East India Company Preview

The star of independent game developers is ascendant. Innovating where others are content to merely imitate, indie companies have succeeded in winning over many a jaded gamer by providing fresh gaming perspectives and experiences. One company that may soon be able to add its own name to the ever growing list of successful independent developers is Finland’s Nitro Games. Diving into the turbulent world of 18th Century mercantilism, East India Company is poised to carve out its own niche in the crowded grand strategy gaming genre.

As the great trading empires were heavily dependent upon sea power, East India Company is promising to bring fully to life the epic fleet battles that often marked the 18th Century. As I am a fan of Master and Commander, this game quickly captured my interest. Thus, when Paradox offered a sneak preview of the naval battle engine, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to take the helm and go looking for trouble upon the ocean blue.

Shipping Out

East India Company impresses immediately. From the rolling waves of the ocean to the detailed ship models, the game’s graphics are sharp. Indeed, at times they can be downright beautiful, such as when the sun sinks below the distant horizon, or when viewing a battle from the bow of a vessel – but more on that later.

East India Company allows the gamer to choose from two methods of command. The first is the requisite “RTS mode”, the god-like view common to all real-time strategy games. Indeed, ordering your vessels around will be instantly familiar to anyone who has ever played a RTS. Simply left click upon the vessel - or its icon displayed at the bottom of the screen - and right click its destination and the vessel will set course for that location. If the player wants to order a bunch of vessels to a destination, simply ‘control - left click’ on the icons, or use the standard RTS lassoing technique of left-clicking and dragging a box around units. Creating a line formation is just as easy. Select your ships, hit the line formation button, and the ships will order themselves and stay in line until the player breaks the formation.

Of course, sailing the ocean blue is not as simple as marching about. In East India Company, the wind has a strong influence upon naval maneuvering. Clearly displayed on the mini-map, along with being noticeable by the direction of the pennants and flags flying from the masts of ships, the wind will punish any player that pays no attention to it. I learned this the hard way in one battle when I attempted to close with an enemy fleet by sailing into the wind. Well, before long, my ships were literally dead in the water and being pounded to pieces by a mobile enemy that didn’t make the mistake I did.

Speaking of battle, attack orders are given easily: left-click to select a vessel and right click to mark the target. The player is also free to select from three types of ammo: solid ball for damaging hulls; chain shot for taking down sails; and grape shot for killing crew. Of course, if the player believes he enjoys a significant advantage, he can also close with an enemy vessel and attempt to board it.

When the cannonballs begin to fly, battles are impressive affairs. As ships accumulate damage (quantified as points deducted from total hull, sail and crew hit points), hulls become noticeably battered and sails begin to shred - which, of course, affects performance. Inflict enough damage and the player might completely take down the masts of a vessel or, even better, succeed in sending the ship to Davy Jones’ locker. Believe me, this is easier than it sounds as even in this pre-release build, the AI offers tough battles even when set to “easy” (I ashamedly admit that I have yet to beat it on “normal”). Being an effective naval commander requires the ability to take advantage of the wind while also maximizing the attack value of his formation (“crossing the ‘T’” and other real world tactics have value here), all the while attempting to counter the AI’s own plan. All in all, this is something that thoroughly challenged my skills and often had me on the edge of my seat during a battle.

Adding a nice wrinkle to the entire formula are the special abilities that the fleet’s commanding officer brings with him to battle. Some are of a passive nature and are always in effect, such as the “unsinkable” perk which lessens damage, while others are of an active nature where the player can trigger their use at just the right moment, but only for a limited duration. One active perk I particularly enjoyed was the "kill shot" ability that allowed my commanding officer’s ship to fire especially destructive cannonballs with fiery orange tails.

Take Command

Now, all of this is rather nice, but not exactly new. However, what is new about East India Company is the game’s “Direct Command mode”. Unlike the aforementioned RTS mode, Direct Command allows the gamer to take control of one vessel via a first person perspective. While in this mode, the player can personally maneuver the ship and issue the order to fire broadsides at just the right moment. Overall, I found this mode made battles an absolutely riveting experience. It is one thing to safely hover above the carnage and quite another to see cannonballs whiz back and forth at eye level, impacting both ship and crew. The view can often be quite memorable as well, such as the time my vessel was getting pounded into splinters…until a friendly vessel heaved into view just off my port bow and began blasting away at my tormentor. What a beautiful sight to behold! Then again, there are times where the first person perspective is not to the player’s benefit, such as when I stood on the deck of a vessel during a fierce storm that had us pitching about like a cork in the water - the view was believably nauseating.