SILENT HUNTER III

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Ubisoft Romania

Publisher : Ubisoft

Engine : Not Revealed

Genre : Submarine Sim

Release Date : March 15 , 2005

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows 2000 / Windows XP

CPU : AMD Athlon XP 2100+ / Intel Pentium 4 Processor

Memory (RAM) : 512 MB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0 Compatible Video Card with Memory 64 MB

[NVIDIA : GeForce 4 Ti Series
ATI : Radeon X600 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 1.5 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

Silent Hunter III sets a new standard both for this particular type of sim and for the genre as a whole. It hearkens back to the days of Aces of the Pacific, Red Storm Rising, and Red Baron II, where the focus was on simulating what it was like to be a pilot or nuclear sub captain instead of on meticulously re-creating every piece of hardware down to the last rivet at the expense of overall gameplay. That's not to say that Silent Hunter III skimps on the hardware modeling--the attention to detail is fantastic--but it lets you concentrate on the exciting parts of being a sub captain instead of saddling you with loads of tedious duties in the name of "realism." Up to eight players can play out missions cooperatively in multiplayer mode, which we'll talk about later, but the real meat of the game is in the single-player missions and dynamic campaign. From the very first tutorial mission, which involves navigating the sub into open waters, you know your work is cut out for you. Most of the U-boats in the game are slow, unwieldy, and undergunned compared to the surface ships that hunt them, and it's immediately understood that you sit uncomfortably in the middle of the food chain. At the top are the destroyers, aircraft, and other fast and powerful predators that are out to kill you, and at the bottom are the fat, slow transports laden with troops and cargo that you can send to the bottom of the ocean on a whim. The campaign lets you select from various time periods, ranging from the earliest forays in 1939 to the bitter end in 1944. U-boats that are available depend on the time period and the fleet you choose, and there are some huge tradeoffs here. Early on, the Type II U-boats are little more than rickety tubs that carry only a few torpedoes, but their job is eased by Allied forces that aren't quite prepared to deal with the threat. Finding large convoys during the early years is very rare, and many merchant ships travel without escorts and are therefore easy pickings. Destroyers and aircraft early in the war are poorly equipped, relatively untrained, and not all that aggressive, which also helps even the odds. In the middle years of the war, the subs improve with Type VII and Type IX models, but escort ships abound and they are much better at their jobs. By 1943 your job becomes nearly impossible, as escorts and aircraft have the equipment they need to find you, the weapons they need to kill you, and the will to hunt you down mercilessly. There are women throwing flowers, other sailors chatting it up, and usually even a band belting out the German national anthem as you head out to sea. Ports are modeled like their real-life counterparts, so while it's possible to head straight out from a place like St. Nazaire, navigating into open waters from a place like Lorient requires a lot of tricky maneuvering. Contacts are marked on the map and fade over time if they are not stalked. It also is possible to radio the position of contacts and convoys back to headquarters, and occasionally planes or another sub may be dispatched to deal with it.

Destroyers are practically suicidal, and several of our patrols have ended with a maniacal destroyer captain smashing into the side of our U-boat at 30-plus knots. This makes fighting large convoys tricky, as you have to decide whether or not to take the escorts out first, which requires using up torpedoes that are invaluable when destroying high-tonnage ships like tankers, troop transports, and passenger liners. Deck-gun attacks are an option in the early part of the war, before the Allies get their act together, but by the time the advanced Type XXI sub is available in 1944, it doesn't even have a deck gun, because fighting on the surface is futile. Good as the ship graphics, maps, and lighting are, nothing compares to the fantastic water special effects. Waves look very convincing, ranging from glassy ripples to frothy monsters that are tall enough to swallow the conning tower. It is impossible to man the deck guns or flak guns in choppy seas, which poses tactical problems in the early years of the campaign when deck-gun attacks are feasible, but big waves also work in your favor by helping to hide the sub's periscope. Water realistically interacts with the periscope, turning viewfinder images into shimmering watercolors whenever waves lap across the lens, and it never fails to thrill when the lens clears and the blurry mirage you were looking at resolves into a menacing warship or a juicy target. The sound also deserves special mention for being so well done. Explosions, gunshots, and special effects, like the sound of shells hitting the water and sonar pings, provide everything you'd expect from a riveting war movie. The crew chimes in when contacts are spotted, damage is taken, or other vital information is available, and in a nice touch they all speak in whispers when the ship is rigged for silent running. This is an outstanding WWII submarine simulation in every regard.

GAME REVIEW :-

9/10

Silent Hunter III Trailer :-