PC Critic Reviews

Without a doubt, the improvements that have been made to Ship Simulator 2008 are a giant leap forward for the franchise. There are still a few wrinkles to be ironed out, namely an awkward information display panel, some less-than-realistic physics, and some random game crashes.

I'm convinced that the captain of a supertanker has more to do to shift 350 metres of iron than press cursor keys. [Oct 2007, p.64]

It's most definitely a sink or swim title, but for those eager to take to the seas they could do a lot worse.

It's slicker, more varied and better-looking than its predecessor. [Oct 2007, p.84]

What's still missing is "MS Flight Simulator" levels of realism. [Oct 2007, p.87]

SS2008 is a pleasant place to spend an occasional evening, but ultimately there's not enough challenge and realism here to distract a seasoned simmer for long.

Despite a great deal of attention obviously being poured into the environments (both sea and land), there’s a distinct lack of various aquatic hazards that would make Ship Sim far more immersive; namely tides and currents.

Ship Simulator 2008 will only appeal to ship afficianados, but even they may find the lack of features a turn-off after a while.

Greater variety in ship types and missions would be nice. A greater sense of threat and better damage modeling (especially rips below the waterline or actual sinking instead of simply stopping) would help a lot.