Sea Power: Naval Combat in the Missile Age

Sea Power: Naval Combat in the Missile Age simulates modern and Cold War naval battles of the guided-missile, radar, and air-defense era — territory that few simulators have covered so far — with the player commanding entire groups of surface ships, submarines, and aircraft and having to master electronic warfare just as well as classic maneuvering, because an overlooked radar contact can mean losing the entire group. Instead of a single ship, the game emphasizes command of an entire battle group, where radar coverage, missile defense, and offensive assets must be coordinated across several vessels at once, much as a real task-force commander would do.

The game follows in the tradition of older tactical simulators focused on modern naval warfare and tries to model just how fundamentally guided missiles and electronic warfare transformed the character of naval battles compared to the artillery duels of the past. Engagements are often decided the moment the enemy is detected and the threat correctly assessed, not only once direct contact is made, giving the game a different pace than classic Second World War submarine or battleship simulators, where combat is far more visual and direct. A clear tactical map combined with a detailed 3D view of individual ships lets you follow the battle on both levels at once, from the global deployment of forces down to the launch of a single missile.

Upon release, Sea Power was received as an interesting and technically ambitious attempt to fill the gap between historical Second World War simulators and the shortage of games focused on the era of missiles and modern electronics. For fans of the genre, it represents one of the few current titles that treat modern naval warfare with the same seriousness as a classic like Dangerous Waters, and as such it's winning an ever-growing circle of fans.

Why play it: For fans of seriously crafted naval simulators who missed a game devoted to the era of missiles and modern electronics with the same care as the classic Dangerous Waters.