Review by: Michael Rack
Published: July 23, 2003

The peaceful ebb and flow of the ocean, the calming clap of rolling waves, the roar of large-bore cannons drilling your enemies into Swiss cheese… It’s good to be the captain! Surely nothing can instill such a sense of power as commanding a majestic steel battleship into combat on the open seas. Koei has released Naval Ops: Warship Gunner to offer gamers just such an experience, with a design process to let you build whatever kind of metal behemoth you desire.

At the start of this game, you take on the role of either a Japanese, English, German or American officer commanding a ship stationed in the Pacific ocean during World War II. What exactly you’re doing there isn’t as important as the rip in time and space that opens up, sucking you into a parallel universe. You quickly find yourself surrounded by hostile boats of comparable technology, but in greater numbers. Fortunately, a small fleet comes to your aid, and with their help, you drive off your attackers. When the dust settles, you learn that the opposing ships belong to an organization known as the Empire, which has been taking over the world. Your saviors call themselves the Freedom Force, and you immediately align yourself to their cause, hoping to get revenge on the Empire for attacking your ship while searching for a way back home.

As you battle the forces of the Empire, you’ll gain money which you can apply to researching new technology. Of course, the Empire will be doing the same, so spending your money where it counts is vital. The range of technology you can develop begins with simple advancements, such as larger cannons and lighter armor, but eventually reaches even beyond modern accomplishments, including double-hulled battleships, battleship-carrier hybrid hulls and devastating plasma burst guns. Of course, if you’re a history buff who finds such sci-fi twists distasteful, you can play in World War II mode, limiting the technology to that of the era for a more realistic experience.

Not only do you command your ship, but you design it as well. There are a number of different hulls you can purchase, including destroyers, cruisers, battleships, carriers and more. Once you have a hull, you can outfit it with boilers, turbines, armor plating, control components and weapon systems. It’s more than a simple matter of picking out what you want, as you must place everything on this ship in a two-view blueprint design process, such that no parts overlap. Your ability to balance various design factors will ultimately determine the speed, durability and accuracy of your floating fortress. Finding the best way to pack your gunboat full of firepower offers a constant and rewarding challenge, but those less technically minded can purchase premade ships. You can also use an automatic ship designer that will create a vessel based on your input, allowing you to focus on blasting the Empire back to the Stone Age.