"The only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was the U-Boat peril."
Winston Churchill

Here we are 14 years after SH5, and U-Boat has been in development for 5 or 6 years. But it has finally come out of beta, and it is the richest gameplay out of the box of any WWII submarine simulation so far. It extends a configurable combat sim with a crew simulation and an economic game played every time you are in port (recruiting, supply, and technology). Mission variety? In spades. As for graphics, yes, also the best yet, as one would expect in 2024! (Sure, Silent Depth 2 looks better but its just an arcade game really.)

Setting Up the Game

Plenty of options here, but the main considerations are twofold: Realism, and Crew. For my first campaign I chose Balanced realism, and Minimal crew management. I also chose AUTO settings for the HQ section, so that upgrades would come available on a historical timeline rather than my having to manage the research portion of the game. Even after choosing a general setting, you can still configure individual options where you prefer. You light the night really dark? Have fun! And if you want to do manual targeting solutions, AND have a god's eye view when the periscope is up, but never have a torpedo failure, it's your choice!

Naturally, any simulation which gives you access to an entire U-Boat interior, along with a living crew, is going to allow some customization. U-Boat allows you to customize each officer, choosing a body type, the jacket they will wear, facial hair, voice and more. A nice touch! But don't get too attached; you are likely to have casualties along the way. As for general voices, I chose German language but with English sub-titles (ya vol mein commandant!).You can also camo your sub and put a logo on the tower, much like they did with fighter planes. With a small expense you can have your wooden deck planking -- you will need it for the Arctic patrols.

If you want to be more involved with the crew, try the INTERMEDIATE or EXPERT option in setup, but then be sure to check out and adjust the TASKS and SQUADS assignments. (The small CREW button in lower right of the GUI). This will minimize your operational overhead. I would run a couple of missions first so you know how the settings interact with the sub and combat environment. If you choose EXPERT you will also be much more involved in damage repair and giving medical aid when needed.

Of course, in a game with some depth, running through a few tutorials is not a bad idea. They don't take very long and will save you some frustration later. Not only will you learn some U-Boat basics, you'll get familiar with the interface and some shortcut keys. I found the options useful, and I scaled up my GUI to 130% on my 30 inch screen (running 2540x1440).

Campaign
You can enter early in the war or later. The basic idea here is that an earlier campaign is easier to survive, because the Allies had not yet developed solid search and destroy technologies: the U-Boats had the advantage for the early years. But early years also means early U-Boats, and the Type II will be your mount. It has less range, less armament, less depth and less speed, but it's still not a bad way to start out and some players love the Type IID.

One of the cool things is that mission type varies a lot, and without mods. So you may get a radio message that a high German official needs a ride out of Norway, or a damaged U-Boat needs to do a fuel transfer somewhere in the Atlantic. All this adds to a richer story line. Maybe you are assigned to lay mines near a harbor, or drop a spy off in Ireland. Be bold, herr kaleun!

Where will your tour begin? It's going to depend on the year you enter the Kriegsmarine. You might find yourself in Wilhelmshaven, Kiel or Bergen early in the war, but in 1941 your Type VIIC will likely be at La Rochelle or Brest. All these U-Boat bases are simulated in detail, right down to the working search lights scanning the harbor entrance at night. Not only that, the bases change as the years progress. Early on you won't have massive bunkers to protect your boat.

Views, Cameras and Time

Lots of options here, and the basic views are F1 (Ego), F2 (side view of sub) and F3 (Orbit view, with mouse or keys allowing you to spin in four dimensions). N is the free camera, which strips away the UI and puts you into the scene with just boat and ocean. Mouse interaction is configurable for some of these settings, and clicking on an officer will give you control, double click and you are in first person (F1) view. Then you can move around the ship, or up to the conning tower, or exit the boat entirely if you are in port.
IMAGE-007 sub cruising at dusk.

Like any sub game, time from port to AO or vice versa can be DAYS long. Time compression keys are all here, and they switch themselves off if you encounter a threat or an important radio message. However, on high settings like 1800x in bright sunlight, you can find yourself in trouble suddenly when you drop out of warp.

Map and Navigation

There are some improvements here over the old SH style map. When you want to set a heading you can click on the goal, and if there are islands or peninsulas in the way, the course will plot around the obstacles. The map otherwise is somewhat configurable, by default it reflects a sort of Google 3d-style angled view. If you locate your sub or any object and keep zooming in, you suddenly find yourself looking at the actual in game object. You can also target any ship and then view it in action in close up in the game (have it your way). Weather allowing of course -- rough seas and fog as well as darkness affect these things. All the typical map tools are here as well.

Gameplay

Once you have chosen your campaign entry point, you will find yourself at the dock in the conning tower. (Hmm, my XO is on the binocs even while in port, must be PTSD). You can click directly to the Officer waiting at the moorage, or you can hit F1 and walk there yourself. Once you have your orders, you hit the Supply Depot and ensure you have what you need. You start with only so much coin, so spend wisely.
Then its back to the sub and wait while they load your weapons, food, etc. You can also time jump here by the day or two necessary, and use some of the time to check out your officers. You'll need to know their specialties.

Incidentally, some crew commands will be needful during your cruise. Even on basic levels you will want to select Silent Running, or run the Air Compressor or Pump, or put an officer on Depth Control when there are enemies nearby (quieter AND more precise). And in the case of damage or injuries you will have other decisions to make. After the experience of your first cruise, you will have additional cash and points you can use to upgrade your sub, or give your officers another specialization to make them more effective at their tasks. And on your return to port, you can discharge ineffective crew members and select new ones. Eventually, add another officer who you can begin to improve with his own additional skills. (And some skills only become available with long experience -- a nice touch!).

