Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm for Xbox 360 Reviews by Gamers

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This game got so many things right, it is disheartening to see that the sequel is being released by a completely different developer. Alaskan Storm isn't perfect, graphics are a mixed bag with the boats and water effects looking absolutely amazing, and everything else generally looking last gen. As far as game play goes, a few tweaks and this game would have been nearly perfect, I am not a huge fan of RTS games, but I played through almost 10 seasons (between 60-100 hours of gameplay), and the only reason I stopped was the lack of variety and game play options. There are only a handful of ships to choose from, and the only way to play the game is the "derby style", which gives you a day or 2 to fish before the season closes 24 hours later. This is frustrating because it only gives you one shot to lay down your gear, and if your not on the crab there is no time to relocate to a better spot. Also, if you take even 100 pots out, and they are all in the water when the season close is announced, you have no chance of getting them all pulled before the season ends. This is part of the strategy element I guess (pull your pots at the right time), but for some reason the final 24 hours trigger a nonstop barrage of injuries and equipment failure (which often keeps you from pulling all of the gear and results in fines for fishing out of season). Another big downfall is the way the game handles dead-loss. If your boat encounters rough waters, you can expect to lose at least a quarter of your catch to dead loss (which it is almost always rough waters!). I found myself rushing through a storm to beat the season close deadline, and was into port in less than 24 hours only to lose over half of my catch. I was never able to get online multiplayer to work (even with friends who had the game), so this was a huge disappointment and could have added another 100 hours of gameplay easily. Even with the problems, I would highly recommend this game to anyone who loves fishing or RTS games.