Virtual Skipper 5 Demo

Regattas, or sea races, are some of the most difficult competitions out there, since a lot of environmental effects must be taken into consideration and a whole team must work together to coordinate the ship. There are many different types of boats, each one of which behaves in a certain way out on the sea and requires preferential treatment.

Virtual Skipper 5 is part of the iconic boating series and it comes with a wide variety of improvements over the previous title, as well as plenty of new addition to the formula. However, the core mechanics are basically the same, since the game still revolves around famous regattas from all over the world, including tournaments in Auckland, Rio and Valencia.

Just like before, there's more than one class of boats available, such as Class ACC, Offshore Racer or the Melges 24. Each class has its own competitions and different technical capabilities, which affect the top speed and maneuverability of the ships during the races. However, they all require a small crew in order to navigate, as well as a lot of attention and patience, since the wind is not always in your favor.

To accommodate those who are new to the sport, as well as slightly more experienced individuals that are familiar with the rules and the details of the competitions, the game puts multiple difficulty modes at your disposal. Hence, in case it is your first regatta and you do not really know how to use the sails, the arcade mode is simple enough in the beginning. The simulation mode, on the other hand, leaves you no room for error and enforces the official rules of the competitions, which makes the tournaments significantly more difficult.

Visually, everything has been modeled in accordance with reality, especially when it comes to the large collection of boats from different categories. The same can be said about the water itself, which behaves in a very realistic manner and forms believable waves. A lot of work went into the physics engine as well, since the wind must affect the ship and the sails as accurately as possible.

While many of the concepts available in Virtual Skipper 5 may not make too much sense to some people without a nautical dictionary close by, the game itself is quite refined and it brings enough improvements over the previous title in order to justify the upgrade, especially when it comes to the collection of boats and the competitions.