Silent Hunter III
Dive! Raise periscope! Fire torpedoes number 2 & 4!
Tags: Silent Hunter III Categories: PC Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on May 5th, 2005
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Silent Hunter III (title page) | 1 - 6 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Simulation | Yes | ||
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I’m not going to make any naval or submarine jokes in this review. They get tiring and are quite stale after a while. Instead I’ll open the review of Silent Hunter III with this: If your idea of a good time is simulating being in cramped quarters, then you have a few “issues” that need resolving. No, that’s not to say that Silent Hunter III is enjoyable only by the mentally incompetent, but to demonstrate that while many survived their time on a submarine (or U-Boat) during World War II, they often came out much the worse for wear.
Submarines “back in the day” were not very deft, meaning they maneuvered like a bathtub drunk on Nyquil. Many may automatically assume that the game’s controls are off because of the sluggish responses, but that’s just true to life physics at work.
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There are a few solitary missions, as well as a scenario creation tool. This allows players to dream up some wild possibilities to test themselves and their friends. This is a great feature, but not the star attraction. The main feature for Silent Hunter III is the campaign mode, which presents all manner of scenario and equipment. In the early days of the war (before the United States got involved) the pickin’s were easy as the Allied forces hadn’t yet figured out just what was going on or gotten their war machines up to speed. Natually towards the end (such as 1943 and 1944) the enemy has become much tougher, but so has the equipment available to the player.
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As World War II rages on, and the Allies figure out just what kind of a threat the U-Boats pose, their technology increases. This provides an ample steady stream if increased difficulty throughout the game. Of course, the Germans countered at times with groups of submarines known as Wolfpacks – which for some reason isn’t in the single player portion of Silent Hunter III. While this does take away from some of the authenticity, the game definitely attempts to make up for it in the rest of the gameplay.
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Players create their own war journal by following missions in an open sea. This body of water is large – large enough to actually make a person have to seek out their targets and map out their routs for optimal attack points. Throughout the game success will award the player with Renown Points, which can be used to upgrade both hardware and crew. This really adds to the strategic element of the game, as balancing out upgrades along with the enemy is pretty crucial. It does, however make the game feel a bit more like a game rather than a reenactment, as any military doesn’t really work this way.
Just as in real life, firing off the torpedoes isn’t simply a matter of pointing in the direction of an enemy vessel. Velocity and direction of travel have to be taken into account – as well as how much ammunition there is. Out on the open sea, it is rather hard to resupply with torpedoes. When taking out a convoy, a few missed shots could result in a failed mission simply by running out of ammunition, or from giving your position away to the enemy.
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Damage is appropriate to how a torpedo hits. Don’t expect big explosions every time. Slamming into a cargo hold is only going to make a large hole in the enemy vessel. While there may not be an explosion, you can be sure that a couple of well placed hits will ensure that sinking does occur. Where the hit was scored will influence the rate at which a ship sinks. Hitting a fuel tank will naturally cause some massive damage, while one torpedo to the crew quarters of a battleship will make the ship go down slow (and fighting).
There are various difficulty levels, presented more along the lines of how “real” the game is played. There are options to control (or not for the more arcade-style oriented players) such things as the fresh air cycling through the U-Boat. It is little details such as this that make Silent Hunter III such a great sim game, yet still accessible for those that “just want to play” a sub game.
The immersion of Silent Hunter III is astounding. Visually, it feels as if a submarine has been photographed and recreated. Not actually having been in one, I am not in a position to say how accurate the various U-Boat models are, but will say that these are some impressive visuals given the subject matter.
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The audio is nice, if a mixed bag – with the music well done and average voice acting. It is possible to import MP3s to play over the sub’s PA system, but listening to Pantera and Slayer isn’t as satisfying while playing this game as Glenn Miller or Raymond Scott. Where the music is good, and the voice acting is average, the sound effects stand out. These really help to immerse the player as the sounds of the U-Boat really help to create the feeling of being in a metal tube under water.
There are a few bugs, many of which have been addressed now via updates (this is one area where UbiSoft really delivers to the PC community). The mod community has also really taken to this game as it was apparently designed to be done so with great ease. One interesting quirk involves the save games – which erases previous saves when loading a game, not allowing players to try out different progressions in the campaign mode. If you mess up, you mess up, no going back.
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Multiplayer is also present, via LAN or online, but without having a specific group of friends to coordinate attacks, it becomes a waste of time. With a group of people that are able to communicate to each other and agree on a mission, then a Wolfpack is created and the seas once again tremble in fear of the silent hunters.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
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+ Easy or difficult depending on your preference + Great visuals + Immersive audio + Great physics |
8.8 |
| What Doesn't | |
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- Buggy out of the box - Multiplayer uneven |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Silent Hunter III really paves the way for more players to dip their toe in the water of simulation games while staying true to the gameplay. | |
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Tags: Silent Hunter III
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on May 5th, 2005 and is filed under PC Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
