Gulf of Aden - Task Force Somalia

Review

Since the Somalia Government imploded in 1991, the shoreline of Somalia has become one of most well-known by the international maritime community. Unfortunately not for its rich water of tuna, but for Somali Pirates. As the Gulf of Aden (a narrow channel between Yemen and Somalia) is a popular route for commercial shipping, tankers and tourist vessels despite its evident dangers, we need confident captains just like yourself to escort them through these treacherous waters. Welcome Captain, to the Gulf of Aden – Task Force Somalia!

Gulf of Aden – Task Force Somalia is a strategy / action / tower defence game where you take control of naval vessels and prevent Somali pirates from boarding tankers, sailing yachts or even capturing oil rigs.

The first few missions are basically a well thought out tutorial. After that, it will be all up to you. First, you’ll have to select your vessels at the start of each mission. You be given a number of allocation points; from four to eight depending on the mission. Each of the four vessels will cost you a specific number of points. The fastest one, which is the gunboat, has a value of one point and can hold one turret, whereas the destroyer will hold three turrets, cost three points and will be significantly slower than a gunboat. The other two vessels available to you throughout the game are the corvette and the frigate. There are twenty missions to beat in this game. Most of them will be played in the daytime, while a few far more challenging missions are at night.

When the missions start, no matter which boats you have selected, there won’t be any weapons installed. You’ll need to make a quick sweep around and arm them. You can install cannons, machine guns, helicopters (gunships, search and rescue or counter pirate force), water cannons and a few other things which will cost you merit points. It will be a fine tuning exercise as some of your weapons have longer range and others far shorter.   Whatever your objectives to win the stage, pirates will come in waves. Each time you destroy an enemy boat or rescue a drowning pirate, you’ll earn a merit point. With these points, you can upgrade some of your vessels with zodiacs, place mines or buoys.

Graphically, the game looks pretty good and I really like how the nautical map is laid out and the fact that you can zoom in and out of the vessels. It is easy to use and play. The soundtrack is rather good, too. There are no difficulty options in this game and I think it’s a bit of a shame as it would have given consumers further replay-ability.