A less than exuberant review from bit-tech.net - 2/10 ...

Fischer · 03-23-10, 01:36 PM

"What you get with Silent Hunter 5 is a horrifically slow, buggy, unintuitive sub sim that's nowhere near accessible enough for beginners and breaks with so many traditions it can't be picked up and played by veterans either. Our advice? Silent Hunter 5 does such a good job of torpedoing itself you're far better off buying Silent Hunter 4 or a copy of Das Boot and reliving the glory days instead."

http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/pc/20...ter-5-review/1

03-23-10, 01:42 PM

I do agree with some of his points, re bugs, some unfinished bits and DRM, however has the guy even played the game? so many thing he says is not what I have in mine?

example:
"Firstly, there is no 'return to course' command. This means that if you use the rudder to manually steer the submarine - something you'll need to do frequently to avoid enemies and get into a better position to attack - you have to wipe all your navigation waypoints and set up them all over again afterwards. This will happen exactly five times before you start clawing for the auto-destruct button"

true there is no button, but all you have to do is add a waypoint at the end of your way point cousre and the sub starts to follow your way points again, no need to redo all the way points as he says?

also:
"What's more, the first-person mode is so badly coded it crawls along at an appallingly slow frame rate regardless of how much hardware you throw at it."

again wrong from my point of view, as I only have a amd6400, windows 7 and ati4870...so not top line and yet mine runs very smooth?

Iron Budokan · 03-23-10, 01:44 PM

Ouch.

Galanti · 03-23-10, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fischer

"... nowhere near accessible enough for beginners and breaks with so many traditions it can't be picked up and played by veterans either..

That about sums it up for me. Ubi chose to compromise, and as I am fond of telling my wife, compromise means everyone loses.

I'm sure a year or two down the road it'll be quite fun and playable (if the supermods come out), but right now it represents too much of a departure in terms of scope and scale to really keep the interest of SH3/GWX and SH4/OM/RFB players.

The interactive crew thing has already gotten old, and I'm tired of sinking one of three ship types (Liberty, Hog Island and Cimarron tanker) over oand over again.

SteamWake · 03-23-10, 02:32 PM

While performance on my machine is not butter smooth it does alright not a 'crawl' by any stretch of the imagination. He probably reviewed on a laptop or something.

BTW Darkwraiths mod returns the return to course button.

Then there is this

Quote:

Nothing is more infuriating than being stuck in the conning tower and getting strafed by a passing RAF fighter all because the game has far too many steps between you and the steering wheel.

How in the heck did he manage to get strafed? I have yet to be strafed and I have many hours in the sim.

GoldenRivet · 03-23-10, 02:34 PM

you know...

he's not wrong

Noren · 03-23-10, 02:42 PM

Quote:

and as I am fond of telling my wife, compromise means everyone loses.

and I thought that was the key to a happy marriage....or a lasting one....or both? But every now and then one should do as one please.

On a serious note: the reviewer has played the game, why else would he be so frustrated with the controls? But he has not tried every single workaround or solutions to bugs/strange UI etc, he's not as hardcore and loving fan as Neal.

Ubisoft: take heed!

Task Force · 03-23-10, 02:57 PM

I agree with this guy, the devs changed things that worked... and had been working, for something that is broken...

Performance, is my main issue, its horriable I dont know why performance is SO bad inside, but good outside...

kylania · 03-23-10, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Given that the inside of the submarine isn't particularly detailed...

Nope, he hasn't actually played the game. I think he just looked at screenshots he posted and read bug posts on forums (all his down points are UI bugs which are being fixed).

SH5 isn't a shiny bright happy place, but that's also a horribly done review, really nothing more than a troll post I'd say. If I were to read that here, I'd totally dismiss it.

Faamecanic · 03-23-10, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Task Force

I agree with this guy, the devs changed things that worked... and had been working, for something that is broken...

Performance, is my main issue, its horriable I dont know why performance is SO bad inside, but good outside...

Same here....had to turn off all shadows and a bunch of other options due to performance inside the sub...but outside is smooth. Could be the poly-count inside that is the frame rate killer.

Faamecanic · 03-23-10, 03:22 PM

I had to ROFLMAO over this....wonder if he intended this as it sounds:

"Quite why Ubisoft thought this was a good idea is beyond me - a submarine is a cold, wet, badly lit, poorly ventilated metal tube full of men who haven't washed properly for months and that all share one toilet. Even without going into that detail it’s still just a bunch of narrow grey corridors punctuated by ladders. Plus, there’s seamen everywhere. Actually having to move between stations was never going to be fun."

LOL

Nisgeis · 03-23-10, 03:24 PM

Yes, he definately meant it, he even goes to the trouble of writing sailors and using a strikethrough font for it, to replace it with 'seamen'. He should have just written 'semen' as that's what he really wanted to say. It's not even an oiginal joke and not something I'd expect of a professional reviewer. I want a better class of inuendo.

