The Ship - Review

The Ship
Ages: Teen

The Ship is basically a unusual hunt and kill game. "Mr. X invites you on a luxury cruise with a gruesome twist: your ticket is free, but in return, you've got to murder one of your fellow passengers, while entertaining Mr. X by knocking them off in a fresh and original way. Why not lock them in the freezer, poison them, or whack them with a frying pan? Oh, and make sure you eat, sleep and entertain yourself, go to the bathroom, keep yourself clean and above all – keep looking over your shoulder because someone is definitely out to get you! Single player and Online multiplayer. Incredible selection of murder objects and methods."

Back in the '60s I remember a film called the 10th Victim about the "Big Hunt – a game of legally sanctioned murder in a jaded future world titillated by murder. The sci-fantasy settings, the chic clothing and the two sexy assassins, Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andres made the movie fun for me. Everyone knew that neither of these two would end up damaged in any way. I expected it to be the same with The Ship.

So why isn't it the same, and why couldn't I play it?. Maybe it's because I am the one doing the killing - mouse murder is bad enough – I don't even want to imagine it with the Wii. Maybe it's because the people marked for killing are not total strangers. Maybe because it goes on and on until either you are the only one left or you have garnered the most money because you got more points for using bizarre killing implements -- or maybe it was because Virginia Tech happened that week.

Should you decide to play the game – you will have to go through Steam – even if you do not want to play it online, you have to fill out lots of information, sign a release -- you know, holding you accountable for whatever, and at the same time indemnifying Valve. The agreement is seventeen pages long. I know – you only wanted to play the game.

Posted by: Editor - 05/07

  • The Ship
  • © Mearscom/Outerlight
  • Platform(s): XP W2K W98SE Me
  • To Order: Win http://www.amazon.com/ $19.99