The Ship review

The sea, although beautiful with an elegant grace, is a dangerous place to be. I need not list the deceptions that lie within as I'm sure we've all seen the spine-chilling evidence that TV programmes like When Sharks Attack deliver with crucifying realisation. But what is below the trembling surface of the ocean is of little importance anymore. No. The innards of that which floats upon it is where true horror exists; a ship filled with middle-aged men and women dressed in 1920s clothing killing each other to secure their own safety. Terrifying.

The Ship, developed by Outerlight, is one of the newer additions to Valve's Steam distribution software. The idea behind the game is a bunch of people, one of which is you, are trapped on a large ship in the middle of the ocean. At full mercy of anyone slightly off the hinges, you are alerted by a top-hat-wearing madman that in order to safely exit the boat, you're going to need a little more than courtesy. Something along the lines of a twitching eye, a blood-soaked t-shirt and an empty bowel is more appropriate.

A Life on the Ocean Waves

Overtures of peace hold little utility on this cruise. Kill or be killed is the bitterly ironic philosophy of life but it truly is a devilishly entertaining one.

The single-player campaign gives slightly less introduction than I have, but once that's over you're thrown right into the action. You play Charlie M. Panther. A common man, with goals in life much like others; happiness, love, you know the routine. Worryingly though, when faced with murdering your fellow shipmates, you ease into the metaphorical hockey mask with few grievances. Who wouldn't, though!

Secure?

In the top left corner of your screen is a small image of yourself with the amount of money you are currently holding, how much is in the bank and your current location. In the bottom right is an image of someone else, their name and last known location. You must kill this person. An incredibly basic premise, you must agree, but herein lies the beauty of The Ship.

Throughout the cruiser there are several video cameras, security guards and general staff. Although the general staff are really mostly for show, the prior two are there for one reason and one reason only: to stop naughty behaviour. Thus, rather than running around to each and every room, rifling through the draws and cupboards, finding a weapon and mowing down every one you come across. Instead you must think like Sam Fisher in a Cluedo Tournament. Hard but smart.

It's not quite a hide-in-the-shadows type stealth I'm talking about. It's more played down than that but it's still an integral part of success. If you're not careful of your chosen location to strike, the next place you'll be visiting will be the on-board prison. These little visits only ever last about 20 – 30 seconds, but when you're in their five times in a row, have lost all your weapons, belongings AND money, you know it's time to play it sneaky.

The single player campaign doesn't represent this aspect too well. You still get caught and sent away if you commit an act of violence or are caught with an offensive weapon in hand, but it almost eliminates the stealth, or at least the suspense, altogether with abysmal scripted sequences. It's not until the multi-player that the tension starts to mount and you begin to appreciate what Outerlight has done here. I would go as far as to advise skipping the SP because I'd be afraid it would deter even the keenest of players.

The Minutae of Life

Nonetheless, some of those annoyances are transferred to MP. Not in scripted sequences, though, but in the irremovable and thus relentlessly attention-seeking player stats found in both SP and MP. As if the never-ending threat of getting your throat slit at every turn wasn't enough of a concern, as you wonder about the halls, you must also keep a close eye on the urges and requirements of your player. We ain't talkin' XP points here, buddy.

Just like any real living creature, your player undergoes the same metabolic processes as you or I do. If you eat you need to vacate, as with drinking. If you get around a lot you must shower and, of course, sleep if tired. You even have to read. The only difference between that in game and that in real life is your character in The Ship demands those calls of nature every few minutes or so. A delectable experience when accompanied by the sights and sounds that we all know too well the morning after a night out finished by a curry.

On the Poop Deck

It sounds humorous and, to be honest with you, it is. But when you're constantly monitoring whether or not you need to pee or take a shower or read a freaking BOOK when you should really be thinking about killing people, the whole ultra-realism side absconds the game from your merit. Many-a time have I located my victim, Axe in hand, ready to send them to the next world when, "Oop! I need a dump."

Ignoring them has dire consequences as well. If you don't shower a swarm of flies follow you around until you eventually die of a disease. Don't eat and you die of starvation. Don't vacate your bowels and, well, you do it in your pants, and don't drink and you dry up and die. Realistic stuff.

Picture Postcard

To add insult to injury, during the time you are attending to your needs, you are completely vulnerable to those out for your blood as the wash/toilet/eat sequences cannot be interrupted. Sit down to tuck into a well-earned meal when a crazy old lady comes up behind you and caves in your skull with a saucepan.

Visually, The Ship is top-notch material. Making good use of the Source engine you are treated to a very attractive 1920's-esque layout complete with interchangeable clothing, hats, glasses that all fit the scene and are rendered and skinned to perfection. The weapon model skins seemed a little blurred to me but overall they were well constructed and animated, as were the characters themselves. There's a distinct lack, or very little, of any of the flashy graphical aspects of the Source engine, but that's far from an insurmountable problem as the bleak, hard-hitting scenery makes for a perfect killing ground.

Weighing Anchor

On top of that, the sound carves the atmosphere like a fine piece of furniture. Although there's deadly silence throughout some of the action sequences – bar the hacking and slashing – spread throughout the ship are radios playing parodies of old-time music that adds an extra element of humour to the already side-splitting voice-overs of each character, NPC or not. A delight to behold.

The utter diversity in gameplay, the sometimes nail-biting tension coupled with the often laugh-out-loud deaths and kills are exactly what makes The Ship into a brilliant, if flawed game, and just the change in scenery that the FPS genre needed. The death of one-another isn't something to be taken lightly. Planning to not only kill others, but to do that which keeps you alive makes the whole experience superbly entertaining. The enjoyment seldom falters and although it can become a little unbalanced in regards to keeping yourself alive, The Ship deserves to be praised as one of the most innovative games to hit stores this year. Just overlook the single-player.