''Age of Sail'' is a 1996 naval combat

computer wargame A computer wargame is a wargame played on a digital device. Descended from board wargaming, it simulates military conflict at the tactical, operational or strategic level. Computer wargames are both sold commercially for recreational use an ...

developed and published by

TalonSoft TalonSoft, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher based in Baltimore. History TalonSoft was founded in March 1995, by video game producers Jim Rose and John Davidson. On December 24, 1998, Take-Two Interactive announced that ...

Gameplay

The game covered the naval campaigns of the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

and other more minor conflicts in the period 1775 to 1820. In addition to the campaigns there are more than 100 independent scenarios based on significant naval actions including the battles of

Trafalgar Trafalgar most often refers to: * Battle of Trafalgar (1805), fought near Cape Trafalgar, Spain * Trafalgar Square, a public space and tourist attraction in London, England It may also refer to: Music * ''Trafalgar'' (album), by the Bee Gees Pl ...

and Camperdown. The game includes a scenario editor with over 2,000 historically accurate

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships c ...

s allowing the extension of the game by the user.

Development

announced ''Age of Sail'' on July 12, 1996. It was initially scheduled for a fall 1996 release.

Reception

The game received middling scores from ''

Computer Games Strategy Plus ''Computer Games Magazine'' was a monthly computer and console gaming print magazine, founded in October 1988 as the United Kingdom publication ''Games International''. During its history, it was known variously as ''Strategy Plus'' (October 1 ...

'' and ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...

''. The former publication's Robert Mayer wrote, "It should appeal greatly to fans of naval warfare, but for those gamers not inspired by stories of Trafalgar and St. Vincent, it might just be a bit too austere." Conversely, it received a positive review from

William R. Trotter William R. (Bill) Trotter (July 15, 1943 - February 28, 2018) was an American author and historian. Writings Trotter's work covered a variety of genres and markets. His first published work was "Sibelius and the Tides of Taste" for '' High Fide ...

of ''

PC Gamer US ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games mag ...

'', who called it a "sumptuous looking, smooth-playing recreation of a fascinating era."

Legacy

In 2001, ''Age of Sail'' was followed by the sequel title ''

Age of Sail II ''Age of Sail II'' (russian: italic=yes, Век Парусников II) is a 2001 computer wargame developed by Akella. It is the sequel to ''Age of Sail (video game), Age of Sail''. It has similar historically accurate game play, and is enhanced ...

'', developed by the Russian studio

Akella Akella (russian: Акелла) was a Russian software company specializing in the development, publishing and distribution of video games and multimedia products. The founders of Akella met in 1993 and decided to start a company together, and ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Age Of Sail (Video Game) Computer wargames 1996 video games Take-Two Interactive franchises Windows games Windows-only games Naval video games Video games developed in the United States Video games about pirates Video games with historical settings Multiplayer and single-player video games TalonSoft games