- Make history by achieving objectives in a dynamic campaign and play through historical based scenarios. Every action of the player will have an impact on the following missions and the overall scenario development.
- Silent Hunter returns to the Atlantic to give the player the chance to control accurately recreated German submarines, and satisfies the wish of the large simulation community!
- Interact with the submarine crew and command the officers onboard, watch them perform their daily jobs and experience the tension & fear inside the U-boat. For the first time, walk through highly detailed submarines in FPS fashion.
- New level accessibility will cater to more casual simulation fans. New users will be able to play Silent Hunter: Battle of the Atlantic in ?easy mode? and prowl the waters free of confusion or complication.
- Cinematic experience with improved environment graphics and highly detailed submarine models increases the level of realism & immersion in the game.
Product Description
Experience the thrill of the hunt and live the dramatic life of a submarine captain like never before. Help to write a riveting chapter of World War II history by commanding accurately recreated German submarines in the Atlantic theatre of operations. (Includes the exclusive PBS documentary: “LOST & FOUND Legacy of the USS Lagarto.”)… More >>
Silent Hunter: Battle of the Atlantic
I have an internet connection set up to where my computer plugs directly in to a cable modem. From the wireless network I have set up, I am able to stream HD movies onto my xbox360 with no problems. Even with a stable internet, I have had one crash to dekstop. Immedtiately after the CTD I reloaded the game and was able to play for about 3 minutes before I was kicked off due to conncetion problems. Since I was still able to get online immediately after being kicked off, one can draw the conclusion that either Ubi’s servers were down for a time or that the DRM is extremely unforgiving regarding how long it waits for internet connection to resume. From this, one an draw the conclusion that even with a steady internet, you will still have problems playing the game. To be fair, it only happened those two times during my 5 hours of gameplay, however it was enough for me to be pretty annoyed with it. I can only imagine what it would be like for people who travel or who have DSL and can only play when the weather is nice. I understand the need to protect intellectual property, but as has been stated a number of times already, all this does is hurt the law abiding consumer. I personally have a hard time understanding this decision as it will probably cause Ubisoft to lose a significant amount of money for PC sales (although I am sure it will be compensated for by console sales but why not try to maximize your profit?). People who pirate games are still going to find a way to crack this and even if they don’t, they are just going to wait until the game comes down in price to the point where no profit will be made from it. The only people being driven away are the people who would have otherwise legally bought the game.
DRM aside, This game has also been a huge let down in gameplay. I have already found a number of bugs such as not being able to return to course after you perform a manuever, not being able to flood multiple tubes at once, or not being able to use the deck gun (if there is a way it isnt explicitely stated in the manual which is painfully short on details for a game with so many changes over previous versions). A number of features have been also dumbed down. There do not apppear to be any thermal layers, ways to release counter measures such as debris, and targeting for torpedoes is done through an unrealistic tactical map which does not make things easier. Manual targeting is not explained in the manual and there is not tutorial for it. Also many of the orders you give have to be done by walking around the sub. While being able to walk around the sub is a nice feature, I much prefer having the option of being one-click away from any given station like the previous SH’s. Basically this game plays almost like a first person shooter, however people who play FPS’s will probably not get much enjoyment from a game where it takes minutes of real time to go from port to patrol area to actually sinking a ship (in other words it still tries to be a sim so it will not be fast paced enough for people who enjoy FPS’s). The goal of trying to make this into an FPS/arcade game becomes apparent when you see the gaudy explosions and leaderboards which have been hacked by people on day 1 and show some people with a billion tons for their score.
On the plus side, the dynamic campaign is a nice feature and objectives are more well defined than previous silent hunters. Graphics for things other than explosions are also visually stunning. These are the only improvements I can think of and it’s truly a shame as they show just how much promise this game had. Just like a hot blond, this game is great on looks but with very little substance and will leave you the second you lose that high paying job (internet conncetion).
Rating: 1 / 5
Having been a games player since the early 80′s, I have seldom been so disappoint in such an eagerly awaited title. Having played all the Silent Hunter series, I find this newest release to most disappointing. Of course the obvious is the extremely stupid DRM system they have chosen to institute requring a constant internet connection. I would have thought they would have learned after shooting themselves in the foot with the Starforce protection.
