Ship Simulator: Maritime Search and Rescue

About

Ship Simulator: Maritime Search and Rescue is a single player simulation game. It was developed by Reality Twist GmbH and was released on July 1, 2014. It received neutral reviews from players.

You set sail as others return to dry land. Wind force 12. Breakers beat on the bow deck, spray blows across the bridge. On the high seas: face the sheer force of the elements! And you’re steering them – the most powerful rescue vessels of the Maritime Search and Rescue Service in search of castaways.

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Play Modes

Single-Player

Ship Simulator: Maritime Search and Rescue screenshot

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43%

Audience ScoreBased on 51 reviews

story8 positive mentions

grinding1 negative mentions

Realistic modeling of water, buoyancy, waves, weather, and vessel inertia creates an enjoyable and credible rescue simulation experience.
Engaging narrative and mission design based on real emergency cases provide a dramatic and immersive atmosphere.
Detailed ship models and a variety of activities such as towing, using fire hoses, and rescuing castaways add to gameplay diversity.

Poor ship physics and controls, including overly simplified or unrealistic steering and movement, frustrate players.
Performance issues like low frame rates, glitches, bugs (e.g., stuck missions, control conflicts), and crashes reduce playability.
Lack of features such as a save-during-mission function, limited ship variety, minimal damage modeling, and scarce content limit long-term engagement.

story
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
67%
9%
The story is centered on narrated, mission-based gameplay inspired by real maritime rescue operations, featuring intriguing characters and scenarios that emphasize realism without harsh penalties. While generally interesting and accessible, it suffers from predictability, some mission bugs, and a lack of mid-mission save options, which can lead to player frustration. Overall, it provides a decent, storytelling-focused experience rather than a true simulation, appealing to players interested in maritime search and rescue stories.
- “In reality, the game focuses a lot on narration and credible missions based on real emergency cases.”
- “I feel I can recommend this game to a large audience of players for being more forgiving, having smart and interesting missions, for the dialogues, narration, and interesting characters, and for having a realism focused on enhancing fun and enjoyment instead of frustrating the player.”
- “And last but not least, it gives a nice depiction of the German maritime SAR and sea SAR operations in general, showing how complex and dangerous these maritime missions are in real life.”
- “The most annoying thing is that the game lacks a save-game option during missions, so if you decide to leave a mission halfway through, you must restart it from the beginning.”
- “In the chapter 'Crash, Bang' there is a bug; when you deploy the daughter boat to take victims to shore, you cannot reload the boat or finish the rescue, so you cannot progress further in the mission.”
- “The final part of the mission on the Baltic Sea I could not complete due to it being bugged with the radio.”
gameplay
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
46%
27%
Gameplay is praised for its realistic simulation of maritime skills and detailed tasks, offering hours of engaging content. However, users report clunky mechanics, limited ship customization, confusing mission design, occasional crashes, and generally mediocre graphics, leading to some frustration and a sense that the gameplay could be improved.
- “This is the best ship game ever. If you have a mainstream PC, you'll be good to go with no problems. It's a very good game with many hours of gameplay. It teaches you how to navigate the open seas, driving boats, rescue techniques, understanding tides, and avoiding danger zones. I've only played an hour but can tell there's a lot more to explore.”
- “It has very realistic gameplay, though the graphics are average.”
- “Mechanics could be better and ship customizing should be an option, but I'm enjoying this game at the moment.”
- “An example is the mobile phone call mission where it talks about transferring the radio communications to the sister ship and people on a cliff waving. I have the name of the cliff, but I have no idea where that is, and it only takes me to a waypoint nowhere near a cliff. Referring to the game manual is no help regarding gameplay.”
- “Clunky gameplay and frustrating mechanics, despite it being more on the arcade side of things.”
- “It's an okay game that is overpriced, and the gameplay feels a bit cheap.”
graphics
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
The graphics receive mixed to negative feedback, with some praise for detailed ship modeling and realism, but many users report poor visual quality, glitchiness, low FPS, and performance issues despite capable hardware. Overall, the graphics are considered mediocre and sometimes problematic.
- “The modeling of the daughter ships is very good, with the immense difference in mass and buoyancy compared to the main ships being extremely well perceivable both graphically and dynamically.”
- “There are many fewer graphical bugs and general slowness than in the classic ship simulator.”
- “Graphics are nice, but unusually heavy on RAM for what you get, resulting in poor frame rates despite not appearing particularly high-spec.”
- “Awful graphics and gameplay.”
- “Graphics were not very good and it was a bit glitchy, took ages to do stuff!”
- “The controls and graphics are worse than '80s text based adventure games.”
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
75%
Users appreciate the game's realism and content but note issues with the music, including the inability to turn it off and its loud presence in menus and during gameplay. Additionally, some suggest adding a dedicated soundtrack feature to enhance the experience.
- “The music is louder in the menus but still plays in the background while traveling, adding to the immersive experience.”
- “Among other issues, I have noticed that you can't turn off the music, which may not suit everyone's preference.”
- “It would be a great addition to include the soundtrack so you can listen to the game's music separately.”
- “Among other issues I have is that you can't turn off the music.”
- “The music is louder in the menus but still in the background while travelling back and forth holding down the 'W' key.”
- “It is a really good simulator and is very realistic but it has some annoying and tedious parts. It looks really good and has quite a bit of content too. If I was to add one thing to it, it would be to add the soundtrack so you can listen to the music from the game.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's narrative approach creates a dramatic yet enjoyable atmosphere, setting it apart from typical sims by maintaining a relaxing and less punitive experience due to the absence of true game over conditions.
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game is realistic and adds to the simulation experience, though it can feel tedious and repetitive at times. Despite this, the overall content is substantial and well-designed.

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1h Median play time

1h Average play time

1-1h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Ship Simulator: Maritime Search and Rescue is a simulation game.

Ship Simulator: Maritime Search and Rescue is available on PC, Mac OS and Windows.

On average players spend around 1 hours playing Ship Simulator: Maritime Search and Rescue.

Ship Simulator: Maritime Search and Rescue was released on July 1, 2014.

Ship Simulator: Maritime Search and Rescue was developed by Reality Twist GmbH.

Ship Simulator: Maritime Search and Rescue has received neutral reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its gameplay.

Ship Simulator: Maritime Search and Rescue is a single player game.

Similar games include Seafarer: The Ship Sim, Frontier Pilot Simulator, European Ship Simulator, Fishing: Barents Sea, Accident and others.

Ship Simulator: Maritime Search and Rescue

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