Mobygames (396)

Uncharted Waters 

 

 The Franco family used to be one of the influential houses of Portugal. That is until the head of the family sailed out of a disastrous voyage to find the kingdom of Prester John. The disarray that followed brought about an end to the nobility of the Franco name. 100 years have passed and Portugal has prospered through it's sailing and trading empires. Young Leon Fanco wishes to restore his family's good name and make a name for himself as a sailor. At the heart of his ambition is the fair lady, Christiana, who is desired by the likely heir to the kingdom. Towards that end, Leon has been working hard to secure finances for his first ship. With the first step of his dream complete, Franco sails out with his father's good friend as first mate, you're off to find fame, adventure and fortunes out on the sea and in uncharted waters.

Uncharted Waters is a sailing and trading simulation. Your goal is initially to sail between ports and trade goods between them to make a profit. Along the way, you may be called upon by merchants and royalty to do specific tasks. Several different nations as well as pirates roam the sea and not all have good relations with one another. You can take as long as you want and explore as much of the world as possible to complete your ultimate task of marrying Christiana, which will require your fame rating to be quite high anyway. Available at most ports is a trader for cargo, a supply station for your crew's food and water as well as repairs, a shipbuilder, an item store and finally a pub for gaining information, crew and gambling.

All of the game progresses on an overhead-view, by sea you navigate your fleet by direction and can issue additional orders including landing on any piece of land to search for supplies. A variety of hazards live at sea including storms, other ships, seaweed and simply bad winds and currents.

Uncharted Waters : New Horizons 

 

 In the first Uncharted Waters game, it was the 15th century and the New World was discovered. Now in New Horizons, it is the early 16th century and the age of exploration and sea trade is underway. Players choose from any one of six adventurers (scenarios), each with their own distinctive but intertwining plot, to embark on a quest of sailing, seamanship and exploration. The six characters are:

• João Franco is the son of Duke Leon Franco, the hero of the first Uncharted Waters game and an influential man in Portugal. His father wants to make him into a strong man and so decides to send him out to sea. Young Joao is tasked with learning the skills of the sailor (he is the only character who starts at level one) and embarking on a quest of discovery; reaching the far east and eventually looking for the secret of Atlantis.


• Catalina Erantzo is a Spanish naval officer who believes her beloved and her brother were both murdered by the Portuguese armada. Vowing revenge she turns to a life of piracy and soon becomes a red haired scourge of the seas.


• Pietro Conti is a indebted man, having inherited the financial woes of the Conti family. When the Duchess Franco hires him to spy on her son, he accepts the job and obtains a ship. Pietro hopes to use these resources to seek out valuable treasure and clear up his family's debt.


• Ernst Von Bohr is a geographer who is teaching classes in Holland. He yearns to leave the classroom and sail the high seas, living a life of adventure that he has only read about in books. When his friend, Mercator offers to finance his initial voyage in exchange for cartography information about the world, Ernst is given the opportunity to live out his dream.


• Ali Vezas is a poor orphaned child living in Istanbul and serving others. He dreams of becoming his own master and making his own fortune across foreign lands. A twist of fate aides in providing him with small loans, with which he is able to afford his first ship and sail out with a cargo hold full of goods...


• Otto Baynes styles himself a Royal Knight of the British Empire, in the service of his majesty the king. Promoted to Admiral of the British fleet, the kingdom is worried about the increased naval power of Spanish fleets. Otto is given a letter of marque by the king and ordered to terrorize the Spanish Fleet. Equipping himself simply at first, Otto strives to become a great privateer in the name of king and country.

Regardless of the character chosen, Uncharted Waters: New Horizons is a top-down sailing simulation. At sea, players control the direction of their ship, where speed is affected by the number/health of the crew, the wind and the currents. Players can navigate anywhere there is water (though some ships are not ocean worthy) and discover interesting landmarks and new ports. Upon landing at a port, the view is also top-down and the player can enter different buildings, each with unique services and goods. These include: the Inn, the Item Shop, the Shipyard, the Tavern, the Castle, the Guild Hall, the Church, the Merchant and the Harbor. It's up to the player to earn enough gold to keep the crew fed and financed and keep the fleet repaired. Primary methods of earning money are through sea trade, accepting jobs from the guild, gambling and battle with other ships.

During naval combat, the game becomes a turn-based top-down strategy game, with the player moving ships in order to obtain trajectories needed to fire cannons at enemy ships, or run alongside enemy vessels in order to board them. If the player's flagship attacks the flagship of the enemy fleet, they can challenge the opponent to a duel. If accepted, the game changes to a side-view of the two captains engaged in a fight. During this sequence, the player can only choose which fighting maneuver (strike, thrust, parry, lash) they wish to engage in.

Under a Killing Moon

 

 It is December of the year 2042. The world is still recovering from the disastrous consequences of the World War III. Radioactivity has turned many humans into mutants, and the gap between those and the "norms" (non-affected humans) is growing wider. Certain places in the world have retained the feel and the charm of the old times - among those is the Old San Francisco. There, the private investigator Tex Murphy is trying to deal with unemployment, upcoming poverty, and his melancholic mood following his divorce. After solving a simple robbery case, Tex attracts the attention of a mysterious woman who calls herself Countess Renier, and is hired by her to find a missing statuette. Things gradually begin to go wrong in this investigation, and Tex finds himself involved in a confrontation with a powerful and dangerous secret cult.

Under A Killing Moon is the third game in the Tex Murphy series of adventures, and a sequel to Martian Memorandum. The game is notable for its use of detailed, texture-mapped 3D graphics during a time when pre-rendered visuals were still the standard in the genre. Uncommonly for adventure games, Under A Killing Moon allows full maneuverability. The player can rotate the camera, change the viewing angle, zoom in and out, etc.; it is even possible to look for clues underneath desks, chairs, etc.

Inventory-based puzzles are relatively rare in the game, and the emphasis of the gameplay is placed primarily on exploration, conversations featuring extended topics and choices, and self-contained logical puzzles. Other features include an online hint system (that decreases the player's score with each use), extensive support for additional sound and music devices, and full-motion video technology: cutscenes and much of the dialogue are presented as movies with real actors.

Undercover : Operation Wintersun

  

  Set during World War II, scientist Dr. John Russell is sent to Berlin on an undercover mission to investigate the Nazi's interest in an experimental uranium bomb project. He is no trained spy however, so he is accompanied by British MI6 agent Peter Graham, and later Anne Taylor. Next to the main storyline, Russell will also need to find out if his companions are pursuing their own agenda.

This 3D adventure with pre-rendered backgrounds is entirely mouse-driven with a point-and-click interface. The left mouse button moves Russell around and is used to examine objects. The right mouse button is used to pick up or use items. Pressing the latter twice makes the character run. Puzzles consist of researching articles, item combinations, but also mechanical systems and broader puzzles, such as piecing a torn letter together. The game includes a beginner's mode, where pressing a key highlights all important objects in the area.

Optionally, the player can choose to play the entire game with a sepia filter, rendering the images a more authentic and historical feel.