Lost Admiral Returns for Windows

User Reviews

• simple to learn, lots of fun WWII naval strategy

  halsey7April 7, 2011

  Pros

  intuitive game, easy to pick up, all the ships- BB, DD, CV, CA, SS

  Cons

  simple graphics

  Summary

  hours or minutes of fun. short and long scenarios.

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• It ain't The Grandest Fleet, but it's close

  GrampaOdeeJanuary 20, 2009

  Pros

  Turn based combat/production and the feel of the 'good old days' of DOS are back again with LAR.

  Cons

  Controls are not as intuitive as I remembered the DOS version being. LAR failed to match, let alone exceed the fun factor of its predecessor, The Grandest Fleet

  Summary

  Having hoped to find a better version of The Grandest Fleet, I was left sorely disappointed over all with LAR

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• A classic returns with deeper and more varied play

  NorashMay 16, 2005

  Pros

  THE Lost Admiral Returns (LAR) is a remake of the turn based Lost Admiral from 1991. It retains the excellent sharp tactical play of the original while adding many new play options, trimming a few old ones and refining others. <p> <p> <p>LAR is a naval game of geographical conquest using aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers, destroyers, submarines, patrol boats, armed transports and transports to take or hold port cities which provide resources for further ship production. Each ship type has its own strengths and weaknesses. The result is sort of a complex version of paper-rock-scissors that results in a chess-like game of aquatic maneuver. Combined arms is the key to good play. There are 11 AI levels and the AI is a sharp player which purchases and uses its units intelligently. <p> <p> <p>THERE is a lot of play value in this game and a lot of replay value. It comes with nine single shot maps that can be played from either side, at various starting budgets with random and fixed starting cities. All of these can be combined with one of eight missions such as recon or rescue to produce hundreds of different single map games. There is even more variety with the excellent random map generator. Other play options include an extensive campaign with lots of strategic choices and a series of instant battles. All of this play if further enhanced with an extensive player track record system that allows the building of flagship units with special abilities. <p> <p> <p>CONCLUSION: <p> <p>If you are a fan of turn based games then LAR is definitely worth having. If you enjoy a turn based game now and then LAR is worth giving a try. The designer of the game, Thurston Searfoss, keeps in touch with the game players and continues to enhance LAR with additional features, scenarios, and refinements.

  Cons

  THE game is presented in a DOS style interface with strong ties to the 1991 version of the game. There are Window’s interface aspects. Hover over almost anything and a text box will popup with useful information. There are also modern features like an internet based Hall of Fame high score board. The interface takes a little getting used to. There are a number of interface options that can be adjusted. However, it will always look DOS-like. The play is so involving that after a while the interface becomes secondhand. <p> <p>TURN based games rely on tactical and strategic decision making for their strengths. The sound and graphics needs to be good enough to reach a functional threshold level to support those strengths. The sound effects and the unit graphics in LAR are adequate and distinct enough to represent the ship type or game event clearly and support informed decision making. <p> <p>THE game is sold only over the internet and this created some practical considerations that lead to the game being done in a resolution of 800x600 to keep the download file size manageable. This is something of a liability for the game. 800x600 resolution stretched out to fit a monitor that normally displays at a much higher resolution (mine is 1400x1050) is bit hard on the eyes. Text is a jagged and the amount of information that can be conveyed on the screen at one time is noticeably limited. There just aren’t enough pixels. It takes a bit more to get used to than the interface. It is not a critical liability. The quality of the game play is much greater than the 800x600 resolution is limiting.

  Summary

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