Uss ticonderoga game review

Ask A Question. What do you need help on? Cancel X. You're an Annapolis-bred hotshot who's just been given a sweet promotion: the command of the USS Ticonderoga, a Ticonderoga class missile cruiser and the central core of the Navy's Modern Task Force Fleet.

You're bound to climb through the ranks and get those four stars if you impress the top brass with your strategic decision making. It's as close as you'll get to serving in the Navy--without actually enlisting!

The interface is much like that of Myst. Now, when you battle, the video scenes that appear when an event happens are spectacular. The detail given to the scenes are amazing. You may also choose to play video scenes, and can watch all the different battle sequences in the game. When you fail terribly, or die, there are special scenes. The voice acting is also a plus, with every line spoken.

However, the one thing that prevented this from being higher than a 7 was the scratchiness of the sound. To walk around the ship, you simply click in the direction you want to go. Or you could choose the room you want to go to. The main part of the game comes in the control screen, where you see a circle Bunker Hill, your ship , other white circles ships you control , and circles of varying colors.

To attack other ships, you must click on High Level Orders, in the toolbar at the top. However, since there is nothing to tell you to do that, it is hard to figure out what to do.

Without HLO, your ship sits there, and gets blown to pieces. Even when you do figure out HLO, it is still confusing. This is where the high-level command system can help. The system allows you to issue commands to your first officer, who then sees them carried out. You can issue nearly all of the necessary orders through the high-level command system, though you do sacrifice some of the finer control you have when doing things yourself.

I have noticed some oddities in the system, and an e-mail from Mindscape alerted me that the high-level command system may not be available in some missions. Of course, you are not told for which missions the system is not available, making using it an occasional challenge.

In addition, you have access to weapons aboard other ships in your group, and can also control the weapons systems of any air support that is available in the mission. All in all, gameplay is fairly easy to learn, and there is a tutorial mission to lead you through the initial rough waters. The graphics in USS Ticonderoga are rendered in sharp SVGA xx ; it also has a host of "neato" multimedia enhancements that push it beyond other games of its type.

In addition to the fully spoken briefings and debriefings, there are popup windows with full-motion video of missles launching and hitting their targets , crew members responding to orders with "Aye, sir! You can also walk around the ship and visit a number of locations, including your cabin where you can wash your hands, grab a sip of coffee, or stroke your pet cactus I'm not kidding!

Also, the popup video windows can occasionally interfere with gameplay. Fortunately, they can be disabled easily if so desired. Sound is a big part of USS Ticonderoga. In addition to the customary "whoosh" of a missle launch and the "bang" of guns, the soundtrack is fairly well done, and as in LucasArts' iMUSE system, the style of the music changes with the game situation.

The voice acting here is good, perhaps leaning toward the melodramatic at times, but very effective within the context of the game. Bottom line: USS Ticonderoga is a great game. Despite the few quirks, I highly recommend it to Naval warfare enthusiasts, and even to those who are unfamiliar to the genre. The game might be over a little too quickly for some it only comes with about 20 mission scenarios , but Mindscape hints at add-ons in the future, which could give USS Ticonderoga a long life.

Screenshots from MobyGames. SVD 0 point.