Equally as disappointing is the “dumbing” down of the overall simulation itself.There are ways to not use the aids, but the genral overall feeling is this is for the very casual player or the point and shoot set. Nothing wrong with that, but not in a supposedly serious simulator.
It has tons of eye candy,big explosions, and well rendered ship models. Very “Hollywood” in presentation, but after the gloss wears off you’re left with a sim thats really Silent Hunter 3 with a few gimmmicks and a lot of heavy makeup.
Rating: 1 / 5
Warning! This game is still in early beta stage. In addition to the poor DRM associated with it, the game is crippled with bugs, has poor performance and has less features than previous Silent Hunter titles.
Sub sim fans stay FAR AWAY from this game!
Rating: 1 / 5
A beautiful but broken simulation. This is a review of the game WITH the 1.1 patch applied.
It is a terrible shame when the new reviled Ubisoft online DRM actually works better than the game itself. Sadly after the somewhat brilliant Silent Hunter III and Silent Hunter IV, Silent Hunter V is a terrible let down. SH5 has been shipped in an incomplete state. It is very obvious the game has not been finished and missed a number of development milestones and was forced to market by the Ubisoft parent.
The graphics and sound can not be faulted. The look of the game is absolutely beautiful. But the intended audience of this simulation requires more than that. The engine that drives this game does not work. Some examples:
- In the port of Kiel ships regularly run aground with no ability to pathfind or avoid obstacles.
- Enemy destroyers will ram your sub and then jump out of the ocean.
- The ingame map screen – the most important part of the game – is missing vital features and information. When setting a plotted course if you deviate from the course there is no way to return to the plot without having to replot the entire course.
- There is no way to order urgent commands in the heat of battle. Simple commands like setting a course via a visual compass do not even exist in the game. In battle you need to go to the terrible map screen to order a course change using a new plot.
- Elements of the UI simply do not work and in some cases buttons lose their functionality requiring the simulation to be exited and restarted.
- The documentation that is supplied with SH5 is atrocious. There is no detail on how to set manual TDC actions. For anyone that has not played the earlier SH releases they will be totally confused.
- It is glaringly obvious no QA testing was performed when ships are running aground in the opening tutorial mission.
There are many more bugs and omissions but I feel there is no point in listing them. The icing on the cake is the dynamic campaign simply does not work. I feel Ubisoft should be punished for forcing the game to be released before it was finished and not even performing the most basic Quality Assurance on this title.
My final recommendation is: DO NOT buy this game until Ubisoft gives evidence they will actually completely finish development of this title.
Rating: 1 / 5
I loved the Silent Hunter series and purchased each one as soon as it was released. THIS, however, is a piece of junk. I purchased it from GameStop without doing my homework. The person at the store saw the warning about having to always be online, and we both figured that was for multi-player gaming. SURELY they could not mean even as a single player, you’d have to be online. Well, SURELY we were wrong. UBI now takes the position that everyone is a thief, and by golly, the only way to prove it is to have you ask their servers if you can play. BUT, the fun doesn’t stop there. TRY to play online, just try! I spent the whole weekend starting the game and then being booted off their servers, which left me with … nothing. UBI blamed those pesky hackers (they blame EVERYTHING on hackers, as they will their dismal sales figures). But, even so, that’s no excuse. You don’t force your entire user base to phone home to their servers, and then not anticipate a high demand of use. This company is like the Keystone Cops.
Okay, the game itself… horrible! Completely unfinished. Graphics (on my high-end Mac Pro w/ Bootcamp) are choppy and jagged. The crew conversations are a joke and repetitive. You might depart from Kiel, but then find yourself off the coast of Africa for no reason at all. The crew says things like “Ship Sighted!” – WHILE YOU’RE UNDER WATER!!! That’s even after installing the patch they sent out when the game was a day old. This game is not ready for prime time, and I’m not sure if it will ever be. I think UBI is desperately hoping the modding community will straighten out their mess.
After a couple of days of this BS, I took it back to GameStop. I thought I’d get an argument, but they said they were instructed to take back this particular game without question, so I got my $50 bucks back. Luckily, I have Silent Hunter 3 and 4, which is world’s better than this piece of garbage. The Subsim platform has probably died with this release… at least it has with me. I will make sure UBI never gets any of my money.
Rating: 1 / 5