Silent Hunter III

In Silent Hunter III players take command of a German U-Boat (submarine), operating in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II. The player will lead a captain’s career that begins in a year of their choice, from 1939 to 1944, assigned to the flotilla of their choice, which influences the player's initial base and submarine type. After these choices, the dynamic campaign takes over, and time progresses at a steady pace, while the player and the AI wage war against Britain and its allies both on the sea and under it.

There are four main types of U-Boat (II, VII, IX, and XXI) along with several variants of each sub. Along with the different sub types, there are different armaments that are able to be mounted on/in the submarine, such as the deck gun and the flak cannon, as well as differing types of torpedoes, hydrophones, engines, batteries, etc. Depending on what stage of the war they're in, players will have access to different levels of technology and submarine augmentations. Successes at sea will also determine the upgrades that players can make.

Players can award their crew with medals and promotions, each of whom carry over and improve from mission to mission, provided that they survive (and that the submarine itself returns from its patrol). Sailors can specialize in certain elements of the submarine, and while they are working in those areas (e.g. torpedo rooms, engine rooms, etc), the performance of that part of the submarine will be supplemented by their skill. The crew will tire over the course of each 1-2 week patrol, and careful management is sometimes required so that manpower isn't lacking when the pressure is on. Death can come from aircraft in the sky, destroyers on the sea, or even the sea itself.

Simply put, this game is a WW2 naval submarine simulator, supplemented with pixel shading graphics technology in an attempt to provide a more realistic ocean and game world. The simulation’s damage model is intricate, and depending on where players land their torpedoes and deck cannon fire (and what part of the ship that's target), they will be met with varying results, ranging from light flooding of the ship to completely splitting the ship in two. The plague of dud torpedoes is modeled as well, so even if a hit is scored, it might simply be met with a loud ‘clang’.

As with most modern simulators, Silent Hunter III allows the player to enable or disable certain options that make parts of the game either easier or harder. These options range from the visual stability of the periscope in high seas, easier targeting, what cameras can be used (including forced first-person), even whether the submarine has an infinite amount of diesel fuel. Because of this ability to tweak the realism, more casual players need not be chased off by the heavy simulation elements.