Distant Guns: The Russo-Japanese War at Sea

The Japan-Russo…The Russian-Japo…The Russo-Japanese War---that’s it! Okay, okay, I admit that I do not pretend to profess any expertise in this somewhat forgotten war of the Far East. However, one team that does profess such expertise is the team from StormEagle Studios. The developers have decided to apply their talents to bring this historic era of naval warfare to life via their new naval warfare title, Distant Guns. Why this war, you might ask? As Mr. Koger explains in his introduction, the Russo-Japanese War is a perfect venue as it demonstrates “the evolution of naval combat as ship systems advance in capability from the theoretical expectations of the late 19th century to the real world effectiveness of 1945.” Or, more prosaically, the Russo-Japanese War provided plenty of opportunities for large, heavily armed and armored warships to bang away at each other. Interesting topic for exploration, but how does it work as a game? Let’s take a look.

Distant Guns arrives on your hard drive in one of two fashions: as a 279.45 MB download, containing both the main and campaign game for $64.95 or, for those 56k’ers, as a 30-day trial CD that will be shipped to your house for $7.95 (with the ability to purchase a key and unlock the full and campaign game after 30 days). While it is admirable that Storm Eagle Studios allows you to order a low-cost trial CD before you buy the full game, I find the price tag to be somewhat unpalatably steep (indeed, any game priced over fifty bucks is unpalatable to me).

The installation process was quick and trouble free. The main menu offers a choice between historic scenarios, computer generated battles, campaign games, or a multiplayer battle from either the Russian or Japanese point of view. The availability of different play modes provides plenty of content for keeping the game interesting---doubly so because all of them do a find job of furnishing naval excitement.

The historic scenarios cover such pivotal battles of the Russo-Japanese War as Port Arthur, Ullung, Ulsan, and Chemulpo, to name but a few (I know, I never heard of them either). Don’t fret, every Distant Guns scenario contains a remarkably detailed explanation of how the battle came about, as well as the vessels involved, environmental factors, and force-specific orders. Such detailed information serves not only to make the individual scenarios understandable in the larger historical context, but also helps players grasp their role in the upcoming battle. Overall, I found the majority of the fourteen included scenarios well crafted and thoroughly enjoyable.

What if a historic battle is not to your liking? No problem. Distant Guns contains a computer-generated battle generator. With just a few clicks of the mouse, whereby you specify the desired force size and time of day, the computer will whip up a scenario for you to play out (it will even pinpoint its location on the main map). I have found the nature of the generated battles to be pleasantly varied, ranging from wild brawls to more thoughtful engagements. I have always been a fan of being able to generate fresh battles on the fly without the difficulties associated with more detailed scenario creation tools, and the inclusion of such a quick battle feature will add much longevity to this title.

Multiplayer is available via LAN or TCP/IP session. Alas, the game does not have a PBEM mode, which is understandable as Distant Guns runs is a real-time game instead of being turn-based. As with most TCP/IP multiplayer wargames, you will need to arrange a game with an opponent beforehand as no “game lobby” is available to pick up players on the fly. While this makes arranging games more difficult, the inclusion of a multiplayer mode is still a significant plus considering the limitations of programmed AI opponents.

The core of Distant Guns is the Full Campaign and I suspect it is here that a majority of players will be spending their time. This campaign, entitled One Hundred Victories, allows the player to orchestrate the entire Russo-Japanese War (i.e., 485 to 575 days worth of naval brawling!). As commander of either side, the player has complete control over war operations, including forming fleets, scheduling maintenance, and, of course, plotting naval strategy. Unlike dynamic campaigns found in other games, Distant Guns allows the player to alter the outcome of the war by denying the enemy the crucial supplies he so desperately need to win the land war. As such, the player's focus will often be split between both keeping the opposing naval forces bottled up and preying upon enemy shipping. Do both well and the ground war will swing in your favor (periodic news reports will keep you informed of your progress), do poorly and lose the war. Now, mind you, the campaign game is not just about plotting your deployments upon a map. In a fashion reminiscent of Ubisoft’s Silent Hunter III, once your forces stumble upon the enemy, the game’s spotlight will swing from the “big picture” to the resulting battle---which is the true heart of the game.

When you enter your first battle (via either the campaign game or a single scenario), you will find Distant Guns to be a reasonably attractive game...surprisingly attractive considering that it was produced by very small development house. Although there are a few rough spots with the rendering of the sea and land, the ships are quite intricate and look impressive. The surface of the ocean seems appropriately fluid and ships respond to the state of the sea (from calm to stormy weather) with remarkable fidelity.

