Steel Horizon review

Sinks itself faster than a rat can flee the shipwreck

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Spiffy cover art

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    Multiplayer...very slow multiplayer

  • +

    Playing Advance Wars DS instead

Cons

  • -

    Ridiculously slow gameplay

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    Messy graphics and sketchy sound

  • -

    Just plain boring

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Sept 5, 2007

The absolute most exciting thing about Steel Horizon - and this is no exaggeration - is its misleading, deceiving box art. Steel Horizon’s cover shows us guns, a fury of planes in the sky, explosions, sinking battleships, and more guns. But, actually, Steel Horizon has few-and-far-between action sequences, shabby effects, awkward movement, and gameplay that makes the original Battleship game ten times more appealing, even if you’re its biggest loser.

Steel Horizon is a strategy game. Now, sometimes, strategy games may be perceived as slow and time consuming, especially from a story perspective - the plot is usually just an excuse to fight some more. Steel Horizon's plot, however, moves so slowly it feels like it’s sinking in an ocean made of molasses. You’re immediately placed into a battle with no initial backstory at all - we'll admit there is a decent explanation as to why, but it's still jarring. The plot eventually molds into something, but this “something” is not at allfascinating. To make matter worse, the gameplay movesabout as sluggishly and is just not even remotely enticing. You command a set of battleships, and while your objectives vary, you typically have to...well, sink battleships.

More info

GenreStrategy
DescriptionThis sea-faring strategy game sinks itself with slow gameplay and a lousy plot. Go play Advance Wars instead.
Platform"PSP","DS"
US censor rating"Everyone 10+","Everyone 10+"
UK censor rating"12+","12+"
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
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