Great Naval Battles 3, subtitled Fury in the Pacific, is a traditional battleship game set in the World War II Pacific theatre. The game encompasses the entire Pacific, making the scale of this game huge. There is a lot of ground…or water as it happens…to cover. The game is somewhat reminiscent of the old board game, Battleship, only it features more detail and complex strategies.
The game play itself is entertaining and challenging, with the drawback being the ancient AI. The graphics are noticeably bad, but that is expected of a game of this age.
However, nearly every major ship from the great Pacific battles is represented, from the Japanese fleets to the major American ships and aircraft. The payloads each ship and airplane are mostly historically accurate, which is very interesting.
The problem comes with the bugs of the game, which makes it hard to utilize the missiles and torpedoes appropriately. The bugs seem to make random firings, and sometimes wastes ammunition, which is not unlimited. This actually can destroy attack plans and foul the entire battle strategy if it happens at an inopportune time. Of course, it does. The gamer can either see this as a random event similar to a real life dud, or as a frustrating part of the game that was never intended to surface.
Strategy
is the key to success in this game. The AI is somewhat ancient and unpredictable, but does provide a worthwhile opponent. The best way to win the major battles is to make certain that the battle strategy is sound and well-balanced. Sometimes, the gamer will get a break and will be able to swarm a large battle cruiser with smaller ships successfully. Likewise, a large cruiser can sometimes run right over a fleet of smaller gnats without incurring much damage. However, most of the time, an attack of balanced firepower, speed, defence and air support is required for a victory.
In short, Great Naval Battles 3 is a decent sequel to the first World War II battle games. It is buggy, but the flaws can be overlooked by many gamers. It presents some historical and technological accuracy that make it interesting for war buffs. Its random battle generator makes it playable again and again, and a scenario editor creates even more possibilities. This is worth a download for users who are into war strategies.
