conus00
02-17-10, 04:55 PM
http://www.gram.pl/art_9wfiGu4_Silent_Hunter_5_beta_test.html
I know that this review has been posted before but the Google translation sucks, so I attempted better translation. While Polish is not my native language I can read it. Polish members please don't bash me, it took me almost two hours to type it. :)
Here it is:
"Main goal of this article is to share our first impressions from Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic. We have tested beta version, because the provided preview build proved to be unfinished.
The fifth installment in the series Silent Hunter is trying to show us new horizons and was developed by the by the same studio responsible for the previous releases and is considered the worst in their 14-year production. Preview version provided to us reminds us more of and alpha version, though and left our optimism somewhat shaken. There is not much time left before the final release. We hope that the version provided to us was compiled from earlier or the otherwise great series will suffer brutal blow.
Back to the U-boats
Silent Hunter 4 gave us the opportunity to command submarines during U.S. operations in the Pacific which left a lot of gamers longing for German submarines. The additional add-on did not deliver the quality of the experience of Silent Hunter III. Now we were finally returning to the Atlantic area of operations and to the U-boats with graphics comparable to real tactical simulators.
While sailing under German flag might appear somewhat unethical generally acting as a submarine captain is quite a controversial thing. Submarine units were primarily designed to paralyze trade routes, so inevitably destroyed mainly merchant vessels with the civilian crew on board. No matter under whose flag they sailed that was their role.
Because there is something uncanny about being locked in a steel coffin trap without being able to escape the war, the WW2 submarine simulations draw lots of fans. Speaking of flags, creators of Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic resigned using the historical flags of Kriegsmarine, following politically correct hypocrisy of not displaying swastikas in the games.
The version of Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic we previewed we had available variations of Type VII U-boat: A, B, C and C/41. The Type VII is the main protagonist of the movie “Das Boot”. Type VIIs had for bow torpedo tubes and one aft. We have not seen any appearance of other types of submarines in the game.
The greatest improvement in the Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic is the fact that we are no longer an “ethereal” being and are able to walk aboard the boat in first person view watching the crew members work in various environments. They talk to each other, to some extent also respond to the changing situation. For example, during the fight, when my U-boat type VIIA received a direct hit, one of the sailors fell because of the impact. While we have an access to all submarine’s equipment the firing the torpedoes is possible only from the periscope view so you are always required to return to this station.
The way the crew is being managed is very different from SH4. Mostly you communicate with officers and petty officers who make sure that your orders are followed. It looks like in Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic you cannot manage your whole crew like you were used to in previous versions. In any case I couldn’t find the crew management screen in any of the available menus. Overall the interface was created for real explorers. That being said is not a compliment. Players familiar with previous SH games might be able to orient themselves but new players might experience some difficulties.
…but the port is real poetry…
While in port you can move around the same way you can move aboard the submarine - in first person view. While the dock itself is not modeled realistically it is sufficient for the needs of interaction like, for example, loading torpedoes. There is no spoken dialog but only simple communications menus from which you make your selections. To me it seems like unnecessary addition to add to Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic.
It is possible, though, acquire most of the supplies without physically docking at the port. Simply by approaching the base perimeter you can re-fuel and re-supply oxygen, ammunition and torpedoes. Because of this feature you don’t have to go through lengthy docking process all the time. Even though you can compress the time to 1024x during playing Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic some players I know might consider this option something short of heresy…
While being docked in the port you also get an approval for your next mission. Also, through “conversation” window. It is hard to tell how this feature will work in retail version because of unfinished version of Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic provided to us for the purposes of this preview.
Groundhog Day
The game starts on September 3, 1939 in Baltic with interactive intro – being the first officer I am awaken by Dieter Epp telling me that the captain has asked for me. We have a little chat about that it is the quiet night before the storm outside. In a moment something shouts that they located the target. The war has started and we are ordered to sink several Polish commercial vessels and return to Kiel.
