| | |  | Linux | | Home » » » » | | | | | | | Description: | | The king of submarine simulations returns with an all-new 3D game engine, new crew command features, and more realistic action than ever before. Whether it's stalking destroyers or hiding from depth charges, players will experience their own personal war story. The spectacular graphics, multiplayer options and suspenseful gameplay combine to create the most impressive submarine simulation ever. | | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
| 7.5 inches | | Product Width:
| 5.5 inches | | Product Height:
| 1.5 inches | | Product Weight:
| 0.25 pounds | | Package Length:
| 7.5 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.3 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.6 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.05 pounds | | Release Date:
| March 15, 2005 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 99 reviews |
| | | Game Information: | | | Platform:
| Windows XP / Windows 2000 | | Media:
| DVD-ROM | | Item Quantity:
| 1 |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 99 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
217 of 225 found the following review helpful:
 A wonderfully immersive gameMar 29, 2005
By A Reader
'Silent Hunter III' is simply the best WW2 sub sim yet. 'Silent Hunter III' covers German U-Boat operations in the Atlantic from 1939 until the end of the war. There are more than a dozen individual scenarios as well as a dynamic campaign where you can pick the starting year and theatre of operations. The game is on DVD (not sure if there is a CD version or not). It says this online and on the box but DVD games are rare so you may not even notice. So if you don't have a DVD drive you may be out of luck. Also the game takes 2.5GB of disk space so be sure you have the room.
The game comes with a nice campaign map as well as a full-color keyboard guide. The small instruction manual is excellent for explaining the basics but completely lacks information on more advanced features or operational matters (like what is the ideal firing distance for the various torpedoes, etc). The game also includes a number of well done video tutorials that will teach you the basic functions quickly. After you've watched these you can delete the files from your hard drive and reclaim about 500MB of space. Unfortunately, again, there are no tutorials on more advanced features or operations/tactics of the boat. Realism settings let the real sim diehards turn off external cameras and other aides. In general these are just too much fun to watch even if they are not realistic.
Overall the graphics and sound are excellent. There are 3D views of many of the sub stations. You can freely rotate and look around at these stations but you can only jump from spot to spot not actually move through the sub like you would with a FPS game. There does seem to be a few issues with nVidia graphics cards (at least) where looking through the deck scope and binoculars causes major video slow downs through sea spray and fog. This is not a major problem because you can jump stations with keys and do the same functions from the periscopes but it would be nice to have the issues fixed. Sitting on the bridge and watching the waves, weather, sunsets, etc. is simply gorgeous and adds tremendously to the immersion level of the game. The various 3D crew members are rendered well but are stiff and have no facial emotions and little movement. One small quibble is that crewmen's beards don't grow over time nor do they don different attire for rainy/snowy days. Ship and aircraft models and explosions are very well done. Ships sink and aircraft crash in various ways commensurate with the way they were sunk/hit. In addition to your boat views there are torpedo/target cameras and even a free view where you can fly around and look at whatever you want. Again, not realistic but great fun and with the great graphics it enhances the experience considerably. Such view options are also of great use while learning the game and proper boat handling.
You move about your boat either in the 3D mode or simply hitting keys to take you from spot to spot. You can run all the major stations yourself (radio, sonar, periscopes, deck guns, navigation, weapons plot) or let your crew handle them and just give orders. Crew management is a major task and you can freely assign crewmen to the various positions (and the crew accrue experience and you can give them awards, promotions, and additional ratings between campaign missions). Unfortunately crew management is also one of the confusing areas of the game. Some crew seem to tire very quickly whereas others will go for days. It would be nice if the computer handled crew rotations and let you intervene only when necessary. It is also not explained what the various crew ratings do for you. For example, is a torpedoman good just for reloading torpedoes or useful as a weapons office as well or both? You don't know. Also confusing is the orders interface. You can click on various hotlinks or officers to access various game/ship functions. This works well for the most part but the problem is that functions that are not supported by your current boat still show up. Thus on the early boats you will try to do things such as radar sweeps, etc that you can't do. To make matters worse the interface doesn't say the function isn't available it just doesn't do anything (or sometimes even tells you someting misleading). It would be nice if these options changed appropriately from boat to boat.
Individual scenarios (missions) usually begin right at the moment the action is going to start. Campaign missions start in port. For campaign missions you'll need to navigate to your assigned zone and patrol for 24 hours. After that you are free to do what you want (within the limits of your fuel and ammo). This has some advantages but isn't the most interesting way to run the campaigns either. Time compression up to 1,024 times real-time is available so you can move through the outbound and returning cruise portions quickly. The game automatically goes to 8x speed upon contact (I wish it would just go to real-time). It also doesn't seem to let you do anything silly like run into an island with time compression on, which is nice.
