Previous Next

This game has been heralded as the most accurate submarine simulation ever written. I'm afraid that I must agree!

The game is based around the American submarine service and its exploits in the Pacific during the second half of World War II against the Japanese navy. Because Japan is an island nation, half of its initial 6,000,000 tons of shipping was needed just to keep the civilian population alive - so the destruction of its merchant navy was a must.

To this end, US subs sank 5,320,094 tons of shipping - more than by all the other forces put together (ships, mines, air, etc). Silent Service gives you one of these subs.

The instructions are composed of a history of the American submarine service, the operational problems that the early captains faced - non-working torpedoes, bad equipment, etc. Diagrams and maps are dotted about to make the presentation excellent. Another sheet gives the actual instructions of the game.

In the game, you can choose one of three options: practice, tactical situations, or patrols.

Practice is exactly what it sounds like and lets you get the hang of all the weaponry. Tactical situations puts you into set pieces under pre-arranged conditions to get the hang of all the equipment under widely differing circumstances. Patrols are where the game really takes off.

You start by picking the patrol you want from a list of five. These patrols actually existed, and a brief history of each is given. The type of patrol dictates your starting position on the map, the sort of ships that you will come up against, and the type of sub that you will have.

It's then up to you to pick a route through the areas that you think will have the heaviest shipping.

When you pick a battle you can then call up a number of screens. Gauges let you see certain status information, the log lets you see your current score. The bridge gives you a wide view of what's up ahead, and the periscope is fairly self explanatory. The map has a zooming effect to let you see what is happening further afield - though if you can't see it, it doesn't appear on the map. And damage reports let you see the current sea-worthiness of your sub.

This game is marvellously put together and excellent to play. Last month I reviewed Submarine Commander from Sparklers. I still maintain that that is better value as Silent Service is so expensive and only available on disk, but this is by far the better game.

A definite must, there's as much depth to the game as Elite, and that's saying something.