Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific PC

Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific from Ubisoft Studios is another installment in a highly acclaimed – both by the players and the critics – ship simulator series. This time sea wolves get to hunt armored “game” in the waters of the Pacific Ocean.

You play as a US Navy officer who, as a submarine captain, tries to turn the tide of war on his country’s favor. You go through a series of missions given by the HQ, fighting battles against the Japanese fleet in the Pacific Ocean. The fourth installment in the series reiterates the advantages of the previous games, at the same time introducing a couple of novelties. The two most crucial ones are: increasing the dynamics of the campaign and changing the way you interact with the crew.

Some of the solutions implemented in the game allow for even greater immersion into a grand-scale conflict. Sea traffic is greater, including not only Japanese and American vessels fighting one another, but also convoys and other ships of Allied or neutral countries following objectives of their own. On the other hand, since the game’s world consists of the entire Pacific Ocean, you may freely sail out to open waters and see no sign of human activity for hours. When the mission target is closing, the favorite part of submarines lovers begins – stalking the enemy vessel. You may always ignore the HQ orders and venture on a solo hunt, but be careful – getting back from a rogue journey with no results may end up really badly. The developers provided a variety of missions, making almost every patrol unique and thrilling.

When it comes to interactions with the crew, Ubisoft decided to make it easier for players. In this new game, ship officers are much more self-reliant, so you do not have to oversee their every step. The crew members gain experience and enhance their abilities.

Silent Hunter series stands out with its care for details, which is also evident in this new game. It features four authentic classes of US Navy vessels from the period: P-class, Tambor, Salmon, and Gato (each comes in several versions, varying in technical details). There are also 50 types of naval surface ships. The fidelity of game mechanics includes even the reliability of torpedo’s fuse. For the first half of the war the American Navy faced a problem of frequent misfires. Only later more reliable torpedoes were produced. The player has to face similar challenge – a hit not always ends up with a successful takedown. Sometimes, a misfire may force you to start over the entire hunt.

The authors took speecial care to make the game fun to both the veterans of the series and the newcomers. This was achieved by letting the player adjust the difficulty level to personal preferences, including such details as the complexity of aiming and firing torpedoes (this may require simply to look out through the periscope and press the fire button, or make complex calculations before shooting), and searching for targets (either looking for enemies on your own or with HQ directions).

The developers also remembered about fans of multiplayer. Up to 4 (online) or 8 (local network) people can play together, either in co-op or competitive mode. Interestingly, not all players have to captain a submarine. Some of them may choose to steer destroyers or battleships and support their underwater friends. Sadly, neither in single player nor multiplayer can you steer Japanese vessels.

Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific is based on a modified version of the engine used in the previous games – GDS. However, the programmers managed to spice up visual effects, as well as improve the smoothness of gameplay and loading times between missions.

Last updated on 28 April 2015