Product Description

Ship Simulator 2008, the much anticipated sequel to the surprise simulation hit of last year, will not only add new harbours and many new vessels, but also much desired features like open sea missions, advanced weather conditions and realistic waves. Ship Simulator 2008 will rock your simulated world!

• 30 Breathtaking missions.
• Ocean waves, with realistic ship motion.
• Advanced day, night and weather systems.
• Visible damage on ships after a collision.
• Long-distances trips between harbours (open sea missions).
• Walkthrough options on all new ships.
• Mid-mission save function.
• New navigation instruments, including a depth meter.
• Advanced towing and mooring rope operations.
• Complex and challenging missions, including ship chases, container loading, fire-fighting and exciting rescue operations.
• Seven sailing areas, of which three are brand new: Southampton/Solent including Cowes, San Francisco and Marseille.
• Thirteen vessels, of which nine are new, including ferries, a super-tanker and a massive container ship.
• Two cranes for container loading and unloading, which can be controlled by the player.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1276 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Iceberg interactive
• Released on: 2007-07-12
• Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows XP

Manufacturer's Description
Ship Simulator 2008, the much anticipated sequel to the surprise simulation hit of last year, will not only add new harbours and many new vessels, but also much desired features like open sea missions, advanced weather conditions and realistic waves. Ship Simulator is a simulation game that puts players at the helm of some of the most varied and detailed ships to be found at sea, all set within stunningly realistic 3D environments. Players can take control of a wide array of ship types, from massive cargo ships to speedboats, yachts, water taxis and even the mighty Titanic. The waters you sail are also as varied as the ships, from the biggest harbours in the world to calm aqua marine tropical waters. Perform tasks in the many pre-fab missions or just steam ahead freely.

Customer Reviews

An Incredible Game, But Incomplete...For Now
This is indeed an incredible simulation, but it's not perfect, and it's admittedly incomplete. Still, the graphics and game physics are superb, and the game play has been improved over the previous version with the addition of options for weather, waves, clouds, and time of day. The Mission Editing feature, a stalwart of the 2006 version, has been promised in a free future patch, in addition to game-saving and multiplayer functions. Also, an optional add-on patch featuring additional ships will be available soon for downloading (also free if you purchased the 2006 version). That's why I labeled the game "incomplete". Apparently, the developers wanted to get the game on the market knowing that future patches would make it more complete, and I for one am grateful for that decision. I didn't want to wait any longer for the new version.

Players have encountered several bugs, according to complaints posted on the Ship Simulator Forum, but these will be fixed in a promised patch due in August. While the game is delightfully absorbing and truly fun to play, there is one annoyance (other than the bugs, which I have yet to encounter): In the "Free Roaming" mode, your selected ship is placed at random within the harbour or adjacent ocean area you've selected. In other words, you cannot select your starting point. This means many miles to travel in order to reach any other desired point - which can be a turnoff. To be fair, there are two solutions to this dilemma: (1) Start play over so that you will be randomly placed nearer your desired location, and (2) You can customize your own missions and thus place your ship anywhere you please. Customizing missions, as mentioned, will be in a "future patch". We Ship Simulator players optimistally look to these future patches in the hope that they will provide everything our hearts desire - including, someday, tall-masted sailing ships with the sails fluttering in the breeze. (Not likely in the forseeable future, but we can hope.)

Bottom Line: This is a great game - and soon to be a greater one when the patches become available - and well worth it's cost of Euros, Pounds, or Dollars.

A fantastic improvement over SS2006
If you enjoyed Ship Simulator 2006, then you'll love this!

With added ships, new environments and extended control over the weather and waves, SS2008 gives you unrivalled control over your ocean voyage. Take up a pre-set mission and complete set tasks - anything from loading cargo onto your ship to rescuing people in distress - SS2008 gives you a real and varied taste of the sea.

Or, you can hit free roam mode, choose your ship, starting environment and the weather (and time of day - day OR night!) and take a cruise with no limits - sail across oceans and reach different environments - anything from the Solent to New York, the North Sea or the Phi phi islands, plus many more! Free roam environments (and the missions of course!) feature AI ships - anything from yachts to cargo ships, tankers and even oil rigs!

Take out the Arie Visser and hit 4 metre waves, rain, fog and thunder on the way out to a rescue. Or take the Pride of Rotterdam out round San Francisco in bright sunshine in the middle of August - the choices are endless.

Why not take the Titanic for a spin, leaving Southampton, sailing the Atlantic all the way to New York? Or take a tanker out through the North Sea, passing oil rigs and cargo vessels on your voyage. Use the Fairmount Sherpa to tow oil rigs, or use tugs to help larger vessels manoeuvre - whatever your interest in shipping - it's catered for here! To top it off, there are even missions for using the dock crane to load cargo onto ships!

Ships feature walk-about mode, realistic damage and realistic behaviour in the water - whether powering through massive waves or racing through a flat, calm ocean.

Select your weather - waves from 0 to 4 metres, sunshine or rain, clear or foggy, thunder, wind direction and speed. Create an idyllic sunny day or a full on storm complete with gales - the choice is yours.

The game also features multiple camera angles - allowing for some spectacular views of the action - especially in walkabout mode. As an extra treat, the 2nd class staircase has been opened on the Titanic - allowing full access to the Stern!

As an even better treat, features soon to be released in a (FREE!) patch include - the mission editor, the ships from the SS2006 add-on (if you bought it) sinkable ships and bug fixes (possibly more!).

Vstep does a great job at listening to the community on the official forums over at shipsim.com, and with new content constantly being released by both Vstep and volunteers (including ship designs, new missions and customs skins for the P6 patrol boat) in the ShipSim community, SS 2008 provides all your ocean-going needs from the comfort of your own desk.

Overall, I haven't once regretted purchasing the game, and I enjoy every minute spent rolling through waves and cruising the oceans. SS2008 proves that although 22kts may look slow, it's nothing short of exciting! SS2008 comes highly recommended for real sailors and Sim enthusiasts alike.

Made for real ship enthusiasts.
This game is so good it can hardly be called a game. The graphics are superb as are the ship models. The ships are so realistic and the handling qualities are as near to real as can be. As an ex seafaring man I would recommend this as a must. It is obvious that the Dutch developers have put in a huge amount of work and are continuing to do so to rectify and small "bugs" there are. For anyone who is not sure about purchasing this game the is a free downloadable demo which can be got at www.shipsim.com , This gives a good insight into what is on offer.