32nd America’s Cup: The Game

Is it still fun without the salty spray in your face?

32nd America's Cup: The Game is the latest title in the Virtual Skipper sailing simulator series, with the major focus of this release being a campaign based around this year’s America's Cup. This release allows you to take control of all 11 competing teams and race them on a plethora of the best yachting waterways in the world.

Just like a real life yacht race, AC:TG sees a race to the finish around a course of floating buoys. Herein lies probably the game’s biggest problem; it can come quite tedious and slow when you’re sailing along a straight line merely awaiting the distant mark to close in towards you. With the absence of salt water drenching your clothes and the wind whistling past you, the atmosphere and excitement of sailing ends up a hollow experience, on your computer, albeit technically challenging.

Similar to previous versions of Virtual Skipper, the game is almost entirely keyboard driven, with the mouse used predominately for changing your view of the race course. The interface follows the design of the previous Virtual Skippers, allowing seasoned virtual sailors to get straight into the game with little or no learning curve. The interface may appear daunting to first timers, with many of the games operations available only through a wide range of shortcut keys.

The graphics are a visual feast, and the game designers have spent a lot of time accurately recreating some of the best sailing locations around the world in detail. The boat’s movement through the water is convincing, especially considering the modest hardware requirements for the game.



The computer’s AI forms more a secondary element in the early stage of playing, where your main focus is on making sure your boat has the right angle to the breeze and you’re heading to the right mark.

Whilst AC:TG requires some sailing knowledge to compete in competitively, the game's tutorial is helpful enough to get even the most novice of sailors out of their water wings and onto the race course.

Gameplay is as difficult as you wish to make it, with competitors and settings for players of all skill levels and sailing experience. It’s one of the few games where luck comes into play and a strong wind gust or shift may be just the thing you need to inch your boat over the top of the competition.

The game’s replayability will most likely suffer for those without a sailing background. Whilst being a very well made sailing simulator, that’s about the extent of it, and once you get over the initial excitement of competing, there’s not a whole lot more to do.

AC:TG’s editor allows you to construct your own water courses and locations, giving users the ability to recreate their favourite sailing locations. These custom maps can then be used to race against competitors around the world through the multiplayer system.

Whilst Virtual Skipper’s latest release won’t get your adrenalin pumping as much as aliens with plasma rifles, it’s the closest most landlubbers (and sailors) will ever come to sailing on a multimillion dollar America’s Cup yacht, and a great way for sailors to partake in their favourite sport without getting their feet wet.