During battles, the ships under your command are focused at the center of the screen. You can obtain information on these vessels in three different ways.The quickest way is with a glance at a ship status indicator, a small colored dot that summarizes the condition of the vessel, from healthy green to sinking black, along with the ship’s name, rudder setting, and speed. In the heat of battle, I found this simple indicator to be a godsend when trying to comprehend what is happening to your fleet. More detailed information can be had via the Ship Information Popup. Whenever the cursor is placed over a vessel, a magnified view of the ship will pop up, along with detailed information including a listing of the vessel’s armaments, armor rating, what division the ship belongs to. You will also be notified if a commander is aboard.

The most useful information is found on the Ship Information Screen. Here detailed information lacking in the other displays can be found---the type of information that can win or lose a battle. Occupying the center of this screen is a detailed depiction of the vessel, one that changes to indicate any damage or fire that is afflicting the vessel, as well as status lights indicating both the location and condition of the principle armaments of the ship. By placing the cursor over these indicators, you can view the firing arc for that weapon along with its specifications ---a very handy feature in the thick of battle! Above this image is a detailed description of the ship, including important items such as the number and quality of crew, casualty statistics, when the ship entered service, best armor type, and relative combat value. Below the graphic is a detailed damage control report including: pumping capacity, specific system and weapon damage, total damage control capacity, and other information you will need to manage the ship once the lead begins to fly.

Once you have become acquainted with your vessels, the next step is to start issuing orders. The orders interface is well thought-out and simplifies what could have been a very complicated process. In Distant Guns, most ships are grouped into multi-vessel divisions that, for success, need to maneuver in a coherent fashion. Distant Guns aids the player as much as possible in accomplishing this goal so that he can focus upon the larger tactical picture without worrying about micro-managing the vessels under his command. Orders can be given to a single ship, an entire division, or to the entire fleet. Movement orders are easily assigned by left-clicking on the ocean, which displays a set of yellow lines indicating a projected course change for the selected vessels. All in all, the control scheme is efficient and intuitive.

I only have one major criticism of the game's interface, and this concerns how the player pans and tilts his point of view. Distant Guns utilizes a system whereby four yellow strips, one on each edge of your screen, is used to scroll the view forward, back, left, and right. Placing the cursor at the edge of the screen, but outside of these yellow strips, results in the POV tilting up and down, or panning left or right. In theory, this system works, but as a matter of practicality, it fails miserably. Once the action starts, trying to get your POV just where you want it is a frustratingly difficult process, so much so that I often wanted to scream with frustration after a few minutes. It helps to combine the mouse with keyboard movement commands, but just a little. It would be nice if Storm Eagle Studios refined this system for future titles.

Combat is the heart of Distant Guns, and it plays out almost like a war film. When two fleets (or even just two ships) maneuver into range, the big guns open up with a flash and a roar, torpedoes glide beneath the waves, and shells impact hulls or harmlessly splash into the sea. At times it can be a visceral experience, well depicted by the game’s graphics and audio engines. However, this isn't just eye and ear candy as Distant Guns performs many detailed calculations behind the curtain, rendering thoroughly realistic combat results. Even if you are unaware of this fidelity, you can sense it as the real time battles seem to play out with appropriate results. For example, it can be quite an experience to try to pound a heavily armed and armored battlewagon into submission. I recall one battle whereby I had a sizeable fleet of destroyers, along with one or two cruisers, against three enemy heavy battleships. “No problem!” I initially thought to myself. Forty minutes later, half my fleet was sinking and I had only managed to sink one enemy battleship and moderately damage the other two! Ouch! No doubt part of my poor performance was do to my inexperience at command, but I intuitively understood how difficult this battle was going to be once I witnessed the massive might of the enemy battleships. Likewise, after losing the first few destroyers, I realized that victory in Distant Guns does not come with simpleminded rushes, but with the application of realistic, era-based naval tactics. In short, the game was teaching and I was learning. High praise indeed for any game.

My only criticism of the naval engagements is the somewhat disappointing damage graphics. As mentioned previously, the ships are rendered with remarkable detail but, regrettably, battle damage is not. Simple black smudge marks or pixilated fires depict most damage, which is something of a disappointment after being spoiled by the realistic damage in games such as Silent Hunter III. After putting in much time and effort to kill an enemy goliath, a little more of a graphical payback would have been appreciated. For a wargame, Distant Guns looks good. But don't expect special effects like those found in more mainstream offerings.

The game manual comes as a 186-page PDF file, and is quite informative and well illustrated. My only criticism here is that there is no printed manual. Detailed game manuals are quickly becoming a thing of the past due to rising printing costs. Nonetheless, I wish more game companies would follow the lead of Sonalysts by offering the option of a printed manual for an extra fee. When you have a game as deep and complex as Distant Guns, anything less than a printed manual does an injustice to the title.