UnSalted · 03-23-10, 03:26 PM

His job is to review a game that's been released, not a game that's been modded. If you think he's not being fair because he didn't scour the planet for non-Ubisift attempts to fix a second-rate release, there's little hope of you ever wanting a non-partial review to begin with.

Faamecanic · 03-23-10, 03:27 PM

Guess its hard to take the reviewer seriously then..... very immature. Funny at first if it was a mistake...but then I read the rest of the review and saw the strike-thru..... once funny...twice foolish.

alexradu89 · 03-23-10, 03:34 PM

Silent Hunter 5... because Ubisoft wanted to see what it's like to fire an acoustic torpedo sideway with all engines at Flank Speed!

03-23-10, 01:36 PM	#1
Fischer Nub Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Aarhus, Denmark Posts: 4 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	A less than exuberant review from bit-tech.net - 2/10 ... "What you get with Silent Hunter 5 is a horrifically slow, buggy, unintuitive sub sim that's nowhere near accessible enough for beginners and breaks with so many traditions it can't be picked up and played by veterans either. Our advice? Silent Hunter 5 does such a good job of torpedoing itself you're far better off buying Silent Hunter 4 or a copy of Das Boot and reliving the glory days instead." http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/pc/20...ter-5-review/1

03-23-10, 01:42 PM	#2
shmall Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	I do agree with some of his points, re bugs, some unfinished bits and DRM, however has the guy even played the game? so many thing he says is not what I have in mine? example: "Firstly, there is no 'return to course' command. This means that if you use the rudder to manually steer the submarine - something you'll need to do frequently to avoid enemies and get into a better position to attack - you have to wipe all your navigation waypoints and set up them all over again afterwards. This will happen exactly five times before you start clawing for the auto-destruct button" true there is no button, but all you have to do is add a waypoint at the end of your way point cousre and the sub starts to follow your way points again, no need to redo all the way points as he says? also: "What's more, the first-person mode is so badly coded it crawls along at an appallingly slow frame rate regardless of how much hardware you throw at it." again wrong from my point of view, as I only have a amd6400, windows 7 and ati4870...so not top line and yet mine runs very smooth? Last edited by shmall; 03-23-10 at 01:53 PM.

03-23-10, 01:44 PM	#3
Iron Budokan Sea Lord Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 1,778 Downloads: 32 Uploads: 0	Ouch. __________________ "You will take on England wherever you find her ships, and you will break her power at sea." --Iron Coffins, Herbert A. Werner http://kennethmarkhoover.com

03-23-10, 02:34 PM	#6
GoldenRivet Subsim Aviator Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 8,726 Downloads: 146 Uploads: 0	you know... he's not wrong __________________

03-23-10, 02:57 PM	#8
Task Force Rear Admiral Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: SPACE!!!! Posts: 10,142 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	I agree with this guy, the devs changed things that worked... and had been working, for something that is broken... Performance, is my main issue, its horriable I dont know why performance is SO bad inside, but good outside... __________________ Task Force industries "Taking control of the world, one mind at a time"

03-23-10, 03:22 PM	#11
Faamecanic Ace of the Deep Join Date: May 2005 Location: Off your Stb side with good solution Posts: 1,065 Downloads: 44 Uploads: 0	I had to ROFLMAO over this....wonder if he intended this as it sounds: "Quite why Ubisoft thought this was a good idea is beyond me - a submarine is a cold, wet, badly lit, poorly ventilated metal tube full of men who haven't washed properly for months and that all share one toilet. Even without going into that detail it’s still just a bunch of narrow grey corridors punctuated by ladders. Plus, there’s seamen everywhere. Actually having to move between stations was never going to be fun." LOL

03-23-10, 03:24 PM	#12
Nisgeis Ocean Warrior Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 2,909 Downloads: 77 Uploads: 11	Yes, he definately meant it, he even goes to the trouble of writing sailors and using a strikethrough font for it, to replace it with 'seamen'. He should have just written 'semen' as that's what he really wanted to say. It's not even an oiginal joke and not something I'd expect of a professional reviewer. I want a better class of inuendo. __________________ -------------------------------- This space left intentionally blank.

03-23-10, 03:26 PM	#13
UnSalted Machinist's Mate Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 130 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	His job is to review a game that's been released, not a game that's been modded. If you think he's not being fair because he didn't scour the planet for non-Ubisift attempts to fix a second-rate release, there's little hope of you ever wanting a non-partial review to begin with.

03-23-10, 03:27 PM	#14
Faamecanic Ace of the Deep Join Date: May 2005 Location: Off your Stb side with good solution Posts: 1,065 Downloads: 44 Uploads: 0	Guess its hard to take the reviewer seriously then..... very immature. Funny at first if it was a mistake...but then I read the rest of the review and saw the strike-thru..... once funny...twice foolish.

03-23-10, 03:34 PM	#15
alexradu89 Lieutenant Join Date: May 2009 Location: Romania Posts: 259 Downloads: 94 Uploads: 0	Silent Hunter 5... because Ubisoft wanted to see what it's like to fire an acoustic torpedo sideway with all engines at Flank Speed!