The Graphics in Virtual Deep Sea Fishing(known from now on as VDSF), are very good. Most people would hear "Fishing game" and say, "Why would it need 3d graphics?" Well, to tell you the truth I don?t know, but they certainly do help it look good. The Game itself is not the first of its genre to use 3d graphics. Deep Sea Trophy Fishing as stated before was the first and I'd have to say that both companies did a great job presenting the new look to us fishing game fans. One of the things i noticed most about the 3d graphics is being able to watch the fish swim by your boat. You can see them as if they are really there, the water has a clarity that I haven't seen since maybe Unreal and looking into the water. It looks as though you are really looking off the side of a deep sea charter.

The sounds are very helpful in the game, but there is not much to them. One of the most important times when sound is useful is when you have a fish on the hook and your reeling it in. You want to be aware that when it beeps loudly it means there is too much tension on the line and it will break if you don't try a new way to bring in the line by letting some slack out via moving the mouse in a circle and then backward to raise the pole. Without the sound you might never know if the line was going to break. However, the rest of the sounds are repetitive, over and over again. Like if your line breaks you hear, "That was Beautiful, try again next time", or something to that effect. It doesn?t change at all, in fact I think they could have spent a bit more time putting in more commentary.

VDSF, minus a few bugs seems to be the best fishing game out there today. One thing about fishing games is that there is never any hype behind them. They make their own hype from non-believers trying them out and realizing that fishing on the computer isn?t as boring as it sounds. First of all, what can be more fun then trying to reel in a 2000 pound Blue Marlin? It jumps across in the distance, and you have to control it very precisely or you lose it. The game is not easy in the least, it truly takes a lot of skill to catch any fish over 100 pounds. Catching a 80 pound Mahi Mahi seems to be the highlight of my day of fishing. VDSF would be rated a 30 in the gameplay department if there were a few more options. You can take your pick at over 13 fishing havens all over the world to begin your fishing day. There are 18 different types of fish that you can catch ranging from the smaller 20 pound Wahoo to the 2000+ pound Blue Marlin. Then you choose one of 12 different baits. One thing I noticed about picking a bait, they all seem to work about equally well, so don?t really worry too much about the bait you use. The one thing i did find nice was the ability to choose one of eight different boats. Each boat has its own maximum speed forwards and backwards and its turning ability changes depending on the boat. Sometimes its nice to use a boat with a fast reverse speed, to head in the direction of your fish, so as to ease up the slack on your line. There are two different modes for single player, Fishing Trip and Tournament. Fishing Trip has no time limit and in Tournament you try to catch the biggest fish in a 2-4 day tournament, each tournament is different. Fishing Trip is considered a place to practice for the tournaments.

In my mind there is no doubt that this is a fun game. It has just as much excitement as any other game I have played from any genre. There was no period of more then a minute that I didn?t have a fish on my hook, and fighting with the fish is the best part. Of course most of the time I lose the fish because its 1000+ pounds. Its still fun to try, as it is in any game. No one enjoys playing a game that is easy, its just not fun! There needs to be a challenge. I can't say that it will be fun for everyone, but I know that a lot of people will be very surprised when they decide to for once in their lives try a fishing game, They are not that bad!

There are many multiplayer options available in VDSF. Null-modem or Serial is the first option, which should work out very well for 2 players to play against each other. Then there is Modem-Modem which is the other option for 2 players when they aren?t in the same room. IPX is available for up to 8 players over a network. They even included TCP/IP multiplayer options for up to 8 players to join a tournament and compete with each other to see who is the biggest man of them all.

For anyone who has fished before or even wants to fish, I suggest that you at least try this game. Fishing Games from what I have heard are stereotyped as for old people to play during the winter when they can't fish. Well, I think that?s a sad misconception and if you just try it out, you may like it. It is very exciting and keeps you involved the entire time. The Graphics add to the game by making it extremely nice to look at. I can't say anything bad about this game because there isn?t really anything bad except maybe a lack of overall options. Maybe you won't like it because its a fishing game, but as for fishing games, this is the best one on the market right now.