How is the tactical gameplay?

[philios]

So I haven't been to the forums for a while. I was really excited to try SH5. But from reading some posts it seems like the same problems that had 3 and 4 by the balls when they were relesed have interferred with the game. By that I mean that there seem to be many bugs that stop the game from working properly. I know that the DRM is a problem and I know that the switch to a first person thingy is controversial, but for me the main thing about silent hunter has always been the tactical challenge.

So on that note is it better than it's predecessors or should I just keep playing SH4 heavily modded until a few patches come out. I've read worrying things about plotting manual solutions (a stadiometer that doesn't work for instance) which is the main enjoyment of the game for me. So any thoughts? At the moment I think I'll hold off fofr a while. Althogh it seems like the modding couuminty has already started working it's magic.

Thanks

[Safe-Keeper]

First off, read Neal's review -- it pretty much echoes my thoughts about the game.

To answer the question... there is potential for tactical gameplay, and already several nifty realism functions in there. You're less visible when going straight for or straight away from an enemy - let them flank you and the full length of your boat is visible to them, making you far easier to spot. Destroyers give up way too easily, but already do cool things like abort their scripted patrol patterns to go escort convoys, or respond when planes or other ships send distress calls or report your position.

There's lots of odd features still, though, like planes just reporting your position and continuing on, not even changing course a little as they just buzz by overhead, and lone destroyers sometimes shadowing you relentlessly instead of attacking, and AI still needs a fair amount of work.

TDC and torpedo attacks are a bit of a joke at the moment. You need to install mods to get the old TDC controls back, the recognition manual is practically useless and as far as I know doesn't provide accurate information in the first place, and in place of the "automatic targeting" system of SHIII, where you just locked on a ship and fired, now there's a mini-game-like system in which you lock onto a ship, then see that ship's path and the path of your torpedo as lines on the map, along with labels indicating where they'll be in 1, 2 and 3 minutes. To hit the ship, change your torpedo bearing until one of the labels superimpose. If you're firing on a ship farther out than the 1, 2 and 3 labels, you're out of luck -- just aim and hope for the best:nope:.

In conclusion, there's lots of fun to be had with SHIII at the moment, but considering that you have to download 20+ MB's worth of mods for it to even come close to SHIII's functionality, and the fact that it's not really that realism-oriented, you may want to consider waiting a month or two.

[philios]

That sounds about what I figured, Like every other silent hunter game I fiigure I'll be waiting for the mods to fix the stuff that the devs didn't have the time or inclination to fix.

for the record I read Neal's review and highly recommend it to any one else that's on the fence