Good Naval Games

[Visaoni]

Awhile back I played Pirates of the Burning Seas for a few months. When they started messing around with the servers I had had enough and quit.

Recently I've found myself missing the combat in that game. It wasn't the most adrenaline fueled experience, but the slow pace made for somewhat more cerebral combat. Besides, there is nothing quite like unleashing a full broadside of cannons.

Are there any games with combat comparable to that of Pirates of the Burning Sea's?

 

[shortylickens]

Theres not much at all in the way of Naval games since the mid 90's. About the only one anybody thinks of any more is Silent Hunter 3. I dont think thats anything like Pirates of the Burning Sea.

Also, speaking as someone who was in the Navy for 9 years, believe me when I tell you there isnt much to make a solid video game out of. Most of the good shit was turn-based hex games or similar grognard type stuff. People dont appreciate that anymore and it wasnt too popular when it was around.

 

[ZzZGuy]

Engima Rising Tide.

Getting a bit old, but you can control anything from a PT boat to a destroyer (+subs). Full 3D, point of view being from the ship, several missions allowing you to control several friendly ships.

Battlestations Midway (+all the new ones made) is another, but not anywhere near realistic but allows for control of ships to aircraft (if you have time to control them yourself).

Slient Hunter (cept for the newest one unless you don't mind having to be connected to the internet 100% of the time to play single player). You can only play as a sub though.

Empire: Total War has naval combat a lot like that in PotBS, but it is not what the game is based on.

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Old, but what about Pirates! by Sid Meier (the remake)

Good lightweight fun sailing your ships around and shooting lots of cannon.

 

[Visaoni]

Thanks for all the ideas. I've played through Battlestations Midway, it was a pretty decent game.

Based on a few brief videos, it looks like Enigma Rising Tide is pretty similar to Battlestations Midway, while Pirates! by Sid Meier is overall the most similar to PotBS. It is hard to tell for sure from videos, but it looks as if the 'spirit' of (naval) combat, if you will, in Empire: Total War is the most similar to PotBS.

I will definitely take a look at Pirates! and Empire: Total War.

 

[lothar]

There has yet to be a naval game better than Battleship.

 

[BladeVenom]

If you want a modern naval simulator, there's Dangerous Waters.

 

[Liet]

Despite it not being too similar to what the OP is asking for, I've got to chime in with another Silent Hunter 3 recommendation. IF you get off on cerebral combat, detection, the thrill of setting up a perfect torpedo spread to hit 4 ships simultaneously and then make a stealthy getaway, then SH3 is great.

However, it takes a LOT of mods and technical workarounds to make it perform at its peak - but once you do, no subsim is better (sadly, considering what a buggy/unrealistic release SH3 was before mods made it ultra badass).

 

[paperfist]

Pirates of the Caribbean by Akella was a very good ship combat game http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/piratesofthecaribbean/index.html?tag=result;title;3 it did have some mission bugs, but IMHO being a huge Sid Pirates! fan this game rivals it.

East India Trading Company http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/eastindiacompany/index.html?tag=result;title;0 also has some pretty awesome naval combat, too bad the rest of the game is shallow as boredom sets in quickly. There is a demo out for it, not sure if any patches made the game better.

 

[Coldkilla]

Pirates if the Caribbean by Akella was a very good ship combat game http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/piratesofthecaribbean/index.html?tag=result;title;3 it did have some mission bugs, but IMHO being a huge Sid Pirates! fan this game rivals it.

I really liked the ship battles in this. Empire Total War (If I remember right) has similar ship battle mechanics as well.

 

[IcePickFreak]

Age of Pirates (or Age of Pirates 2, never played that one though) might be worth checking out. The first one was a bit unfinished but there were quite a few of community mods made for it and it was pretty open. I thought the combat was great. Never followed the sequel though so I dunno if they fixed stuff or broke stuff in it.

 

[ichy]

Fighting Steel was a lot of fun, but that's more than a decade old by now. I wish they'd remake it with newer graphics and fewer bugs, no need to change the game play significantly.