[Bilge_Rat]

Tom Cofield is one of us, a serious wargamer. I trust his opinion. Did anyone miss these tidbits?

One of the reasons that Silent Hunter 3 and Silent Hunter 4 have remained on hard drives long after other games have been erased is because of the robust campaign system the developers put in place. Silent Hunter 5 continues to have dynamic campaign elements, but also adds a branching campaign system where the player gets to pick exactly where and how they want to continue the war effort. Players can slug it out in the North Atlantic or sail into the Mediterranean Sea.

Like its previous cousins, there is a variety of ways that you can either crank up, or tone down the realism in the game. Realistic dive times, ship targeting, torpedo reloads, battery life, fuel, ability to see your boat in third-person among other things are items that can be turned off or on depending on the type of play you prefer. Some will want to play the game with absolutely no "cheats" so they can feel as close to a realistic naval combat experience as possible while others (like me) can’t wait to jump to external view so they can admire their explosive handiwork first hand.

To be honest, I was mildly surprised by the fit-and-finish of Silent Hunter 5. That is not meant to take away anything from the seasoned development team. I have reviewed games that were gold launches with more issues than this Beta has demonstrated. I didn’t get the opportunity to test the multiplayer code so I can’t comment on that, but the single player setup is polished. Undoubtedly, I will have some nitpicks that I can throw out in the final shipping release, but lets see if those are still there with the final copy of the game.

This game won’t replace Silent Hunter 4 on my hard drive, but Silent Hunter 5 will have a spot right next to it. Short of a complete screw-up on someone’s part this game looks to be a real winner. I looked forward to it before I got the preview copy, but after spending time with it and seeing its features, details, and remarkable graphics, I am very excited to get my hands on the final version.

the comment about SH4 is because, like me, he prefers to play as the good guys in the Pacific rather than as an evil Nazi...