You can man any of the major stations on the sub (radio, sonar, periscopes, deck guns, navigation, weapons plotting) or let your crew do the work and just get reports. For best results you'll need to take some direct command on certain occasions. You have free reign to run the sub as you wish within realistic limits. The only complaint with gameplay is you actually have to know how a U-Boat works to play the game well. For example early torpedoes need to hit targets at close to 90 degrees to explode (mostly), etc. When spotting targets with the periscopes how do you use the stad lines to determine range, etc.? It is in areas such as these that the game does a poor job of explaining. But those who know their U-Boats, or take the time to learn through trial and error, will have their knowledge/time rewarded with some rich gaming experiences.
Missions (especially campaign missions) are overall slow affairs. The shortest is probably around one and a half hours and you can easily find three or four hours going by. Even with time compression there is considerable patience required to arrive on station, find targets, properly stalk your prey, attack, and most importantly, successfully evade attack. You'll also find yourself doing some of your own sonar work for best results. Often times you can spend hours on a mission without firing a shot or, worse, spend the time setting up a shot only to miss or have a dud torpedo. But this is what being a U-Boat commander was all about. If this sort of thing fits your temperament you will find 'Silent Hunter III' an extremely enjoyable game. The game does a wonderful job of letting you run the boat and feel like a real U-Boat captain with all of the highs and lows that position experienced.
The computer AI seems to be well done. Merchant ships will start to zigzag if they spot you. Escort ships will attack intelligently and even coordinate attacks. Your computer-run shipmates range from acceptable to poor. It is hard to tell if this is an AI problem or a result of their inexperience or lack of a rating. This is one area where the game could use some better explanation. If a close enemy contact shows up on the plot table why can't my sonarman hear it? Also, when spotting targets through the periscope, the target ship can be identified for you but the nationality is not listed. So if you don't know that a Type 45 Destroyer is German you'll be committing some fratricide. There is a great ID book available in-game organized by nationality but you'd have to flip through the half-dozen nations manually to find the target type. Most ships fly national flags but you have to be pretty close to see them even through the scope. If you are showing plots on the map table the indicators there do seem to show friendly, neutral, or hostile.
Overall 'Silent Hunter III' is a very well done game with a few rough edges that will hopefully get fixed in follow-up patches. It will definitely be worth your time to know your U-Boat history or do some reading to get the best results from the game as well allow you to appreciate what the game does provide. If you've always wanted to command a U-Boat 'Silent Hunter III' is a must get.
There are a ton of great books about U-Boats and their crews. I'd also recommend 'The U Boat Commanders Handbook' by The High Command of the German Navy, High Command of the German Army, Kriegsmarine, Wehrmacht, which is a reprint of the actual 1943 U-Boat handbook.
105 of 112 found the following review helpful:
new generation graphics, physics, gameplay WOOOHOOOMar 20, 2005
By ocean enthusiast
if you have an inkling at all to try a submarine (or naval combat sim), this is for you. the graphics are insane. the movement of the water and ocean is very well modeled, you really feel like you're in a sub, pitching and rolling in the atlantic. the ocean conditions also vary, stormy weather (and in some cases rain and lightning), will make the ocean stomier, and the waves get bigger. i've never seen the ocean modeled this well in a game before -- awesome. makes the waves in far cry look like kiddy stuff.
the full day is simulated, that is the dawn gradually turns to day, then dusk, then night. beautiful.
I am very impressed with the AI. destroyers, if they detect you, will cooperate with each other, form search parties, and search for you, dropping depth charges, and calling in air support. all kinds of different planes buzz around trying to spot you, dropping charges.
damage on ships is awesome. with the deck gun you can shoot cargo off ships, destroy masts, etc etc. the effects of hitting a ship with topedos and sinking it are also very good, everytime you sink a ship it goes down differently, a reflection of how you happened to detroy it. high particle explosions, water spray, yeah baby....no repetition here.
there's also enough sohpistication built into the game of eluding destroyers and other warships (keeping your sub quiet and keeping the profile of your sub in a way so that they can't ping you) that make for some nerve-racking warfare and help the replay value.
again, if you have any inkling for a naval warfare sim, i'd recommend this one highly, it's very immersive. perhaps too immersive...wait for the weekend to get this one, it kept me up late 2 nights in a row.
i have a pretty high spec PC and the sim flies, but my only words of caution here is make sure your PC is a fairly powerful gaming system. probably doesnt need to be top of the line, but i'd imagine it would have to be in the upper third for best results. it's not going to run very well on your 4-year old dinosaur, thats for sure.
81 of 86 found the following review helpful:
 Legally installing this game harmed my computerAug 16, 2005
By Greggbek
"gregbek"
This product contains starforce copy protection which is supposed to keep people from making illegal copies. The bad thing about starforce is that for legal purchases it does things to your comptuer which are permanent and possibly destructive. Do a search on starforce problems and you will see what I mean.
