Released! The first review please!?

[daft]

I'am having so much fun with this game it must be illegal. My review from Steam:

So let get this out of the way immediately. This is not Dangerous Waters, Sub Command or Jane’s 688(i) Hunter/Killer. This is not a tech sim in sense that each station is meticulously researched and modelled and your job as the player is NOT about staring at the green sonar waterfall display until your eyes bleed. This is a much lower fidelity sim than the above-mentioned titles, focusing primarily on the command decisions a nuclear submarine captain would face. It is also a loving recreation of sorts of the classic Red Storm Rising, which is certainly no bad thing.

As such, it is doing a marvelous job at keeping me entertained and challenged. The survivability of the boat rests on your shoulders as you advance through the campaign. WWIII has broken out and it is up to you to perform the various tasks command sends down the line to you. Convoys and Soviet subs roam the Atlantic and if you run into them the game takes you into battle mode where you get to test your tactical acumen against a sharp and ruthless AI. The auto-crew will handle sonar duty, TMA and weapons release while you focus on getting the boat into a firing position undetected. It is also up to you to device an evasion plan, because when that torp goes into the water, chances are you will be counter detected and attacked. Ruthlessly.

Cold Waters is in my book much more adept at supplying that suspension of disbelief that the older and higher fidelity submarine simulators often lack in my opinion. They are great at technically reproducing the inner workings of a nuclear submarine, but this a whole different kettle of fish. This is war, and you are in command, and that feeling is very efficiently conveyed thanks to beautiful design, art and graphics. It also forces you to make interesting and risky decisions. Approaching enemy convoys, maneuvering into the baffles of two silent diesel subs, avoiding detection while dropping off a SEAL-team outside Archangelsk, all helps to create heaps of tension and suspense. It is a proper submarine experience in every sense of the word.

[Julhelm]

The enemy subs using active sonar a lot is grounded in history. The USS Lapon trailed a Soviet Yankee class for 47 days, being able to reacquire it several times after losing contact because the Soviet sub would light off its active sonar.

Because most Soviet boats prior to the Victor 3 are so noisy, this significantly degrades the performance of their passive sensors, and as such they rely more on the active. In game, they will do sprint and drift tactics, and alternate between active sonar search and doing passive listening while drifting. This has the added gameplay benefit of their sonar emissions giving you a hint as to their direction, even if you are not in a position to detect them passively.

The surface ships employ the same sprint and drift tactics in the game, but they use active sonar much more liberally since they are essentially blind at higher speeds.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by daft

I'am having so much fun with this game it must be illegal. My review from Steam:

Thanks for posting, well written and really exhibits the flavor of this game