Out of curiosity I check the map to find out what is happening in the Gulf of Gdansk. The Schleswig-Holstein and the Schlesien are still moored in Gdansk and Hel. I see Bismarck moored in Gdynia (even though it didn’t enter the service, if I recall correctly, until 1940). I rub my eyes in disbelief, maybe I’m getting wrong data… Deciding to see with my very own eyes I proceed into the bay. Unfortunately I am forced to flee because four British destroyers are on the intercept course and the Gulf of Gdansk is rather shallow. Drama. Hopefully this oversight is caused by an early version of Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic!
Back in the port I talk to the captain and we are approved for next mission – disrupting the convoys between Spain and England. To my surprise I wake to Dieter Epp telling me… that captain has asked for me. The same scene and the same quiet chat about the quiet calm night outside (it was stormy day and pouring down rain), I look at the calendar, it is mid-September and I back at the Baltic Sea…
Never mind, I reload the game (I have a save just before Kiel). Loading and…Dieter Epp wakes me up. Captain is calling. I’m back where I started but the captain will not acknowledge me. Therefore it’s hard for me to write more about the campaign. The mistakes in Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic better be eliminated for the final release or otherwise I will make a trip to Romania and the creators of the game will suffer the fate of Bismarck.
There is only very little time left before the release of Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic and, as of now, it contains many mistakes. Alright – positioning ships in their historically accurate times and places can be easily fixed. Dieter does not to need to wake up us all the times. Also the effect of 88 mm deck gun on the hull of the destroyer should be improved (at this moment it does not even scratch the paint). The worst of all: The historical missions are not “historic”. Also it would be nice to have some of the graphic issues fixed.
Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic looks nice but some of the elements hurt the eyes. The crew will just calmly stand around even though the submarine is being flooded with waves of water. The ships crews do not have any algorithm to deal with their current situations. The ships are on fire, flooded and the will just stand around like they are on vacation cruise. It all spoils the final effect. I will have to wait and see. In case that all the historical mistakes will remain in the game even after the final release I will try to find some good book about WW2 and send it as a present to Bucharest…"
Some good points I haven read in other previews.
I know that this review has been posted before but the Google translation sucks, so I attempted better translation. While Polish is not my native language I can read it. Polish members please don't bash me, it took me almost two hours to type it. :)
Here it is:
"Main goal of this article is to share our first impressions from Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic. We have tested beta version, because the provided preview build proved to be unfinished.
The fifth installment in the series Silent Hunter is trying to show us new horizons and was developed by the by the same studio responsible for the previous releases and is considered the worst in their 14-year production. Preview version provided to us reminds us more of and alpha version, though and left our optimism somewhat shaken. There is not much time left before the final release. We hope that the version provided to us was compiled from earlier or the otherwise great series will suffer brutal blow.
Back to the U-boats
Silent Hunter 4 gave us the opportunity to command submarines during U.S. operations in the Pacific which left a lot of gamers longing for German submarines. The additional add-on did not deliver the quality of the experience of Silent Hunter III. Now we were finally returning to the Atlantic area of operations and to the U-boats with graphics comparable to real tactical simulators.
While sailing under German flag might appear somewhat unethical generally acting as a submarine captain is quite a controversial thing. Submarine units were primarily designed to paralyze trade routes, so inevitably destroyed mainly merchant vessels with the civilian crew on board. No matter under whose flag they sailed that was their role.
Because there is something uncanny about being locked in a steel coffin trap without being able to escape the war, the WW2 submarine simulations draw lots of fans. Speaking of flags, creators of Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic resigned using the historical flags of Kriegsmarine, following politically correct hypocrisy of not displaying swastikas in the games.
The version of Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic we previewed we had available variations of Type VII U-boat: A, B, C and C/41. The Type VII is the main protagonist of the movie “Das Boot”. Type VIIs had for bow torpedo tubes and one aft. We have not seen any appearance of other types of submarines in the game.
