You know, we have simulation and action games for a lot of different things out there. Everything ranging from people with guns to cars to tanks to planes has been covered and usually does quite well on the retail sales floor. Well, one area that seems to not get quite as much attention is the area of naval warfare, but it seems like Koei is definitely looking to pick up on that market with their recent release of PTO IV on PS2 and now Naval Ops: Warship Gunner also for the PS2 system. Naval Ops is still in the same naval warfare arena, but definitely provides a little bit of a different experience both in storyline and in overall gameplay.

The story to Naval Ops is one of those unique “reality meets fantasy” kind of games that Koei does a good job of coming up with. It’s WWII, and your ship and its crew are sucked into a sort of parallel universe where a war is taking place against rebel forces and an empire bent on oppression and iron rule. You of course join the side of the good fight with the rebel forces, and then embark on a series of missions to help shut down the oppressors and will be doing everything from sinking enemy ships, escorting friendly units, and bombarding land targets like radar bases to get the job done. The main mode and WWII modes both will have you select a country to play as prior to starting your missions which will determine the kind of craft that you will have access to as you play and progress.  

There are really two different styles to be found here in Naval Ops, the main one being an action packed arcade style of gameplay. The ships that you command move, turn, and stop very quickly and are very easy to maneuver, and you will usually be accosted by a ton of enemies looking to bring you down. Sinking enemy craft also will yield powerups occasionally which will add ammo, funding for projects in between missions, or extra ammo to make sure that the firing and explosions won’t cease. There are also a lot of weapons to use and be trigger happy with, and include everything from cannons for offensive strikes and machine guns to take out torpedoes to more futuristic ones from a more modern time period like rockets and lasers.

The second play style that is included is actually what made up the bulk of my time playing and really was more of the highlight for me personally. While you’re in the dock, you use funding that you receive from completing missions to research new ship hulls, bridges, weapons, etc. and then can go in and build your own ship from the parts that have been researched and purchased. It can be a lot of fun to sit and build your own Destroyer or Aircraft Carrier or whatever as you see fit to do, and you can literally sit and put a bunch of different combinations together of various guns and gun heights, engines, turbines, radars, and so on. It looked a little complicated the first time I tried it, but it was actually pretty simple. After assembling your ship, you can then ask the computer to grade you on it overall on an A, B, C, D kind of scale, and you can also rotate and move the camera around the ship to see what it looks like when you are done with the blueprinting. Koei was also nice enough to allow you to opt for the AI to put it together based on what it thought were the best specs based on what you had if you’re not in a building mood.

One really neat thing that they did in Naval Ops that I liked was the fact that a lot of the ship designs stayed true to a WWII kind of format, but the added sci-fi element was pretty neat on a “what it may have looked like” kind of thing. Sailing a battleship out with your standard cannons and depth charges was neat, but firing rockets and such from the deck was interesting. There were also a couple of neat combinations of ships as well, like battleships with aircraft carrier decks attached to them to help you build the ultimate floating fortress the way that you see fit to do.

Another plus in my opinion which also may work as a minus in others was the control and gameplay elements overall while on missions. As I stated before, the game felt very arcade like in its presentation to a point where the ships almost seemed to maneuver like bathtub toys and cannons can fire very rapidly. It makes it easy to keep the action going and keep it fast paced, but gamers looking for a more realistic approach to the handling and firing elements may wind up being turned off by it. This can also present a bit of a weird mix for some people as well, since the building and upgrading sections can be drawn out and a little slower, but then the mission play is faster and more action oriented.

Graphically, Naval Ops looks good for what it does. The majority of the environment is a tad repetitive of course since it is made up by grayish waters and gently rolling waves, but they actually added in some good land and island areas with buildings, radars, docks and some other things to break up the view now and then which actually was one of my issues from PTO IV since I didn’t think that they did enough of it in that game. Since Naval Ops is so action based during missions, you can expect to see a lot of splashing water from missed artillery shots and smoking or fire covered ships, and the explosions and flashing from firing guns looked good. The ships themselves were also done well, and really looked neat especially when you were in the dock and moving the camera around your most recent creation to see how destructive or weird it turned out after you put it together.

The sound in Naval Ops also wasn’t too bad, and the atmosphere will be filled with tons of booming and cracking noise from all of the fighting going on at sea. When you make emergency repairs on the fly, there are even the sounds of welding and such going on. The music tracks were a combination of more old school style WWII kinds of drumming or brass things mixed in with a more modern techno or upbeat tone which wasn’t bad, but was easily forgettable.

Overall, Naval Ops is definitely a title that naval warfare fans will get a kick out of, and there is no shortage of action packed gameplay to be found here. You sim or building buffs will also have fun building and designing your own ships as well, and then getting to sail them out and test them in battle can just add to the enjoyment or boost your ego on how good you can put an effective ship together. Unfortunately, both of these elements may work against one another as well, since you action arcade fans may not like the slower paced designing mode and you realism folks may not care for the arcade style play, so you may want to rent it or check it out prior to making the final commitment.  

Gameplay: 7.5
Naval Ops provides a lot of fun filled and action based gameplay with a cool building tool. Everything looks a little complicated up front but is actually easy to do and there really wasn’t much of a learning curve to it. If you’re not in a fantasy mood, you can actually play with WWII weapons and such only, but adding in the more futuristic elements to the game was fun and interesting. This game is very arcade based in its presentation though, and it may not appeal to a more sim based crowd overall. The missions fortunately have a decent variety to them, but the overall element of the game is to blow up everything else in the water and then complete your objective.

Graphics: 7.4
The graphics are definitely not bad for the type of game that it is, but tend to be repetitive just due to the fact that the game takes place at sea. Koei did a much better job of adding in some land based areas and targets though, and there are some good objects in them like radar dishes, buildings, etc. The explosions and battle things looked really good, and little environmental extras like fog were added in here and there to try and make it a little more realistic.

Sound: 7.3
The sound in Naval Ops wasn’t bad either, and shortly after starting you will be assaulted by the sounds of cannon fire, explosions, and the cracking of machine guns as you sail into war. The music wasn’t bad or aggravating either, but was forgettable overall.

Difficulty: Easy
While it takes a couple of runs to really get the full hang of playing, the controls are easy to pick up and get into. Building your own gunships also wasn’t hard, even if it looked a tad intimidating up front. The ships are very easy to maneuver around though, and the biggest thing to conquer here is learning how to lead your targets and when it is safe to stop and do repairs when needed.

Concept: 7.5
The mixture of WWII style gameplay and atmosphere with a fantasy kind of world actually worked out really well. The storyline was a little “been there done that”, but was entertaining nonetheless. I would have liked to see full scale squadron battles added in or an option to make the handling and gameplay a little more realistic if you wanted to play that way though.

Overall: 7.3
Overall, Naval Ops was a really fun game and I personally found that the mixing of a building and designing game with an arcade feel was a lot of fun, and one kind of broke the monotony of the other. For those of you who are action / arcade fans, the building and upgrading part of the game may not appeal to you, and for those of you who are sim fans … the arcade style gameplay and controls may not be what you are looking for either. If you like naval or war games though, Naval Ops definitely deserves your attention and I strongly suggest you at least give it a rental to see if it what you are wanting.