Silent Hunter 3

I know that Ubi has been annoying some people lately, but I gotta say, with them giving such good support to Maddox games (Pacific Fighters), and now Strategic Simulations with SH3, I am beginning to love these guys.

Simply put SH3 far exceeded my expectations of a sub simulator. What I expected was another sub game where I watched a map most of the time working to get my little icon in firing position on the other little icons and letting go with my torpedos, followed by watching the map while I dodged some angry icons.

What I got blew me away. Graphically this game is absolutely gorgeous. I don't know squat about pixel fill rates or any of that crap, but I do know that I love what I see here. Never before has a game actually put me in the ocean before. The look and sound of the ocean is simply the best virtual representation I have seen.

I spent close to half an hour last night just watching my sub pound through a North Atlantic storm at night. This was a particularly nasty storm, with waves breaking over the conning tower. And somewhere out there, not far away, was an allied convoy. I haven't felt tension like that from a PC game in some time. This was my third try at this convoy, my last 2 attempts ending with the escort destroyer hurtling out of the night to ram my sub and sink us.

The graphics aren't all either. You can micro manage your crew through a career, handing out decorations, promotions, and qualifications to hand craft and elite crew.

They have included a terrific system of "Renown". You gain renown points by doing successful cruises, or sinking ships. You can also lose them if you sink friendly ships, so pay attention. You can spend renown on highly qualified crew members, upgraded gear for your sub, or even save up enough to gain command of the latest state of the art boat.

There was one little feature that really put this game over the top for me, because it made me realize just how much care and attention to detail had been put into developing it:

I have read that German subs had magnetic detonators designed to detonate a torp under the keel of a ship. This is usually a fatal blow to a ship, because it breaks it in two. However, they experience issues with the magnetic fields in certain parts of the world messing these triggers up. Sure enough, if you try to use magnetic detonators too far North, they behave unpredictably. Detonating too early is typical.

Impact detonators can also be flakey. Sometime just refusing to explode at all, or bouncing off if they strike the ship at too shallow of an angle. I once watched all four of my forward torpedos bounce of the side of a freighter. :rant:

I :francesco: this game! It is amazingly immersive, and unlike most sims, very scalable. Difficulty settings can turn it into an elaborate arcade game, or into a hard core sim.

Even if you are not a simmer, chances are you will like this game. Be warned though, it is buggy at times, the worst issue being an intermittent crash bug that will soon teach you to save often.

one thing that is good about those games is that UBI is only puplisher. They do not have a word in the product itself....otherwise IL2 would be something like Secret Weapon over N00bmandy and SH3 would be Super Mario Cart under water
Got my copy but havn't got the chance to play it yet.

Originally posted by KamisoriX@Apr 12 2005, 04:13 PM
one thing that is good about those games is that UBI is only puplisher. They do not have a word in the product itself....otherwise IL2 would be something like Secret Weapon over N00bmandy and SH3 would be Super Mario Cart under water
Got my copy but havn't got the chance to play it yet.

Not entirely true. Ubi allowed SH3 to be delayed for a year in order for a dynamic campaign to be coded. They could have forced the game out the door without one, and done it as an add-on, and the devs wouldn't have been able to say crap about it.

Ubi must be doing something right here if they are attracting sim devs of this caliber. Seeing high quality simulators coming back gives me hope!

Yes yes, but what I mean is that it's not made by an UBI in house devs.
BTW. SH3 got it flaws. what about the magic READY button in MP. but neverless I know those games like IL2 will be always good as long UBi is only publisher.
And don't you dare disagree with me again! I'm always right :rant:

These types of games are like MMORPG's... IMHO....

You need 2-3 hours at a time to actaully enjoy and appreciate the game. The submarine Warfare series does little to tickle my delicate tastebuds... other than the fact it might contain an interesting pixel shader for the water fx!...

these kind of games are about dedication. Only for the highest uber 1337 gamor of the 1337 legion