Jump to content

Man of War (video game)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Man of War
Developer(s)Strategy First
Publisher(s)Virgin Interactive Entertainment
Platform(s)MS-DOS, Windows
Release1997

Man of War is a 1997 real-time strategic naval combat video game developed by Strategy First and published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment for MS-DOS compatible operating systems and Microsoft Windows. A sequel, Man of War II: Chains of Command, was released in 1999.

Plot and gameplay

[edit]

Players complete naval battles through a series of historical scenarios.[1] The games included a character creator, and a scenario editor.[2]

"It was a turn-based game wherein you plotted your orders on a 2D map, then watched your turn play out in real-time 3D from the deck of a ship; while you could move about the ship and watch the action from different perspectives, you had no control during this real-time phase—you were only an observer."

— Scott Udell, CDMag[3]

Development

[edit]

The game was developed by the small studio Strategy First (established in 1991[4]), and would become one of its flagship series.[5][6] Man of War was released December 31, 1997, while the sequel was released December 31, 1999.[7][8] On June 17, 1997, Virgin Interactive signed a distribution agreement with Strategy First for North and South America; as part of the deal Virgin Interactive would also distribute two additional titles from Strategy First.[9][10]

Reception

[edit]

CD Mag felt the game took players to places they had never been before,[11] though described it as a "pretty straightforward classic wargame with a new-fangled wrapper".[12] Game Revolution said that while the game sounds good on paper it falls flat in its execution.[13] The game sold 30,000 copies by April 1999.[14]

Legacy

[edit]

Man of War II was released in North America in 1999 by GT Interactive.[1][15]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "STRATEGY FIRST LAUNCHES "MAN OF WAR II". - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  2. ^ "GameZone Online - Man of War II". 2000-05-20. Archived from the original on 2000-05-20. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  3. ^ "Man of War 2 First Look". www.cdmag.com. Archived from the original on 24 October 2003. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Man of War 2 by Al Giovetti". 2018-02-21. Archived from the original on 2018-02-21. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  5. ^ IGN Staff (1998-12-04). "Strategy First Gets Clans". IGN. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  6. ^ "Playnet.com stops the clocks on the free 30-day trial period - Blue's News". www.bluesnews.com. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  7. ^ "Man of War - PC - GameSpy". pc.gamespy.com. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  8. ^ "Man of War II: Chains of Command - PC - GameSpy". pc.gamespy.com. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  9. ^ "Man of War article by Al Giovetti". www.thecomputershow.com. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  10. ^ "SFI News Page". 1998-02-14. Archived from the original on 1998-02-14. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  11. ^ "Man of War Review". 2003-09-30. Archived from the original on 2003-09-30. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  12. ^ "Man of War II Preview". 2003-10-24. Archived from the original on 2003-10-24. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  13. ^ "Man of Bore Review". GameRevolution. 5 June 2004. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  14. ^ "Hunders being hired for new operations". Montreal Gazette. April 10, 1999. Retrieved August 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Man of War II Released News". 2003-10-24. Archived from the original on 2003-10-24. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
[edit]