Well Paul, you're really stepping into one huge debate going on the months leading up to the release. Bottom Line: no one really knows for sure what SH5 is going to be like. That in of itself is causing speculation...the lack of certaintity on some aresa that hardcore sub simmers consider very important...realism, campaign, substantive depth in the simulation, not just eye candy. The key issue that is being speculated about is whether the developers of SH5 have decided to aim for a much broader (read casual) audience with SH5...which in of itself, is not the problem. The suspicion (and I stress that this is only a suspicion...) is that they have dumbed the title down...made it easier for non hardcore players to get into the game. And that they have focussed on the look of the thing (to catch the eye of the casual gamer) at the expense of the substantive gameplay. There was the infamous 'periscope screen' in which a supposed screen from an advanced build of the game was posted...and it really set hares and speculation off and running..as it was truly terrible...cartoony, very basic and like some arcade shooter. (They seem to have done away with the realistic SH3 firing buttons and such..now more stylised than an accurate depiction of a real U boat firing apparatus...which is one of the things that got people wondering...) But we are told it was just a beta and not the final thing...and there seem to be other screenshots around which show a more advanced screen (but still not accurate, unfortunately...) (I hope this is so...) A lot of people are annoyed at the game finishing in 1943..that seems to be true....and the fact that some types of subs won't be simulated...cutting down on the choice of sub. (I for one don't care; if it means they put more effort into getting one right, then give me only one choice...I'll live with that. I say far better a 'study sim' than a 'survey sim' anytime!) There is also some murmouring about whether the campaign is truly dynamic such as SH3, but I can't see anything definitive that suggests it is not. There are many threads and a recent interview Neal did with the lead developer that you can trawl through and make up your own mind. But I guess we are just going to have to wait and see...I keep reminding myself that drawing hard and fast conclusions on the basis of little snippets now and then is probably misleading. I truly hope so.
Nimmo55