I installed this software and when I first tried to run it, it installed some DEVICE DRIVERS on my system and windows asked me to reboot. After I rebooted I noticed the device drivers where there. I tried to remove them. After rebooting again, the device drivers were back (like a virus). I uninstalled the game. The device drivers were back. I removed the device drivers and rebooted, they were back. In addition, "starforce" has a program that runs all the time on my computer, even when I am not playing the game, taking up CPU speed and memory on my PC, making it slower. It cannot be uninstalled in any way that I am aware.
Since I installed the game, and after I un-installed it, starforce program has interfered with my USB external drive, making it impossible to create images of CD's I use for work, disabled some features of my DVD drive, disabled some features of my legally purchased CD creation software I use for work.
None of this is disclosed in the end-user license agreement. One important note to customers who may have purchased this game, however, if you call or write the publisher and tell them that you disagree with the license agreement (the contact information is in the agreement) they will provide a cash refund for the game, even if it is opened.
22 of 24 found the following review helpful:
 Great game; poor copy protectionAug 23, 2005
By R. Crawford
"Blinking12"
Strengths: Graphics, renown system, customizable difficulty settings; patches and continuing support from Ubi.
Weaknesses: StarForce
SilentHunter III is the long-awaited sub sim from Ubi that many (including me) hoped would finally set right the many wrongs of SilentHunter II. In many ways, it has accomplished that. Sims tend to be niche market games, but one of the best things Ubi did with SH3 was make it very open to modification. In the game, you can adjust the difficulty settings to your liking, and besides that it is also possible to modify the game config files to the point that you can have either a very easy arcade-style experience or a very thorough and difficult simulation experience.
The graphics are probably the best to date of any 3-D naval sim. Since so many reviews in magazines and on-line sites have gushed about them, though, I won't (though I agree with most of the gushing).
Another strength is that Ubi does not seem to be abandoning this release. Too often, software publishers release a title as if it were a message in a bottle. Wherever the sea and wind may take it is not their primary concern. That doesn't seem to be the case here. SH3 continues to see patches released that fix some of the inevitable bugs and in general attempt to improve the player's experience. Loud applause for this! However, there are plans to release a SilentHunter IV, and it will be interesting to see how long SH3 stays afloat after a "bigger and badder" sibling is released. So far, so good though.
The singular weakness SH3 has is the Starforce copy protection scheme. It is one thing to legally protect your own creation and your intellectual property; it is another thing if protecting your investment compromises somebody else's, which is precisely what Starforce *MAY* do to your system. Some people report no trouble from Starforce; I have had problems burning CDs and DVDs (which seems to be the most common issue).
Starforce is not even mentioned by name on the outside of the game package. All you can see is that the game contains some sort of "technology" that "may" not work with some drives. It would be difficult to be more vague than that.
The best thing to do, before buying SH3, would be to check with the manufacturer of your DVD drive (unless you buy the download version, the game is only available on DVD) and make sure there won't be any conflicts with Starforce.
That said, however, my final opinion on Starforce is that it's an idiotic strategy. Most people are not going to bother contacting their DVD drive manufacturer, and why should they have to? This is just a game. A kernel-level driver is sketchty and too draconian, in my opinion, and by relying on it Ubi actually risks encouraging people to seek out pirated copies of the game.
Minus two stars, just because it uses Starforce.
18 of 20 found the following review helpful:
Silent Hunter 3Sep 07, 2005
By Stresstank
Silent Hunter 3 arrived about a week ago and I am totally hooked! This has got to be the most engaging simulation I've played. Though it lacks the high action of combat flight, I cannot overstate the joy one feels at stalking, lining up and sinking allied ships. Yesterday on the way to patrol. off the coast of Ireland, we spotted a British destroyer, approached it at periscope depth with electric engines running at slow speed, got within a 800 meters at 90 degrees (torpedoes were unreliable and less likely to detonate if hitting the hull from an oblique angle), and sank it with a perfect firing solution. I can't communicate how giddy that makes you feel. Continuing the patrol I sent five merchants to the bottom.
The level of simulation is scalable, and I'm only playing at around 50%. If you want to go all the way, you have to manually identify ships, calculate distance, course and speed, then do the trigonometry for the firing solution. Presently, I leave all that to the weapons officer and focus on approaching the target undetected. At full realism, you don't get to use the external cameras, and can only experience the action from within the boat itself. Not quite ready for that myself.
If you fail to sink warships, they start to hunt you persistently and methodically, which can get very tense indeed. I've done ten patrols and it's still May 1940. The allies will get their act together as the war progresses and survival will become increasingly difficult.
The sea, weather and ships are beautifully rendered, and the realistic looking damage from torpedo impacts is immensely satisfying. It is fairly time consuming to learn, and I spent probably about 8 hours in the games `naval academy'. When on patrol you also have to manage crew rotations, and there are numerous ramifications regarding the effective manning of the ships stations. If you are successful, you can recruit skilled sailors, and as technology improves, upgrade the U-boat types and armaments. I think I'll be at this game for months, if not years.
See all 99 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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