Oil Platform Simulator is an odd game. As Excalibur continue to attempt to simulate any man-made object going, it would only take a little time before they turned their attention to the riveting world of oil exploration.

It would be easy to be risible about this game, and I’m sure that many reviews will take this road, however, I’m presuming that there are those gamers who would actually be interested in this game, and so what do you really get?

Well the game attempts to simulate the drilling of oil, from getting your platform out into the oil field, drilling for the liquid gold and then returning your product back to port. There are few thrills to the game and the pace is often languid, as befits its subject.

The game is presented in a third person 3D perspective, giving the player a god-like perspective on their world. Of course, the whole point of the game is to engage in commerce, partially to make a profit but also to make sure that you have the cash to do running repairs to your platform.

The graphic are ok, but a far cry from what would be expected from a modern game, that said, it also means that the program can be run on an average home computer, with no notable graphics lag. For the novice at oil exploration, the game provides numerous tutorials.

Being a simulation, the game has no obvious goal, apart from drilling for more oil to gain more money, which you can reinvest in getting more oil.

This probably works best as a game to dip in and out of, unless this is a diehard interest for you.

5

Charles Packer