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Silent Service is the best submarine simulator ever on the CPC. Truly. Mind you, saying this is roughly akin to saying that the carrot is the best orange vegetable (what others are there - Hunt For Red October, er...), but it's very nice to be able to open on a positive note for a change.

The plot: Steer your Yankee sub across the Pacific Ocean, find a Japanese convoy, work out which ship is your target (check the shape in your Bib Boys' Book of Japanese Destroyers), sink it, then race home for tea and crumpet, soda and popcorn, or whatever it is that Americans have after sinking a ship.

The options: Loads of skill levels (loads = four) and three different types of scenario, one of which is a practice mode. Tip: practise a bit till you've sussed how the torpedos work.

The game: It's not going to have you on the edge of your seat, but what simulator would? Though Silent Service is a bit daunting at first, you'll get the hang of it sooner or later. There are various different displays for charting position, studying damage, firing torpedos and so on.

You can get a bit lost in all the instrumentation, but once you've worked out what's what and gained a grip of what the missions entail, it's... fun. All simulators are phenomenally dull until you get drawn into them, of course. Fortunately, this one's a lot easier to get drawn into than most. Silent Service is the only combat simulator to have been banned by the West German (as was) authorities for being too realistic. Crivens!

Original score: Not reviewed
Original release: January 1987
Original publisher: MicroProse

Submarine sims aren't the most exciting of games, but if you're in a sub sim kind of a mood, take note - Silent Service is the numero uno.