There is a massive amount of information and control available on the main screen during the game. Tooltips are well used. Shortcuts for officers and systems are here. Icons pop up with important information and are tucked at the side of the screen. Holding down the ALT key while in interior view pulls up Activator icons on all the U-Boat systems. White indicates they are not in use, red or yellow indicates system damage. LMC to switch on/off, RMC for the Action menu. You can do some of these functions with the TAB key and a popup command list also. You can move the key control station shortcuts around your screen. I keep the telegraph top right and the rudder and depth gauge top left.

Some things you will learn with practice. Don't approach nearer than 4km on the surface to enemy vessels except at night. Salvo numbers are wide by default so narrow them down. Use torpedo speed adjustments carefully. Remember your hydrophone has a small dead zone at the bow and a wide dead zone at the rear so weave a little when listening underwater. If you issue standing orders some functions may not get done by the selected officer until you cancel your orders (ie, reloading torpedo tubes). They will also work until they drop so monitor the fatigue level if you issue a direct order.

There is much more. You can automate tasks and create teams in advance, for damage control for example. You can even automate a dive plan, automating the search function during long hauls when using time compression. (Be sure to check out the dive options in Uboatpedia, both pre-flooding and round horns are very useful). Read the manual, there is a lot to learn!

For those who love gunnery, the deck gun and flak gun are both here, and with variants available as the war progresses. The deck gun is useful when you have wounded a boat and don't want to waste another torpedo. The flak gun is useful if you are caught on the surface when an aircraft appears. Once you have sunk a ship, an Interactions dialog will appear on your screen. You can elect to pick up survivors or not, and also to pick over any floating cargo. (If you pick up survivors, you will see them lounging in the crew quarters.) Loading fresh fruit, machine parts, medical kits etc is a free way to restock supplies. If the ship is abandoned but floating, you can send a team to scavenge. If it sunk, you can even send a diver to explore the wreck (if you have that specialization AND the dive suit!)

Some features were an outright shock. I had approached a large convoy at the rear and was perpendicular to their path. I ordered a solution on a near escort and let fly with two eels. The night was dark so I was safely out of visual at about 1.2 km. The first eel was a dud but the second made impact. As I was patting my XO on the back the ship launched starshells and suddenly I was exposed! I was in no danger from the sinking destroyer but my plan to take out a freighter or two was ruined and I was out of the area with all the speed my diesels could produce!

It's not much different the first time you are the object of a depth charge attack. The tense crew, the pipes springing leaks and water overflowing the bilge, that sinking feeling as your depth meter begins to wind down with the weight of the water and your Radioman offers first aid to an injured officer -- these are things we expect in a good sub sim and they are all here in UBOAT.

I've completed 15 cruises since the full release, and been killed twice. The AUTO save game function will allow you to continue your campaign after death, if you so choose. I've found it useful to repeat some of the more hairy engagement scenarios to learn how the AI tends to react, and also what I can get away with. (How the heck DOES a snapshot work anyway? It took some work to figure it out.) Since detection is simulated over several variables, including engine exhaust, profile, range and sub noise, trial and error is a good teacher. I've also learned how to get off four eels at multiple targets in the shortest time possible! I'm sure some great strategy guides will show up once the last few bugs are killed.

Issues

Bugs -- the inevitable bane of new games. Bugs are still being stomped and patch 11 is already out. That's a little unusual and shows the dedication of the team. At the moment convoy behavior can be a little -- odd. I've seen warships run into each other, but I'm sure Allied command will take care of it or replace the Admirals in charge. I have not personally encountered any other major bugs since the first small patch, a good sign!

One "feature" that is driving me crazy, however, is that a right mouse click on the screen when in external view sets a new steering direction. It's easy to do accidentally. The only way to cancel this is to go back to the map. This feature needs to be configurable. Similarly with the "Alarm" function, it comes on too readily.

UPGRADES
 

One of the depth parts of the game (pun apologies!) is that upgrades become available as you play. These come to the player along two different paths. The first is to simply AUTOMATE the research division of BdU, then upgrades become available along a historical timeline. The second is to send specific crew members with aptitude to help with the research when you are in port. I chose the former since I've been more interested in the actual simulation game. Upgrades come in better conning tower, better guns, improved batteries, radar detection, hydrophones and more, and eventually later sub types.

But the crew "upgrade" path is also quite fun. With further cruises you get reward and experience points that you can use to increase the skill set of your officers. This makes a significant difference in almost every way. Skills grow in torpedo management, torpedo loading, damage control, medical aid, crew calming and management (leadership), UZO and scope use, enemy detection, navigation -- and more. Some skills, as noted above, only become available when you have been on a dozen patrols or more. Even holidays have an impact on your crew, and better holidays have more impact.

Not a friendly pink glow but starshells over a convoy

Summary

A full U-boat simulation; a full crew simulation; a configurable realism and management approach and a wide variety of scenarios, including campaigns spanning the entire war. Add to that some great animations, graphics and effects, and a fairly good sound set. The modders at SUBSIM are hard at work, and have been actively encouraged by the developer. It's immersive and fun, especially if you make good use of first person and external views. I find sometimes that slowing down the gameplay allows me to more fully enter the fun.

Reading the SUBSIM forums, many agree that the only thing U-Boat needs now is a Type IX and Type XXI. Who wouldn't pay to see these? The Type IX was available quite early in the war and adds some additional survivability, not to mention a second tube aft. The Type XXI is simply a unique boat (118 commissioned by the Germans, even if only a few sailed) with more advanced technology and 6 forward tubes. I have a feeling we will see them eventually because this game is likely to have some legs. Highly recommended!

Developer: Deep Water Studio

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