Man of War II: Chains of Command

The Good
The focus of Man of War II (MOW2) is to put you right on the deck of your ship, and the game succeeds very well at this.You can run and look in different directions, although you do not have the ability to look up or down. A looking glass gives you the ability to zoom in on any ship. MOW2 really does put you in the captain’s boots.

The biggest complaint I hear about MOW2 is one that I would argue is actually a strength – namely, the graphics. MOW2 was released in 1999, and yet eschews polygon based graphics, instead opting to rely on 2-D sprites. While polygon based graphics were definitely the way to go for other simulations, I would argue that there was just no way to adequately represent the age of sail with polygons in 1999. A tall ship includes way too much detail in its sails and rigging alone to have been represented well in any way other than with sprites. As it stands, MOW2’s ships are beautiful to behold at a distance, although they get chunky and lose detail as they get close.

The interface is easy to learn and clean, allowing control over navigation, cannons, crew and sails. You the have the ability to select which of four types of shot to use in your cannons. The crew can be set to work on four priorities—repair work, working the guns, working the sails, or gathering on deck in preparation for boarding. Whether you decide to concentrate your fire on a ship’s sails, deck or hull all have different effects on the battle. There are different sail states to choose from. The sound lends much to the atmosphere of the game, including stirring symphonic scores and a range of effects such as splintering wood, rustling sails, and the cries of wounded men MOW2 allows for play at three levels of command--captain, division commander or fleet commander, giving you control of many more ships than your own. Two separate campaigns are included, as well as a range of stand-alone scenarios, including the action that resulted in Nelson's classic victory at Trafalgar. The scenarios are a nice mix of small and large engagements. A scenario editor is included with the game, and is easy to learn and use. Fans of the game were very active and involved in keeping the game alive for a couple of years following its release, by uploading custom scenarios and organizing large multiplayer games. As I write this review (July, 2006), I can still find the scenarios available on-line.

The Bad
The music and sound in MOW2 is buggy. I’ve played this game on two very different systems and sound cards, and have often observed that the music will stop without warning. Reading reviews of this game on-line, it appears that some gamers believed there was no music in the game, period. I can only assume that the music didn’t function at all for some players.
While I really do like the graphics of MOW2, I have to admit that the ability to look up and down would have helped immensely. Instead of relying on buttons or icons for information as to sail state or damage, it would be so much nicer to simply look up at the sails. The implementation of boarding action seems to have been an afterthought. I understand that the focus of this game is as a sea battle simulation, and so a “Pirates!” style duel between captains would have not been appropriate, but you can’t help but feel let down when you see that boarding action is reduced to shrinking strength bars and “advance” or “retreat” buttons. The saddest thing about MOW2 is that it just won’t work on Windows XP at all. The MOW2 gaming community tried valiantly to find a work-around for XP, to no avail. Run MOW2 with an older OS or not at all.

The Bottom Line
MOW2 is one of the finest Age of Sail games going.