In my opinion the Silent Hunter series is the best submarine simulator available, and Silent Hunter III is no exception. I know there's a fourth game in the series but being of German ancestry I prefer the earlier games as they put you in charge of a German U-Boat rather than an American submarine.
Because Silent Hunter III has been around for a while it is rather cheap, also if you don't have a gaming store near you the game is now available on Steam. So if you go to the Steam website http://store.steampowered.com/, simply download the application then you can purchase games through their store and download them.
Silent Hunter III has a campaign and individual missions containing everything from the aftermath of the sinking of the Bismarck to sinking convoys.
The game also features a fully detailed control room as well as detailed lookout positions on the bridge and a free roaming camera feature for getting great screenshots.
You can also change the realism of the game, for example you can set dud torpedoes to on or off as well as a whole host of other things.
The campaign mode offers the player to upgrade many features on their submarine such as radar, deck guns and engines. When you start the campaign you select a U-boat to start with by purchasing it. Depending of the year which you start the campaign the selection of U-boats on offer will vary. So if you started in 1939 your choice would be much less than if you started in 1942.
The other feature I like about the game is that there's an action camara which comes up with a little window which displays things like when you fire a torpedoe you can track it's progress. If you click on this smaller picture the game jumps to whatever event is currently happening allowing you to see the action in full screen.
If there's one criticism I have about the game it's that there's no feature for linking it up to a sister game, only another Silent Hunter III gamer. In Silent Hunter II it featured an option to play against a fellow gamer playing Destroyer Command, in which one person took on the role of a U-Boat commander while the other person tried to track them down and sink them in their destroyer.
Other than that though it really is a good game, but if you really do want to battle it out with another person on the surface then Silent Hunter II is still just as good with only slight graphical differences.
Thats a different write up Rich. I've been playing an "Exbox" game of "Killer Nazi Zombies" shoot em up with MiniPeeler lately. What do you reckon to this computer games...like wargaming on a screen? It's certainly lifelike..er well, if "Killer Nazi Zombies" chewing at you can be described as lifelike that is...:-)
ReplyDeleteSounds like the new Call of Duty game that does Peeler. I can't really comment on it as I've not played the game myself. Mainly due to the fact that I got rid of my XBox because it kept breaking on me. I'm not too keen on shooting games as I keep getting beaten by my brother.
ReplyDeleteYep, its Call of Duty. I get beating by my 11 yr old son, so fret not! I meant generally though, I think these games can count as 'wargaming', just different to using miniatures on a table.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it's a war...game. I've been practicing a bit more and am getting better at it. I've started up a campaign which basically involves setting out from your dock and patrolling a sector, sinking any ships along the way. Great fun.
ReplyDeleteSounds good then, as you say, gaming on-screen really.
ReplyDeleteNow then Richie!
ReplyDeleteI used to love playing Silent Service & Red Storm Rising (Modern subs) on the Amiga. MANY years ago, just don't get the time these days!
All the Best
MrF
Hi Mr F. Yes it is sometimes tricky finding time to do the things you like. I can't say I've heard of those games before. I used to have an Amiga but didn't have many games for it.
ReplyDeleteSounds good then, as you say, gaming on-screen really wonderful.
ReplyDelete