Epyx' latest simulation allows a budding Commander or Kommandant to navigate a WWII sub through sixty different missions, with the choice between a single assignment or a full wartime command.

There are six basic command viewpoints accessed from the keyboard: Periscope, Map, Radar, Sonar plus Binocular and Tower views while on the surface. In addition, an information panel is situated beneath the main display screen.

Missions include North Sea patrols and search-and-destroy missions in the South West Pacific. The difficulty is metered in levels from one to four, and affects performance in several ways: later levels have no on-board navigator, more dud shells are fired, enemy ability is increased and depth charges are dropped more frequently.

Missions sometimes last several hours, and may be saved to tape or disk for convenience.

Note: Disk Version reviewed here. A cassette version has been announced and will be rated separately when released.

The Epyx pedigree is about as good as you can get, but they've certainly brought their batting average down with this one. Initial high hopes face in the light of this terminally languid, acutely boring simulation of zero appeal.

The interior visuals are bland, flickery and slow, while the frame update on the external view is similarly awful. The first casualty is the incredibly lengthy time buffer between key presses and activation of the selected action... The general feeling is of a complex program attempt to run in BASIC. Avoid it like the plague.

I'm no real fan of simulations but even so, the gameplay in this offering is just *too* tedious. The graphics do nothing to create any kind of atmosphere, and the sound is instantly forgettable.

The range of options and Epyx' usual comprehensive instructions help to generate the right climate, but this is shattered once play begins! This should be an experience of suspense and decision-making under pressure, but the constant disk access and slow movement ruin it.

For me, the action is just too turgid and the on-screen viewpoint too bland to warrant praise.

Presentation 63%
Excellent instructions, but poor on-screen presentation. The constant disk access is a pain.

Graphics 27%
Bland, unrealistic and unconvincing.

Sound 15%
Ineffective throughout.

Hookability 29%
The slow and tedious nature of the action imparts an almost instant feeling of antipathy.

Lastability 22%
The lack of reward and action soon leads to complete boredom.

Overall 24%
A complex simulation marred by an appalling lack of playability.