Others say...

"Great Game."
The game is great once I got it up and running.

Yes, when I first tried to load the install it took twenty minutes for my computer to recognize it. In fact I had given up twice and thought the disc was bad until I came here and read from other reviews to put the disc in and wait and wait and wait...

Then the game kept freezing on me so I went to the website and followed the directions for updating my NVIDIA drivers. The directions were located in the forums under things you can do if the game is freezing and provided a link. Once I updated the video driver, the game worked perfectly ! I have VISTA, 32, NVIDIA 6150 LE.

If you like games that taking planning and control and repetitive tasks you should like this game. Yes, it can become monotonous, however, this is the kind of game that I find I can continue to come back to time and again.

My main point for this review is to tell others about the technical problems I had and how I solved them, so I will leave the game playing detail and descriptions for others.

"I really wanted to LOVE this game"
I read numerous reviews on Amazon (and gaming websites) before I bought this game. Although it wasn't rated that spectacularly, I decided to buy it because I am a huge fan of the show. Although I tried to be as open-minded as I could be, I have to admit that Alaskan Storm does not seem to have long-term playability.

Before I tell you about the game itself, I do have to warn you about the installation (for the PC users out there). Please note that it takes an "extremely" long time to install. I do not mean the file transfer itself, I mean the time it takes for your computer to recognize the game and load the setup.exe application. The first time I put the game in my drive nothing happened for over ten minutes. I ended up going to Greenwave's website and on the FAQ it mentioned that some people reported the game taking over 15 minutes to load. So, for those who have stated that they could not install the game...put the CD back in your drive...don't touch anything...and wait...and wait....and something should eventually happen.

As for the game itself, I thought the beginning (tutorial) was interesting. The game teaches you how to drive the boat, place pots, make repairs, etc. Every few minutes a video of Sig Hansen would pop up and give you some "real-life" information that coincides with what you are learning (i.e. after the game teaches you how to instruct your crew to chop ice, Sig explains the effects that ice has on your boat while fishing). I found the videos informative, but a little bit bothersome after a while...I wanted to get through the tutorial and be the captain of my own boat!

After you pick your boat (and add a new name and custom paint job if you like), you are ready to hire your crew and begin fishing. This was exciting for about the first 45 minutes, but then the monotony of setting/retrieving pots really starts to get to you. Obviously, the pots are the main part of fishing and dealing with them makes up 75-80% of the game. Unfortunately, though, that 75-80% is the most boring part of playing. You can't speed up the pot process and you have to sit and wait one to two minutes (real-time) while your crew sets, baits and prepares each one. When the pot is ready you then ring the bell that signals the crew to launch the pot...and then you do it all over again...on 40 pot strings. The one saving grace is that every time a pot is launched it counts as five pots in the water, but even doing a string of eight is tedious. (For those of you that are thinking "of course fishing is 75% of the game...what did she expect?" I am trying to explain that the most important aspect...the fishing...seems to be the least thought-out part of the game)

Just so you are aware, the PC version of Alaskan Storm does not allow you to play online with other players (as you can on X-box). I think a multi-player option would be helpful, as it would make the game more challenging and would probably keep up your level of interest. Lastly, you don't have the option to play the Time Bandit...which is not a deal-breaker, but is a little disappointing.

Overall, even being a huge fan of this show did not save this game for me. I will likely only play it a few times and then put it back on the shelf. If you do end up buying it, I truly hope you aren't as disappointed as I am. Happy Fishing!


"wouldnt run on our pc or laptop"
My son wanted this game and waited to get it after trying to load it on both of our computers no success, call greenwave they promptly call back and stated it may take a while to load we did reload the game and it still would not run, my son was so disappointed have to return the game.

"Awesome! "
I got this game in the mail a week ago. The graphics are remarkable. The four "career" levels that take you through the game range by dificulty. Every now and then, Sig Hanson or a cast member of the "Deadliest Catch" interrupt your game with a video clip to help guide you along the way. "Missions" (1-4) have to be completed BEFORE the career mode is activated. The rest of the missions are unlocked during career game play. Overall the game is awesome! The only down fall is the actual setting of the pots & pulling up the catch has NO fast forward while that's happening. It makes for a little slow moving at times, but you can always turn up your speakers and hear the sea gulls and waves during this.

"Is there a known bug in this game?"
My son was SO excited for this game to come out and we pre-ordered it. When it arrived we immediately tried to load it on our computer and it would not load. I confirmed that I had all the correct computer requirements and had a technical specialist take a look and he confirmed that the problem was with the game and not the computer. We were very disappointed. Im returning the copy I have. If they find out what the bug is and fix it , then we will definately re-purchase the game. I think it sounds really fun and is a great idea for a game.