire even if you manually control them. So, I suggest not buying it unless Jane's can do some improvements.

Awesome addicting strategy !

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: August 28, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This is an all-time great. Easy to learn, great simple interface and very addicting naval warfare action. You can zoom the views to see the action up close, instead of just watching icons and symbols...the guy who gave it 1 star needs to learn how to play or go back to nintendo. He is in error in his statements about a US carrier only having 4 strike planes and that ships dont automatically fire in defense against missiles...in no time you will have DOZENS of planes in the air at once as you control your massive strike force with relative ease!

Would be AWESOME if it wasn't so CLUNKY.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: November 15, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game is fun, if you are willing to accept the fact that the programers were on an extremely tight budget. If the programers beta tested this game enough they would have worked out all the problems that prevent this game from being AWESOME.
First, I must point out that it is "real time". Meaning, time is ticking while you are clicking/scrolling through your list of units and commands. Time is always ticking. If the interface was fast and efficient there wouldn't be a problem, heck it might even be realistic. But at best it takes too long to issue simple orders, and to play the game successfully you will be issuing dozens if not hundreds of orders. All the while the clock is ticking.
Why is the clock so important? Because you are dealing with an enemy that has ships, aircraft, subs and MISSLES appraoching fast. If you can't issue orders fast enough, you will always lose. Like I mentioned the interfact is clunky and very inefficient. The programers could have made it much much better.
Also, common sense moves that in the real world would take place almost automatically, don't happen. You literally must issue orders for every little action. As if each ship or aircraft doesn't have a captain or pilot to make common sense desisions. Example: If an Air-to-Surface missle gets too close to one of your AEGIS ships, the ship doesn't automatically attemt to shoot it down as would happen in the real world...naa the computer waits for you to give the order. But it is often impossible to give every order in time when you have a dozen missles coming at you, a dozen enemy aircraft and a dozen enemy ships to be aware of...annnnd in addition to mainatining your air/sea defense, you have to carry out your offense. This is all in real time. Thus because the game is so un-userfriendly it is virtually impossible to do well in most scenarios.
Other complaints,
1) the game doesn't come with an instruction book. Sure they include it in the "read me" file, but you cannnot access it during a game.

2) The game AND the 'read me' files do not define/explain any of the weapons systems that are used in the game. So without that information it is impossible to play the game with any chance of winning. You either have to be a Naval warfare expert to know what each sytem and weapon is designed for, or you must buy a reference book that describes each weapon system and its mission explained. Without this information the game is not playable.

Such a waste. This game could have been AWESOME. If the game designers would have put a little more effort into it, this game might have won awards.

My advice, play but don't expect to not get extremely frustrated.

A very comprehensive Naval Statagy game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: March 11, 2000
Author: Amazon User

WOW! If you are looking for a very good Naval Combat Simulator, look no further. Very impressive 3-D graphics. For example, you can rotate your 3-D screen below the water and view the ship's propellers...just spinning away! On the slightly negitive side, I did have some installation problems, which were fixed by a patch on the Jane's website. Once the patch was installed, the game does work well with Window's 98. I have not had a crash during a game yet (have had it for a couple of months). It does tax my poor old Pentium II 266 in some of the larger missions. All I can say is... it beats the heck out of Harpoon.

Leigh

Overall, It's pretty good

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: January 13, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Having owned several Jane's games. I know that some of them can be pretty overwhelming. Fleet Command is one of the better games that has come from the Jane's series. One, is that there is no big book to read. Two, It combines overall nice graphics of the ships and aircraft. While still adding some complex situations. If you are into ships and aircraft of the Navy. Go get it! (But just make sure that you have a pretty nice system to run it on...)

great game with only a few flaws

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: August 25, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Fleet Command is an excellent simulation of naval operations. The major flaw is that because it concentrates on naval warfare the land based parts of it are lacking. For example there is only one type of SAM unit (the 1960s SA-6) and a lot of the world's aircraft have been left out. However if a modern fleet sim is what you are looking for, Fleet Command is the right game for you. I just can't wait until they decide to come out with a WWII version:)

One of the best strategic games i have played

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: September 29, 2001
Author: Amazon User

When i first got this game i was intruiged by the somewhat challenging, at first, missions and the amazing eye candy graphics. I must admit seeing the things explode on the screen really got me in the mood. Yet, after a while the single mission are quite simple and the campains, while more challenging, took way to long. I read another review on this site and it said that the game did not have a time compression button. Then after constantly waiting while playing the first campain I found the time compression button that supposedly wasn't there. So now the campains are five times faster. The other problem with the game was the difficulty with the missions. After reading a review, he gave me and idea that the best thing to do was line up the U.S. fleet against the Russians and watch the "Rockets Read Glare the Bombs Bursting in Air". After doing this i found the game much more entertaining, and a new challenge of creating difficult mission arose. This game ...is a must if you love war and strategic games as I.

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