Ironclads: High Seas Demo

Being able to cross oceans and seas was certainly an achievement for humankind, but it also meant that a whole new environment was available for war. Soon, the ships were equipped with cannons and every man on board wielded a gun of his own, thus making the sea yet another dangerous place unfit for civilians.

Ironclads: High Seas is a turn-based strategy game that takes place entirely above water and you get to control a fleet of war ships, as you battle the enemy forces. It is also possible to organize your troops before the battle starts, in case you want to use a certain formation or squadron and catch the opposing force by surprise.

Another interesting aspect is that the ships are all using steam engines, which makes the skirmishes a lot more exciting, albeit rather slow. Moreover, there are steam submarines as well, although, as you may probably have guessed, they do not submerge underwater completely, because they need to keep on burning coal and evacuate the smoke out in the air. While this does make them visible, they are difficult to spot from a distance and definitely more tricky to hit with projectiles.

Unlike many other strategy games, the combat is not as simple as just clicking on the enemy until he's dead. To begin with, your ship must first be in range of the target, but it also needs to face it from the right side, since you cannot use the front cannons if the enemy is behind you. The turn does not end until all the ships exhaust their movement points, which means that you have to constantly move and circle around the battlefield.

Visually, the units have been carefully modeled to be in tune with realistic ships from that era, although the amount of detail is not that high. While the water looks good enough not to distract you from the game, the small islands are basically devoid of any vegetation, rocks or elevation, which makes them a bit of an eye sore.

Despite its flaws, Ironclads: High Seas is a pretty addictive game, especially thanks to the turn-based mechanics and the lengthy battles that keep you glued to the monitor for at least a few hours. There are many types of ships and weapons you can try out, all of which have different effects.