The greatest improvement in the Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic is the fact that we are no longer an “ethereal” being and are able to walk aboard the boat in first person view watching the crew members work in various environments. They talk to each other, to some extent also respond to the changing situation. For example, during the fight, when my U-boat type VIIA received a direct hit, one of the sailors fell because of the impact. While we have an access to all submarine’s equipment the firing the torpedoes is possible only from the periscope view so you are always required to return to this station.
The way the crew is being managed is very different from SH4. Mostly you communicate with officers and petty officers who make sure that your orders are followed. It looks like in Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic you cannot manage your whole crew like you were used to in previous versions. In any case I couldn’t find the crew management screen in any of the available menus. Overall the interface was created for real explorers. That being said is not a compliment. Players familiar with previous SH games might be able to orient themselves but new players might experience some difficulties.
…but the port is real poetry…
While in port you can move around the same way you can move aboard the submarine - in first person view. While the dock itself is not modeled realistically it is sufficient for the needs of interaction like, for example, loading torpedoes. There is no spoken dialog but only simple communications menus from which you make your selections. To me it seems like unnecessary addition to add to Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic.
It is possible, though, acquire most of the supplies without physically docking at the port. Simply by approaching the base perimeter you can re-fuel and re-supply oxygen, ammunition and torpedoes. Because of this feature you don’t have to go through lengthy docking process all the time. Even though you can compress the time to 1024x during playing Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic some players I know might consider this option something short of heresy…
While being docked in the port you also get an approval for your next mission. Also, through “conversation” window. It is hard to tell how this feature will work in retail version because of unfinished version of Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic provided to us for the purposes of this preview.
Groundhog Day
The game starts on September 3, 1939 in Baltic with interactive intro – being the first officer I am awaken by Dieter Epp telling me that the captain has asked for me. We have a little chat about that it is the quiet night before the storm outside. In a moment something shouts that they located the target. The war has started and we are ordered to sink several Polish commercial vessels and return to Kiel.
Out of curiosity I check the map to find out what is happening in the Gulf of Gdansk. The Schleswig-Holstein and the Schlesien are still moored in Gdansk and Hel. I see Bismarck moored in Gdynia (even though it didn’t enter the service, if I recall correctly, until 1940). I rub my eyes in disbelief, maybe I’m getting wrong data… Deciding to see with my very own eyes I proceed into the bay. Unfortunately I am forced to flee because four British destroyers are on the intercept course and the Gulf of Gdansk is rather shallow. Drama. Hopefully this oversight is caused by an early version of Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic!
Back in the port I talk to the captain and we are approved for next mission – disrupting the convoys between Spain and England. To my surprise I wake to Dieter Epp telling me… that captain has asked for me. The same scene and the same quiet chat about the quiet calm night outside (it was stormy day and pouring down rain), I look at the calendar, it is mid-September and I back at the Baltic Sea…
Never mind, I reload the game (I have a save just before Kiel). Loading and…Dieter Epp wakes me up. Captain is calling. I’m back where I started but the captain will not acknowledge me. Therefore it’s hard for me to write more about the campaign. The mistakes in Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic better be eliminated for the final release or otherwise I will make a trip to Romania and the creators of the game will suffer the fate of Bismarck.
There is only very little time left before the release of Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic and, as of now, it contains many mistakes. Alright – positioning ships in their historically accurate times and places can be easily fixed. Dieter does not to need to wake up us all the times. Also the effect of 88 mm deck gun on the hull of the destroyer should be improved (at this moment it does not even scratch the paint). The worst of all: The historical missions are not “historic”. Also it would be nice to have some of the graphic issues fixed.
Silent Hunter 5: Battle of Atlantic looks nice but some of the elements hurt the eyes. The crew will just calmly stand around even though the submarine is being flooded with waves of water. The ships crews do not have any algorithm to deal with their current situations. The ships are on fire, flooded and the will just stand around like they are on vacation cruise. It all spoils the final effect. I will have to wait and see. In case that all the historical mistakes will remain in the game even after the final release I will try to find some good book about WW2 and send it as a present to Bucharest…"
Some good points I haven read in other previews.