Some of the capsules you will be reading will be more opinion pieces than anything else. As usual, SSI had a bevy of interesting titles, and this year was no different. A lot of people compare Fighting Steel to Great Naval Battles with a 3D interface. All of the commands and actions are accessible on the main command screen - you can view all of the action at any camera angle from any ship. Ships belch fire and smoke, searchlights stab through the darkness, and star shells burst and pop like fireworks.
Ships show visible and correct damage from hits.
British, German, Japanese, and American navies in this time period will be featured, as well as a scenario editor. It looks like 3Dfx will be required, but in any event the game won't be out till maybe the fall. Another potential disappointment is that there won't be any real land masses in the game - the engine in its current state just can't handle it. Volume two will probably have it, though. The maps are still hand-painted, but there will be some provision for users to create their own scenarios.